THE N.C.C.P.G. IN SURREY

Here is the finished gouache painting of the N.C.C.P.G. plant sale at Wisley in May 2006.



I am a member of the Surrey branch of the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens. It is a busy, active group of keen gardeners and plants-people and one of the activities I enjoy is the plant sale. Plants sales in Surrey take place in spring and autumn, in an area near the car park of the Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Wisley. This year was a fine day and I helped out at the sale. The plants are all excellent, grown by the members, and are usually rare and difficult to source from usual outlets like garden centres. They were arranged by their dozens on the table tops, each with a colour coded label.
The buyers all have the common body language of the stoop - to read the little lables and examine the plants very carefully!
I made a pencil sketch of the helpers and buyers, in preparation for a painting in gouache, which is quite a difficult medium to use.