New Plant Awards 2020

It was a complete joy to see so many nurseries enter the Horticultural Trade Association’s Virtual New Plant Awards this June.

In a recent post, I highlighted what a challenging time it has been for plant nurseries. So what a welcome day this was! It seems that many nurseries are looking to the future and launching new plants for us all to enjoy – this is just what we all need right now. If you haven’t come across the HTA it is the association that represents the industry, deals with garden industry issues and lobbies the Government if required.

In previous years, the National Plant Show has been held at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire. The event isn’t open to the public but it’s the only UK trade show for British plant suppliers. It’s an essential shop window where plant buyers head to look for stock for their retail outlets. This event helps to ensure that we all wowed when we head out to buy plants for our gardens and homes. You can imagine the disappointment when like all other events it had to be cancelled for 2020. All was not lost, however. The HTA quickly came up with the idea of a virtual way of carrying out the New Plant Awards which are an important part of the show.

I asked the HTA’s Horticultural Manager, Pippa Greenwood what the response had been to the virtual show. ‘After the National Plant Show had to be cancelled, rather than waiting until next year, we set up the virtual version of the New Plant Awards. We requested new plant entries from nurseries, gathered a great team of judges from across the horticultural industry, set up the ‘Virtual Visitor Vote’ online…and were then wowed by the great response from the nurseries and online voters.’

For the second year in a row I was asked to join the judging team to which I accepted straight away. There is nothing more exciting than spending time eyeing up new and exciting plants with a group of very experienced judges. Our judging was carried out virtually with Matt Biggs in the driving seat as head judge.

‘The standard of entries was extremely high,’ said Matt. ‘I am hugely impressed how breeders and growers use their ingenuity and skill to produce such a wide range of outstanding plants, year after year, in response to the needs of the customer. Most gratifying of all is that they will make a positive contribution to the quality of our gardens and gardening, for many years to come.’

There is a real appetite for new plants amongst gardeners and for the past 10 years this event has helped to raise the profile of many favourites. ‘The British horticultural industry leads the way when it comes to finding new varieties,’ said the HTA’s President Boyd Douglas-Davis.

The judges crowned Apple ‘Trinity’ from Frank P Matthews as Best in Show. This early cooking apple needs no peeling and offers an attractive red flesh. I asked sales manager Matthew Thomas what winning this award means to the nursery.‘We are always delighted when we win an award at the HTA New Plant Awards. It is a great opportunity to showcase our best new introductions to the whole industry. The judges are very well respected and experienced horticulturalists, so it is a great endorsement,’ he explained. ’As well as lots of excellent publicity, winning an award is great for sales – previous winners have always sold out quickly and this encourages us to continue our work with breeding and developing exciting new trees.’

The winner of the Virtual Visitor Vote with an astonishing 306 votes (33% in total) was Anemone FP007 ‘Frilly Knickers’ from Fairweather’s Nursery.

Head to the HTA website to see all the results and look out for them in your garden centre soon.