News
Look forward to Tatton 2007
At the ninth RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park, visitors can enjoy the best in garden design, horticulture and shopping for the home and garden.
Knutsford schools inspired to improve their green spaces
Inspired by the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park taking place each year right on their doorstep, primary schools in Knutsford, Cheshire, are taking steps to improve the green spaces on their school grounds.
The town’s seven schools are taking part in a special growing competition to help the pupils engage with horticulture and gardening, which is being coordinated by the RHS and Tatton Park’s head gardener, Sam Youd.
The school reception classes are growing herbs, Key Stage 1 classes are growing flowers and Key Stage 2 pupils are growing vegetables and plants. Judges from the RHS are visiting the schools in early July to pick the winners in each category, and then the plants grown will be used to create special displays based on each school’s emblem at the flower show itself.
Gooseberries - the champion fruits!
It seems that Cheshire truly is the home of the gooseberry with eight of the nine UK gooseberry societies based in the county.
To celebrate this, Tatton is playing host to a special display of these champion fruits by the Cheshire Landscape Trust in the National Plant Societies Marquee. The display showcases a range of rare, historic and contemporary cultivars, and visitors can discover some of the quirky traditions still practiced, as well as the history of 200 years of gooseberry growing.
The Trust has received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out a research and preservation project on Cheshire gooseberry growing.
‘Quench’ your thirst
There is a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘drinks in the garden’ as one Sale-based designer is creating a superb design in the show’s Back to Back garden category.
Rory's McVean’s Quench is a Mediterranean delight - a tranquil, villa-style garden that encourages relaxation and pure liquid indulgence. Citrus trees provide the shade and give visitors the taste for a slice-infused gin and tonic, while taste buds are further tickled by the cool, central floating island deck.
Rory also has a treat for beer lovers with a planting of Hordium, an essential ingredient in the brewing process!
Art Attack at Tatton
Things are getting arty at the show this year - Lucy Hunter’s A Private View features a gallery of modern art paintings in her garden based on a city courtyard, creating a relaxing outdoor room.
Art of Gardens’ space, meanwhile, designed by Lynn Clegg, Andy Johnson and Sue Morgan, uses a wall-mounted picture frame to help extend the views into their Picture This garden.
And art has even reached the RHS/Ball Colegrave National Flower Bed Competition, where Knutsford Town Council pays homage to Edward Penny, a locally born artist.
Tatton hits some high notes
Musicality has hit Tatton this year, with a number of gardens inspired by sounds and instruments.
Clive Scott’s Rhythm in Blues garden has been designed for a professional musician. Campanula and Delphinium provide blue and silver tones, while the hard areas of the design will incorporate a dual wood keyboard deck, a fire pit with guitar strings and tom-toms for seating. Lavender will be planted in the form of a treble clef.
Andy Walker’s Back to Back garden designed for Christies has been inspired by the Mediterranean, the focal point being a large mosaic patio depicting a Spanish guitar.
A taste of the unusual
This year’s show sees a wild array of unusual props and artefacts being used to bring to life some of the garden and flower bed designs.
Expect to see jumping trout coming out of the pool in Andrew Louden’s garden inspired by the Lake District, and a Sputnik installation to help Spaced Out UK celebrate 50 years of space exploration.
Canoes will feature in both the Knutsford District Scouts Back to Back garden, and Stockport Council’s entry into the RHS/Ball Colegrave National Flower Bed Competition, while Naseby Avenue Resident’s Association’s bed will feature two cannons in its bid to recreate the 1645 Battle of Naseby.
Charities lead the way
A number of charities are raising awareness of their issues by exhibiting gardens at this year’s show.
Anthony Nolan Trust’s The Bubble Garden will create a child-like and nostalgic space, where the trees planted are inspired by how children draw them like lollipops, and a bubble machine, bubble jets and a bubble chair will add real fun to the garden. The Prince’s Trust’s design symbolises the Personal Journey that a young person takes when developing themselves, using modern structures and vibrant red tones.
Cancer Research UK displays a health-conscious herb garden called Thyme and Money, to represent the fact that its volunteers give up lots of ‘time’ to raise donations for the organisation, while Vivienne Walburn’s Alba aims to raise awareness of asbestos cancer (mesothelonia).
