Date: Saturday 23rd September 2023
Time: show open 11am until 4pm. The garden is open 9.30am until 6pm.
Cost: free entry to RHS Harlow Carr on the day for all BCSS members.
Location: RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG3 1QB [Google Map]
What’s on: Cactus and succulent show with 56 classes and an arts and crafts competition. Plus sales table, activities and displays.
Enter the show: view the classes on this page or download here: Harlow Carr show schedule and entry form.
Staging of plants: Saturday morning from 8.15am until 10am and Friday 22nd September from 5pm until 6pm.
Bradford and Leeds branches are working together to organise the Autumn Cactus and Succulent Show at Harlow Carr this year, which will take place on Saturday 23rd September 2023. All BCSS members will get free entry to the garden on the day.
The show will be held across the 3 rooms of the Bramall Learning Centre, a modern, eco-friendly building with a Sedum roof. The 56 plant classes will be judged by Gareth Darbon. We will also have a large sales table, propagation activities and plant displays. The cactus and succulent show will be open to the public from 11am until 4pm, with Harlow Carr open 9.30am until 6pm.
The popular RHS garden features a range of planting styles including woodland, prairie, streamside and kitchen gardens, with the Subtropicana Garden likely to be of particular interest to BCSS members. This is planted with a range of colourful Aeonium and x Mangave cultivars each summer. A new cactus bed is being constructed in the Alpine House this year. You should see a good selection of hardy succulents and South African bulbs on display here during September too.
Harlow Carr, which is just outside Harrogate in North Yorkshire, also hosts fruit and vegetable, daffodil, tulip, rhododendron, cyclamen and alpine shows this year. It is the only one of the RHS’s 5 gardens not to have held a BCSS event before.
The show’s early autumn date means that both summer and winter-growing plants can be exhibited, so visitors will be able to see and be inspired by a wide range of succulent species. The schedule has 56 plant classes, including collection, educational and display classes, all with different judging criteria. We want as many BCSS members as possible to have the opportunity to enter their plants and have a chance of winning a certificate.
There is also a class for cactus and succulent themed arts and crafts. This will be decided by a vote by show visitors.
The location of the Bramall Learning Centre at the top of the garden gives easy, step-free access from the car park for members who are exhibiting plants. The building also has a small kitchen area we can use, so we’ll be able to offer volunteers and entrants free tea, coffee and biscuits.
Tracey Marshall from Bradford branch will be Show Manager and Sue Keane from Leeds branch will be Show Secretary. For more information or to volunteer, email secretary@bradford.bcss.org.uk