The 15 th anniversary this autumn
This year the autumn plant parade will be celebrating its fifteenth anniversary, so let's honour the growers for their contribution, as well as for their stands designed for the parade. The event will also feature the visitors’ vote for the best plant nursery of the parade.
At the event, plant nurseries from all over Latvia will offer a wide range of fruit trees and berry bushes, decorative trees and shrubs, as well as perennial flowers and other plants. Autumn plant parade is popular among garden lovers and professionals from Latvia and the nearest neighbouring countries.
In addition to nursery and garden supplies, the visitors will also be able to enjoy a wide selection of crafts and food products, as well as a wonderful holiday atmosphere filled with the sounds of music, pony rides for children and contests for visitors with prizes for the participants offered by the event sponsor FISKARS.
More successful and longer season
In comparison to previous years the plant growers in Latvia admit this year is more successful in terms of weather conditions and trading activities than previous ones – the plants successfully over-wintered and rainfall during the season was satisfactory. “The spring was very favourable, and in terms of trading activities in general the summer was also good; we are satisfied,” says Varis Kazāks, the owner of the plant nursery “Baltezers”. Baiba Skrebele, Deputy Director of the Institute of Gardening says that this season has seen greater buyer activity than the previous years: “Perhaps because the heat in the middle of April had already lured everyone willing to plant something into the gardens.” She admits that the institute has spent its season under “the sign” of lilac – the varieties of lilac and the lilac garden attracted thousands, and this autumn the purple violet “Daudzpusīgais Zemzaris”, the red violet “Zemgalietis”, the white “Epifānija” and other varieties of lilac totalling more than 20, are still available for sale.
Exotic fruit trees and great harvest
Fruit growers acknowledge that the warm and long summers and the mild winters during recent years have led to an increased interest in buying apricots, peaches, grapes, and the rich harvest of this year will certainly promote this interest.
“Whether it is the impact of climate change or a change in buying trends, it is still difficult to say, but the activity is noticeably earlier, the planting continues for longer and certainly has also grown larger in volume,” admits Eduards Smiļģis, representative of the farm “Liepas”. “This year is very successful, the demand is dominated by exotic cultures – peaches, apricots. When compared to the growers of decorative plants, the fruit growers do not have as many opportunities to boast of new varieties or forms of plants – this area is dominated by traditional values and basic cultures. This autumn I definitely recommend buying sweet cherries, peaches and columnar apples – as long as you can plant and while the product is still available, as in spring these plants may already be gone. In the Autumn Plant Parade, the farm “Liepas” will definitely focus on container plants, while the land is still dry, thus reducing the planting risks – our experience throughout several years has proven such approach to be effective.”
Demand in the construction industry is growing
Head of the plant nursery “Blīdene”, Rinalds Rullis, says that in comparison to last year demand has grown due to construction-related activities, especially in large objects, in road construction and in municipalities. The increase is also acknowledged by Varis Kazāks, who tells us that customers are choosing more expensive and larger plants.
Rinalds Rullis names hydrangeas, blueberry shrubs, thuja in large amounts, and also roses as the most popular plants in the nursery this season, while less popular are leaf shrubs, conifers and trees. Barberries have come back into fashion, while winter-hardy plants see a slower, but steady rise in demand each year. “And there are no typically popular plants; buyers purchase a wide variety of plants,” says Didzis Bērziņš, representative of the farm “Bērziņi”, adding that the popularity of peonies and herbaceous perennials has remained steady. The Autumn Plant Parade will also feature a very wide selection of herbaceous perennials from our growers.
Currently registration for the event continues on the website www.staduparade.lv. On the website it is also possible to search the participants both by name and by keywords, using the search engine that is also easy to use on the phone.
Visitors are advised to take into account the changes in traffic organisation on the Vidzeme highway (A2) from Riga to Sigulda, as well as when entering Sigulda – due to the reconstruction of the Vidzeme highway and Pulkveža Brieža Street, please refrain from using the turn at the shopping centre “Šokolāde”.
Plant parades are the only industry events, where visitors are guaranteed that only Latvian-grown plants are included in the offer. It is controlled by a specially created ethics commission that verifies that the plants comply with the Society’s definition of “What is a Latvian-grown plant?”. More info is available at www.stadi.lv .
During the autumn plant parade the visitors will be offered:
- More than 100 plant growers from all over Latvia.
- Consultations in the cultivation, selection and planning of gardens.
- Sale of gardening goods and equipment.
- Fair of crafts and products made in Latvia.
- Free car parking.
- Free entry for the entire family.
Follow the plant parades: