Press releases

Herb gardens set to invigorate the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park

March 5 2007

Herbs are the horticultural ‘all-rounder’ - great for their looks, properties and able to sooth both body and soul. Their popularity can be seen this year at the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park (18 - 22 July), where many designers are using these aromatic plants to invigorate and inspire.

Be it for culinary, ‘well-being’ or medicinal uses, the herb is infusing this year’s show with a mix of contemporary and traditional designs.

Showing how herbs are perfect for uplifting the spirit is The Herbal Tea Party from Jacqui Brocklehurst with a refreshing blend of Eastern tea-making and a Western style of design. Exotic fruit and citrus trees grown in tea chests will be punctuated by the planting of colourful herbs, including lemon balm, peppermint, fennel, jasmine and ginger. Rosa rugosa will seclude the garden and also provide fruit for rosehip tea, which those using the garden will be able to drink in the shade of a wooden pergola.

Herbs are also the perfect ingredient to many dishes, and Gillian McCulloch’s edible space will present ‘Taste Life in the Garden’ at the show. This contemporary garden will provide herbs for cooking and an area for that all-important pre-dinner entertaining. Evoking a Mediterranean feel, culinary herbs such as dill, sweet basil, wild marjoram (oregano) and mint are planted alongside evergreens and topiary, to ensure that this garden is at the top of the menu at the show.

It also seems that herbs really are the best medicine, with two designers showing the healing power of these botanical gems in their designs. Jules Miller and Susan C Jones have designed a garden entitled Living Medicine as a space for a contemporary medicinal herbalist, featuring plant material ideal for an herbal dispensary. Inspired by the monastic gardens of the medieval period, the herbs are arranged for their benefits to a particular part of the body or ailment. For example chamomile is included as an aide to the nervous and reproductive systems, Echinacea for the skin and blood and Eucalyptus for digestion. A special herb-preparation area shaded by an arbour also features.

Clare Tucker has also designed a medicinal herb garden, imaginatively titled Worts and All, where the herbs are set in borders around a chamomile lawn, making them easier to harvest and use. The garden’s water feature is surrounded by tiles that show different parts of herbs and worts, such as seed heads, flowers and leaves.

Herbs can also be a decorative asset to the garden, as designs from the Welsh College of Horticulture, with its Organic Herb Bowl and Cancer Research UK’s ‘Thyme and Money’ garden prove. Here, herbs such as thyme are planted alongside vegetables such as aubergine ‘Moneymaker’ and in both designs the herbs are used not only for their practical benefits, but because of their bold foliage, interesting textures and strong fragrances.

The RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park takes place between 18 and 22 July 2007, with 18 July reserved for members. To book tickets call 0870 842 2229 or visit www.rhs.org.uk/flowershows.

Notes to Editors

For more information contact Erin Portsmouth at Fido PR on 0161 274 3311 or e-mail: erin@trustfido.co.uk

RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park
18 - 22 July 2007; 18 July reserved for RHS members

Opening times: 10am - 6.30pm (closes 5pm on Sunday 22 July)

RHS member’s rates (in advance only)
Wednesday 18 July (RHS Members Day): £23
Thursday 19 - Sunday 22 July: £17

Public rates
Thursday 19 - Sunday 22 July
Adults: £20 (in advance); £22 (on the door)
Children aged 5-15: £5
Children under 5: Free
Groups (10+): £18

www.rhs.org.uk/pressoffice

The RHS is the UK’s leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening. RHS work includes providing expert advice and information, advancing horticulture, training the next generation of gardeners, helping school children learn about plants, and conducting research into plants, pests and environmental issues affecting gardeners.

An interest in gardening is all you need to enjoy being a member of the RHS. For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk or call 0845 130 4646.

Founded in 1804, the Royal Horticultural Society is Britain's largest gardening charity and is committed to being the leading organisation demonstrating excellence in horticulture and promoting gardening. Renowned for its outstanding gardens and inspirational flower shows, the RHS is a key source of advice and information for all gardeners. It encourages gardening through its publications, trials, lectures, education programmes and scientific research and is home to the Lindley Library, which contains the most comprehensive collection of horticultural books in the world.

Membership of the Royal Horticultural Society offers many exclusive benefits including a monthly copy of The Garden magazine; free entrance to RHS Gardens Wisley in Surrey, Rosemoor in Devon, Hyde Hall in Essex and Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire; free access to a further 88 beautiful gardens across Britain and 20 gardens in Belgium and France; access to seeds collected at RHS gardens; free gardening advice and privileged tickets to 18 RHS flower shows, including the Chelsea Flower Show, the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park.

For further enquiries about membership of the RHS contact: Membership Department, Royal Horticultural Society, PO Box 313, London SW1P 2PE; 0845 130 4646 Monday - Friday 9.30am - 5pm or via the RHS website

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