Trials - but no tribulations

I love the summer, as it is usually filled with press trips and other events.

Following last week’s trip to Ball Colegrave, this week I’ve been to Mr Fothergill’s. This seed company has its trials grounds on the outskirts of Newmarket in Suffolk, and there’s always something exciting, interesting and new to see.

The near-perfect summer’s day followed several weeks of poor weather – so much so that Mr Fothergill’s was set to cancel the day as nothing was in flower. However, the weather over the last week or so brought on plenty of colour and the day went ahead as planned. However, it was a little too early for some of the flowers and vegetables to be at the best but, unlike some years, not as much as usual had gone over. Sweet peas, petunias and several direct-sown annuals were at their best.
The trial grounds were full of flowers looking good, but of particular interest were two new cut flower and border plants - Zinnia ‘Jazz’ and sunflower ‘Calypso Mixed’. Also full of colour were Papaver somniferum ‘Purple Passion’ and sunflower ‘Black Magic’ from the new Laura Ashley range and Osteospermum ecklonis ‘Daisy Mae Mixed’.

One of the most interesting trends to come out of the day is the fact that many of the best-looking plants were open pollinated cultivars – they beat the pants off their more expensive F1 hybrid cousins. Mr Fothergill’s is actively looking at some very old cultivars that have been around for years, to see whether they out-perform the F1s. In a lot of examples – particularly Eschscholzia – the F1s were sulking with few flowers, whereas the open-pollinated cultivars were looking magnificent and full of flowers.

Among Johnsons’ exclusives for 2008 shown on the day was pastel sweet pea ‘Sugar Almonds’ – a strongly scented mix also from the Laura Ashley collection.

Mr Fothergill’s seed packets have been redesigned and relaunched, but are still easily identifiable thanks to the friendly ‘Mr Fothergill’ character. The company has also re-structured and re-branded into several ranges, including: The World Kitchen range, Sprouting Seeds range and the Laura Ashley.

Following the visit to the trials ground, we were treated to a special visit and lunch at Newmarket’s historic Jockey Club. Always a good way to get the best out of journalists! But seriously the setting was magnificent and the buffet lunch was just what was needed after several hours strolling around the trials.