Anneliese Appleby, who lives in Pontshill near Ross-on-Wye, was commissioned by Mark Eveleigh to produce three hand printed posters to be displayed as part of his RHS Malvern ‘Tree House’ Show Garden.  The theme of this year’s RHS Malvern was Victorian Spa Towns, of which Malvern was one of the most famous, but also included Harrogate, Cheltenham and Bath.

“Mark gave me three quotations by three very famous historic individuals who had each visited Malvern to ‘take the waters’,” Anneliese said. “The quotes came from Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale and Alfred Lord Tennyson.  With these quotes in mind I designed and created posters that incorporate hand cut lino and original letterpress.  I printed the posters with Master Printer Martin Clark at Tilley Printing (Est 1870) in Ledbury using a Wharfedale Press which dates from the 1900s and using traditional wooden poster type.”

“The organisers of the show were hugely excited when they saw the posters in Mark’s Tree House Garden, especially as they have been printed using a traditional press.  Nina Acton (Executive Development Director for the Three Counties Showground) also asked if I could provide some of my Lupins hand printed wallpaper to decorate the Plant Finders Parlour in the Floral Marquee. 

“The Parlour was the brainchild of TV Garden Designer and Presenter Joe Swift and was used during the show as a presentation area for many talks and Q&A sessions by growers and garden experts.”

 Anneliese says the highlight of the show for her was to be introduced to Alan Titchmarsh, Carol Klein and Joe Swift.  

“It was great fun to be introduced to these huge celebrities of the gardening world.  RHS Malvern is such a wonderful show, it’s a lovely day out in a beautiful location with the backdrop of the stunning Malvern Hills. 

“It was also fabulous to meet Peter Dowle from Howle Hill Nursery, who is virtually my neighbour.”   Peter won a Gold medal, Best in Show and Best Construction for his stunning Meditation Garden.