Cottesbrooke Gardeners' Fair 22-24 June 2012

Cottesbrooke Gardeners’ Fair, which takes place from 22-24 June in the stunning grounds of Cottesbrooke Hall in Northamptonshire is celebrating its 5th anniversary in 2012 and organisers are promising passionate gardeners a choice of over 70 hand-picked exhibitors including some of Britain’s leading specialist plant nurseries and product makers at this year’s event.

Formerly known as ‘Cottesbrooke Hall Plant Finders Fair – the event has been renamed as Cottesbrooke Gardeners’ Fair to reflect the wider range of gardening inspiration the event provides. The Fair offers passionate gardeners a real alternative to the larger shows and allows them to enjoy both the time and space to meet and talk directly to the exhibiting ‘hero’ growers and makers, and to select from a huge variety and array of beautifully grown plants and products. The diversity and individuality of the garden paraphernalia exhibitors at the Fair also reflects the careful selection process the Fair organisers undertake to avoid repetition of products and to ensure quality craftsmanship.

Visitors to this year’s Fair can also enjoy a selection of talks from leading gardening experts throughout the weekend covering a wide range of subjects. There will be also an opportunity to book tickets to hear a talk from three of the UK’s most celebrated garden designers – Chris Beardshaw, Cleve West, James Alexander-Sinclair and Helen Yemm.

Also new for 2012 is ‘The Skills’ area run by Northampton’s Moulton College which is presenting a lively programme of ‘how-to’ gardening demonstrations throughout the weekend. The students are also creating an allotment bed, displaying unusual, heritage vegetables to offer some new ideas for the increasing number of grow- your-own enthusiasts who attend the Fair.
For those in need of design inspiration – the new ‘Inspire Marquee’ will give visitors the chance to take part in one-to-one clinics with garden design graduates, who will help them produce the most suitable design for their plot.

One of the Fair’s key attractions has always been its unique location, set within the beautiful parkland estate of Cottesbrooke Hall, which has been in the Macdonald-Buchanan family for generations. Included in the ticket price, visitors can take time out from the Fair, to wander through the Hall’s magnificent gardens that include design influences from Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe and Dame Sylvia Crowe, and in recent years from UK designers James Alexander-Sinclair and Arne Maynard.
Cottesbrooke Gardeners’ Fair was launched back in 2008, to capture the spirit of the prestigious European plant fairs such as Courson, Bingerden, Hex and Saint-Jean De Beauregard. Over the last five years the Fair has provided a much needed platform for some of Britain’s finest smaller nurserymen and crafts people to exhibit their high quality plants and products direct to keen gardeners.

The Fair’s Joint Founder and Organiser Thérèse Lang said, “Cottesbrooke Gardeners’ Fair provides a unique event in the gardening calendar. It champions the very best of the smaller independent ‘hero’ growers and craftsmen and gives passionate gardeners an opportunity to talk to, and buy direct from them. All of our exhibitors are painstakingly selected for their excellence and they provide visitors with the very best choice of plants and gardening products. Whereas many shows have struggled in recent years, we are delighted that the Fair has grown in popularity every year. All our exhibitors are delighted as the Fair’s visitor spend has grown steadily year on year. We believe this growth in popularity is because the Fair is designed to be small enough to offer the very personal and high quality event our visitors enjoy, but also large enough to provide a whole day or even weekend of gardening interest for those who travel further to see us.”

Alastair Macdonald-Buchanan, co-founder and owner of Cottesbrooke Hall said, “It is very exciting that the Fair is entering a new phase in its development. This event is now the most inspiring weekend of garden ideas in the calendar. We are offering our visitors more than ever. I am particularly excited about the new Skills and Inspire zones which offer the visitor insight and knowledge.”

Ticket prices:
• Friday 22nd – Advance booking £9.60 on the door £12
• Saturday 23rd – Advance booking £9.60 on the door £12
• Sunday 24th – Advance booking £8.00 on the door £10

Further information visit: www.cottesbrooke.co.uk – a new website goes live in Mid March

Exhibitor List – current as of date of press release

Ancient Industries
Peter Beales
Bouts Cottage Nurseries
Ed Brooks
Camolin Potting Shed
Carrier
Chris Cooke Plants
Cotswold Garden Flowers
Oska Copperfield
Coton Manor
Crug Farm Plants
D’Arcy & Everest
Mr D’Arcy’s Heritage Fruit Trees Y
DK Plants
Peter Dibble
Dysons
Edulis
Fantails
Fernatix
Fibrex
Garden and Wood
Glendon
The Gobbet Nursery
Greens Leaves
Green Oak Furniture
Pip Hall
Hardy’s Cottage Garden
Hill View Hardy Plants
Hollow Ash Huts
Home and Garden Ironwork
Hooksgreen Herbs
Hoyland Plant Centre
Keith’s Plant Books
La Mule
Leander Products
Lilies and Chillies
Lodge Farm Plants
Luca Design
Mallet Court
Mary Green
Meadowgate
Moulton College
Niwaki
Nobottle
Olive Grove
Otter Farm
Pioneer
Phoenix Perennial
Plantagogo
Plant Belles
Redman Hardy Plants
Roualeyn Nursery
Slacktop Nursery
Sneeboer
Special Plants
Swines Meadow
Shady Plants
Stonecrop
Terrapot
Todds Botanics
de Tuinheeren
Victorian Glasshouse Company Y
Wells and Winter
The Wildflower Patch