BCSS - Forum

This is one of the first Fairs in the country each year.

'SOUTH WEST SUCCULENT PLANT SPRING FAIR'. April 6th 2024.

The Portishead Youth Centre,

1, Harbour Road, Portishead, Bristol. BS20 7DD.

This is just 1.5 miles from Junction 19 [ Gordano Services ] M5.

The venue will be open from 9.30-1.30, entry is £2.

The Snack bar will be open throughout the event.

The ground floor will be occupied by the various stands whilst the Nautical Room will be used for 2 expert led workshops helping you to understand how to care for these plants and to get the best out of your plants.

Workshop 1 @ 10.30. Hayley Stephens from Mint Plants will be running 'Unusual Succulents and why I love them'.

Workshop 2 & 11.45. Carlos Zeferino from Woodside Cacti will be running a 'Propagation session'.

A list of those Traders booked in to supply plants are listed below.

COASTAL SUCCULENTS & CACTI.......Chris Rixton has a beautiful nursery at Rooksbridge, Somerset selling large, choice Aeoniums & Echeverias plus similar plants.

THE CACTUS SHOP [ Ralph Northcott ].......Ralph has spent his whole life growing his plants and is to be found at most large events in this country. His nursery in North Devon is also well worth a visit.

OGIE PLACIDO.......Another Bristol based nursery who offers highly choice plant plus a great selection of Carnivorous plants.

BENJAMIN TURNER........A private seller who can offer well priced & sensibly sized succulent plants, coming from the Southampton area to see us on a regular basis.....welcome back !

ALAN WEADON.......Another private grower from Bristol who offers very sort after plant with a wealth of knowledge to help you propagate them successfully.

WOODSIDE CACTI........a warm welcome from this Lincolnshire based nursery with his usual large offerings of well grown plants....good to see Carlos & Terri back with us.

WILLIAMS CACTI.......Craig has been a regular with us for the last 15 years and always provides us with an abundance of plants to choose from.......travelling down from Yorkshire to see us all.

IANS HAWORTHIAS........Another recent visitor from Yorkshire with his array of choice succulents, especially Haworthias to tempt us to spend money. I wonder what goodies he has brought us for the start of 2024 ?

OTTERSHAW CACTI......3 rd time that this lovely nursery has attended one of our own Fairs and always great to see such an array of these well priced succulents.

CLIFF MORCOM.........Cliff and his wife have been permanent sellers at our June Fair since it opened, but now are able to offer his wide selection of succulent plants to us.....well worth spending time to talk to Debbie & Cliff. Thanks for coming up from Cornwall.

Neighbouring roads and car parks are easily available for parking if the onsite car park is full.

Please make a diary note to attend s you do not miss out of the first Fair of the year.

I look forward to welcoming you all on the day.

Cheers

Tony.

Well everything is running smoothly this year with all the Traders now geared up for the Fair.

With just 4 weeks to go they are preparing their fresh stock for the day.

As anyone that has been before, the earlier you can arrive the better as large queues form well before the doors open at 9.30 am.

I look forward to seeing and welcoming you on the day.....have a safe trip here with those empty boxes !!

Tony

A little too far for me but looks like it’ll be a fantastic event, Tony. Great list of sellers, there!

Just to update you on preparations for the Fair.

Unfortunately Benjamin Turner from Southampton has had to cancel his attendance, however we are pleased to announce that Stuart Riley from PLANTLIFE in Eastbourne will be able to step in as a replacement.

Virtually everyone knows Stuart, either from his online store or his attendance at other big events around the country....his variety of plants on offer is outstanding, so please make an effort to attend and to chat & buy plants from him on the day.

Tony

Well, with just over 12 hours to go, this week has been full of enquires & questions from growers over a wide range of the U.K indicating how far they will be travelling to attend our Fair.

If you are coming, please have a safe trip and I will be pleased to welcome everyone here tomorrow morning.

Cheers

Tony.

Great start to the season, plenty of quality plants for sale. The hall isn't ideal for loading with steps preventing trolley access but plenty of much appreciated help with loading in and out made it easy. I bought six plants and had £10 change from £200 but there were plenty of nice plants for sale at £3 to £4. I just seem to spot the expensive ones but I hate to come home wishing I'd bought something that I hadn't. It's the first time I'd been at Portishead and I'm looking forward to going back next year. Perfect organisation and good to see so many people for the first time this year.

Stuart

Sounds like a great event, Stuart.

Did anyone get any photos?

Some pictures will be uploaded shortly, however some are already up om the Facebook page for the Bristol branch of the BCSS.

Cheers

Here's a couple of photos, this was soon after the start at 9.45am.

Stuart

Hi all, Hayley from www.mintplants.co.uk here, I helped Tony this year rather than having a stand at the show and here are some pics attached. I held a talk on why I love succulents and a little bit of repotting, and Carlos from Woodside Cacti held an equally interesting talk on propagating which I'm told was very interesting. Looking forward to next year!