Viola & Pansy Top 10 Festival Favourites 2024

Posted: 19 Mar 2024

Between 9th – 17th March this month, we celebrated our 21st Viola & Pansy Festival.

We have held the Viola and Pansy Festival every March since 2004. It is the largest independent variety trial of these plants held in the world, with seed of new varieties supplied by plant breeders from around the world. We have had seeds from USA, UK, Holland, German, Japan and more!

We are pleased to say that this years festival has been very successful with 2177 visitors voting for their festival favourites – It proves our Viola & Pansy Festival is an event that cannot be missed!

The votes are incredibly helpful to our plant breeders as they will know which varieties perform well during growing and then catch the public's eye in the garden centre. These votes can potentially decide which varieties get sold commercially! All the plants at the festival are either new, experimental or improved varieties. Each variety is a product of a process that can take about 7 years from discovering the variety testing and building up stock. The vast majority never make it to garden centre benches.

The Top 10 festival favourites were:

		Series	Variety
1	Viola	Sorbet XP	Morpho
2	Viola	Floral Power	Purple Pearls
3	Viola	Bel Viso	Orange Jump Up
4	Viola	Floral Power	Orange Red Wing
5	Viola	Floral Power	Yellow Beacon
6	Viola	Deltini	Rose Pink
7	Viola	Sorbet XP	Lemon Jump Up
8	Viola	Penny Pro	Blue Marina
9	Viola	Deltini	Honeybee
10	Viola	Bel Viso	Pineapple Crush

Left to right: 1st Place Sorbet XP Morpho, 2nd Place Floral Power Purple Pearls & 3rd Place Bel Viso Orange Jump Up.

These images are owned by the plant breeders.

Sorbet Xp Morpho : Ball Horticultural Company

Floral Power Purple Pearls : Takii Europe B.V.

Bel Viso Orange Jump Up: Syngenta Flowers

These results will be published in the gardening and trade press!

Come along to our Viola & Pansy Festival in 2025 – 8th March – 16th March 2025

Viola & Pansy Top 10 Festival Favourites 2024

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Our German Market is in full swing with all the favourites; Schokokuss, bratwurst, Bavarian Curling, beer, Stollen and lots of carefully selected authentic products. No need for the Eurostar, and parking is free.

Our staff are soooo excited that our cut Christmas trees have arrived-well Louise is particularly excited.
They look and smell wonderful and are really getting us in the festive spirit. Our top quality Nordmann Fir no drop trees range from 4 foot to 7 foot and are priced from £29.99 to £79.99. Can’t fit it in your car? No problem, we offer a home delivery service which one of our team will be happy to advise on. We also sell a range of artificial and potted Christmas trees, so something for everyone.
We look forward to seeing you at Meadow Croft
Opening hours:
Monday -Saturday 9am-5pm
Sunday 10am-4pm

Also look out for our festive late night shopping evenings when the whole store and restaurant will be open until 9pm

A quick reminder that Meadow Croft's Late Nights start tonight (Wednesday 20th November)...we can't wait. Featuring live performances from Rayleigh Brass, you can do some late-night shopping at both the German Market and the Garden Centre, then stop by the Market Tavern for a drink and a bite to eat

That industrious group at SWF Man Shed have made this fantastic Library for the Community Garden. It just keeps getting better down there.

Schokokuss or chocolate kisses are a festive staple in Germany and at our market.

What’s your favourite flavour? We know ours, let us know yours.

Today we will be taking part in the 2 minute silence at 11am to remember those who lost their lives in conflict.

Our late night German Market Experiences start this week, and it's free to park and enter!
Tag us with #meadowcroftgermanmarket to be in with a chance of winning £100 Meadow Croft gift card.

Our beautiful German smokers are selling fast. These authentic, hand crafted figures fill your home with scents of Christmas. Lots of our customers collect them to create a stunning Christmassy scene. Meadow Croft German Market, open every day until 23rd December.

We are so proud of the South Woodham Community Garden who were presented with a certificate of OUTSTANDING achievement by Margaret of Anglia in Bloom last week. The garden is by the entrance of Meadow Croft, if you would like to get involved, please ask in store.

The first of our beautiful homemade wreaths have just arrived in store. Our team on the nursery are very busy right now making these under direct supervision from Honey and Elvis (the cats).
We're very proud of our wreaths the team make the best quality about.
Keep an eye open for some wreath decorating workshops, details are to be announced immanently.

Our late night Christmas shopping events kick off on Wednesday 20th November. We will be open until 9pm every Wednesday and Thursday until 12th December. The evenings are lovely and festive, with lots of exclusive offers in store and the chance to sample lots of Christmas goodies. We will have Rayleigh Brass Band there to serenade you all with Christmas tunes and our restaurant will be serving a delicious selection of festive specials. The whole store will be open so you can browse at your leisure and of course our German Market and the food huts will be in full swing. So, wrap up warm and invite your family and friends to join you for a game of curling, a bratwurst, gluhwein or simply to soak up the atmosphere at Meadow Croft Garden Centre. Entry is free and there is no need to book. Also tag us with #meadowcroftgermanmarket in your photo of your late night shopping experience to be in with a chance of winning a £100 Meadow Croft gift card.
#meadowcroftgermanmarket

Make a gingerbread house like us. Only £10.99 from Meadow Croft Garden Centre, so easy even we could do it! Winter Secco optional but HIGHLY recommended. Enjoy!