Cheshire Wildlife Trust is creating a natural habitat for wildlife, complete with a wildflower bog, and Nacro, the crime reduction charity, has designed a sustainable, low maintenance and relaxing sanctuary for its users.
Things to look out for in the Floral Marquee
This year, Tatton’s famous Floral Marquees combine to create a super display and there are a number of exciting new things to look out for.
Mickfield Hostas is showcasing new cultivars such as ‘Atlantis’, ‘Clifford’s Stingray’ and ‘Corkscrew’, while Cookoo Box Nursery is displaying its new release Capiscum ‘Demon Red’, a striking plant that provides upright green fruits that turn a fiery red.
Blacksmith’s Cottage Nursery is bringing new forms of Sanguisorba and Bidens to the show and Eagle Sweet Peas is launching ‘Misty’ a mauve flush, ‘Banty’ a rose pink and ‘Colleen Mary’, a salmon on cream.
Tatton goes crazy for herbs
Herbs are definitely the plant of choice at Tatton this year, with six gardens dedicated to this horticultural all-rounder.
Jacqui Brocklehurst’s Herbal Tea Party demonstrates the versatility of these plants, featuring lemon balm, peppermint, fennel and ginger in the design, and Gillian McCulloch & Associates presents visitors with Taste Life in the Garden, where culinary herbs, such as oregano, dill and mint are included in the planting.
The powerful medicinal properties of herbs are celebrated in Jules Miller and Susan C Jones’ Living Medicine garden and Worts and All from Clare Tucker for C T Ceramics.
Tatton gardeners go ‘green’
With gardening and the environment inextricably linked, many gardens have embraced all sorts of ‘green’ issues.
Vale Royal Borough Council is providing two environmental displays at the show, both linked to the issue of climate change. Its entry into the RHS/Ball Colegrave National Flower Bed Competition entitled Climate Roulette sets the scene by showing the Earth’s marginal temperature increases, while its show feature displays the possible garden of the future if the issue of climate change is not addressed.
A number of other gardens are embracing biodiversity and sustainability. Russell Watkinson and Parsnip Design are using reclaimed materials in their designs, and Chris Myers’ show garden includes a filter to pump sewage waste into the bed system to help the plants grow.
Sam in search for a gondola!
Never one to go with the easy option, Sam Youd, the head gardener at Tatton Park, has certainly had his work cut out for him as he goes on the hunt for a gondola.
Sam needs it for the entry he is putting together for Cheshire County Council for the RHS/Ball Colegrave National Flower Bed Competition, which is entitled The Grand Tour and is based on past owner of the estate, Lord Egerton’s tour of Venice.
First timers are creating a buzz!
Some first-time designers to Tatton are already creating a real buzz.
Among these are Sue Beesley, the winner of the 2006 BBC Gardener of the Year competition. Sue’s Whispering Garden uses the natural properties, colours and movements of plants to create a sleep-inducing horticultural haven.
Others joining Sue at Tatton include Liz Beardsall of Banjo Juli, who is displaying an ornamental space to explore how gardening can restrict the natural forces of growth with her Restraint design. Jane Parker is working with natural materials from Wales to cook up The Slate Banquet and Jill Sharrock’s The City Sanctuary is refreshing the senses with a town-terrace courtyard, complete with antique mirrors.
New name for flower beds
The RHS National Flower Bed Competition is always a hotly contested event at the show. This year, plant supplier Ball Colegrave has stepped up its support for the competition to become official title sponsor, which is now known as the RHS/Ball Colegrave National Flower Bed Competition.
The supplier has introduced a number of new varieties that will be used by the teams in their displays and shown for the first time at Tatton. These are Angelonia Serena, Argyranthemum Madeira, Calibrachoa Cabaret, Geranium Designer, Impatiens Fanfare, Petunia East Wave, Verbena Aztec and Zinnia Zesty.
Some of the flower beds to look out for in 2007 include: last year's top prize winners, Preston paying tribute to local animator Nick Park, with a cracking Wallace and Gromit flower bed; Tatton Park pushing the boat out with an Italianate garden complete with an authentic Venetian gondola; a racehorse made of bedding making a leap for Cheltenham; the Welsh College of Horticulture rebuilding its iconic Flintshire bridge; Newcastle-under-Lyme rolling up with a market stall filled with fresh produce; and Blackburn with Darwen getting the beers in with a horse-drawn dray.