FOLLOWING the success of last year’s inaugural event, when 83 exhibitors showed 674 fabulous plants, this year’s Alpine Garden Society and Scottish Rock Garden Club Show promises to be bigger and better.

Held at Kirkbie Kendal School, Lound Road, Kendal on Saturday (March 14), the show opens at 10am, when visitors can buy plants from the nine specialist nurseries who will be attending. The Plant Show will open as soon as the judges have finished their deliberations, around 11.30am.

An additional attraction this year is an Artistic Show, with photography, painting and drawing, and needlework all on display. This show will also open once judging has been completed.

Due apparently to this winter being cooler than last, a different range of plants is to be expected - but a welcome display of colour is assured.

Admission proceeds are in aid of the Alpine Garden Society. On site parking will be available at no charge. Hot and cold snacks and drinks are on sale throughout, with proceeds in aid of the Kirkbie Kendal School’s PTA.

STATUS Quo bass player John ‘Rhino’ Edwards is taking a break from his main day job and touring the UK and Europe with his side band Rhino’s Revenge, playing Jonty Martindale's Bootleggers at Kendal on Sunday, March 15. Supported by State Of Quo and The Charge, John outfits features his sons Max on drums and Freddie on guitar, plus multi-instrumentalist Matthew Starritt. Doors open 6.30pm-11pm.

KENDAL and District Lions Club will host a coffee morning, in aid of local charities, at Kendal Town Hall, on Saturday, March 14, from 9am-noon. People can take along any discarded spectacles which will be recycled

and distributed to satisfy a desperate need in Third World countries.

THE week-long Mary Wakefield Westmorland Music Festival opens Saturday with a Rock, Pop and Jazz Fun Day at Kendal's Queen Katherine School Music Suite. Later (7.30pm), the Westmorland Orchestra perform at Kendal Leisure Centre; adjudicated classes run from Monday-Thursday (March 16-19), the Festival Showcase Concert and Jim Noble Award Finals are Friday (7pm) March 20, at Kendal Town Hall, and March 21 is Choral Celebration Day, St Thomas's Church Kendal.

WINDERMERE Jetty, formerly Windermere Steamboat Museum, opens in 2016. Until then, Lakeland Arts has a pop up exhibition at Brockhole, the Lake District Visitor Centre, overlooking Windermere. This Saturday, to tie in with British Science Week, LAT hosts Saturdays with a Splash (and Saturday, March 21), from 11am-3pm where you can discover the science behind steam, buoyancy and speed through a variety of workshops.

THE last in Brantwood’s annual concert series is on Saturday (7pm), featuring the Solem String Quartet. The quartet comprises Michael Jones, Catherine Landen, Alistair Vennart and Stephanie Tress, brought together in 2011 by their studies at the University of Manchester. Having moved on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music, the quartet has enjoyed success in numerous competitions. Tickets need to be pre-booked on 015394-41396.