Nerine Festival celebrates colourful late bloomers
HUNDREDS of varieties of Guernsey’s national flower are on display and on sale over the coming two weeks as this year’s Nerine Festival takes place at Guernsey Gardens.
Now in its 24th year, the event gives people the opportunity to purchase a huge array of the colourful plants which are only now coming into bloom.
The event is organised by Plant Heritage Guernsey, whose chairman Charles Tracy said the flower was very special.
‘They’re so unusual because when everything in the garden is going, they’re just coming in.’
He said he owned about 20 different varieties and while they needed to be kept under glass, he would often bring them into his home after they bloomed.
In the summer, the plants can survive outdoors and do not need watering.
‘Another lovely thing about them is that they enjoy being neglected in the summer,’ he said.
Festival organiser Rose Rankilor said that the plants on offer were a slightly different collection to last year.
‘Every year they come out at a slightly different time,’ she said.
‘We always try and water in the middle of August to trigger them into growth but really it depends on the temperature and the daylight.
‘Last year they were very late. This year they’re quite early.’
The charity has its own collection of the plants which produce bulbs in their pots and when there are too many in a pot they are removed, re-potted and sold.
As well as the many different colours on offer, people could also buy the original variety, Nerine Sarniensis, from which all the others flowers are derived.
n The Nerine Festival is open from 10am to 4pm until 26 October at Guernsey Gardens in Route de la Ramee.
Admission is free and there is parking on-site.
