Glad All Over

AS floral tributes go, the one Norman Atkinson dedicated to his friend Peter Sawyer last week could hardly be bettered, writes Roger Green.

A few months after Peter died, Norman swept the board at the British Gladiolus Society s 75th anniversary show, in the hallowed surroundings of the Royal Horticul-tural Society, Wisley, Surrey.

His haul included the Grand Champion s trophy, awarded for his exhibit of Little Wiggy, a dark red primulinus hybrid.

And as he recovered from the excitement of his success, including five more top prizes, Norman, of White Horses Way, Littlehampton, spoke with gratitude of the help and encouragement he received from Peter when he started growing gladioli nine years ago.

He was my mentor and a very well known flower grower in this area. When I saw these gladioli at Yapton I thought they looked wonderful, so colourful.

I got talking to Peter about them and asked if he had any spare corms to grow the big flowers. He gave me some, and then gave me a few of the smaller primulinus corms and told me, One day, you might become famous with those .

How true Peter s words were to become among the flower spikes Norman exhibited at Wisley were some cultivated from those original primulinus corms.

I am very grateful to Peter, and it is typical of the gladioli world in which everyone helps each other.

The full story can be found in the Gazette, August 30.