"Janet" wrote ...

BobH says...

"Janet" wrote

almarsoft. says...

There's a special preview on the 8th; has anyone been brave enough to
plump for the rather eye-wateringly-expensive tickets and will it be
worth it?

I wouldn't. It's only an evening, part of it dark, which is IMO not
nearly long enough for a keen gardener; and some stands close up shop
early. Preview tickets are on sale to the public at a price Londoners
are used to paying for an evening out. So it may not buy "exclusive"
peace and quiet either:-) If you're going to HC, make a day of it.

Hampton Court show is well worth going to IME; a much more spacious
and enjoyable site to get around than Chelsea and (unlike Chelsea)
plants for sale on the spot, an advantage to anyone coming from afar who
would pay punitive delivery costs.


The problem when we used to go on the Preview Evenings (friend was an
exhibitor and gave us free tickets in exchange for food/drink) was that
most
of the stands, especially the plant stands, were not manned. So if you
saw a
plant you wanted to purchase there was no-one there to buy it from.

RHS current website actually warns "preview" customers of that. I'd be
furious to pay £63 quid then find stands unmanned and sales unavailable;
but I suspect their preview evening is aimed at people going for dinner
and fireworks rather than plant and garden shopping.


The plant tent used to be all but deserted, only a few of us seemed to even
bother walking round there which was wonderful except there was no-one to
buy from. My friend used to take money on that evening (pond plants and
equipment) so I always failed to understand why other stall holders
disappeared.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK