Farmyard Nurseries began life in 1984 and covers over 3 acres, offering more than 2000 plant varieties. They have exhibited at various RHS shows over the years including Chelsea, Hampton Court, Cardiff, Tatton Park and Vincent Square, and have achieved the required standard to warrant gold medals.
There are over 50 polytunnels at the nursery and they now hold the national collection of Sarracenia (carnivorous pitcher plants).
In February the nursery puts on a very well attended four-day event entitled “Winter Gardening” which offers lectures and talks, this year including a talk from one of our members, Julian Wormald of Gelli Uchaf. Each year the topics are very different and there are lots of opportunities to ask questions about any garden problems.
Richard started by introducing his two dogs, Boris (who refuses to stay at home) and Mabel (who was only there for the biscuits). For the avoidance of any doubt, Boris has his back to us, and Mabel is looking expectantly at the audience!
Following previous appearances in the Floral Marquee at RHS Hampton Court, Richard and Farmyard Nurseries had subsequently collaborated with Sue Kent (encouraged by the promise of BBC coverage!) on her show garden which won a silver gilt medal. Their garden showcased more flowers then usual, and Richard noted that it is much more difficult to showcase flowers than structural plants such as Hosta due to the difficulties with getting flowers at their best by a specific date. Despite thinking ‘Never again!’, following a request to participate in the 2025 Show from the RHS Hampton Court Organisers, Richard agreed to a mystical woodland wonderland display for the Floral Marquee.
Exhibiting is always a stressful process, and Hampton Court RHS Show 2025 was no exception! One setback was a flat tyre on the way to London with a large van full of gear/dogs/people, but they finally arrived! Another was that the van was stolen (containing the dogs!). The power of Facebook was the saving of the situation and very quickly after the theft was posted, there were so many people (including the police who were exemplary) helping and within two hours the van was located. Phew! But the dogs had plainly not done the “how to be a guard-dog course” because they had done nothing to help!
The next problem was how the plants (some shade loving, some sun loving, plus many Sarracenia) could be displayed to show standard in a natural setting and planted out, not in pots.
As part of the display they desperately wanted a dragon sculpture of some description; the original plan for the sculpture had to be discarded, so after a rethink, a relatively local blacksmith (who normally makes candlesticks) was located and he created a really beautiful openwork (but extremely heavy) dragon.
So, eventually, the display was coming together except ……. when the decorated fabric backdrop was stretched out, there were obvious oily marks where the dragon wings had touched it. Fairy liquid came to the rescue this time and then Richard’s daughter Ruth went round every aspect of every plant to make them all tidy. The award winning horticulturalist Jon Wheatley mentored the team with the final look.
Finally, there was the wait until the following morning to find out if they had been placed – they were so relieved to see they had a gold medal plus the best New Garden Design award! So well done to Richard, Ruth and the team!
A decision was made not to do Hampton Court again, but Malvern and Badminton were entered in 2026 (more gold medals!) where they were particularly keen to have Sarracenia in flower as they are not often seen in a show. Ruth has been pivotal in the logistics with this, in fact when the white flowering Sarracenia was seen it caused quite a stir because nobody had seen it before.
Richard was thanked for his hugely entertaining talk and all the wonderful photographs, the audience enjoyed it immensely. The lovely plants that Richard had brought for sale also proved very popular!
Christmas Social 2026
This year the Christmas social will be held at The Castle Green Inn in Lampeter on Thursday, 17th December. Check your diaries, as an email will be sent out soon with more details and asking members to confirm their attendance.
7pm for the Castle Green on the 17th by the way, Rob
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