Tatton Park in pictures
Enjoy our selection of memorable images from the most northern of our major shows
Garden Hideways may start life as ordinary sheds but are completely transformed to offer us a range of possibilities and masses of small details we can recycle and reuse for our own design projects. The Story of a British Flower Wedding (pictured) gave us a rainbow of potential wedding flowers, and from libraries to cow bars there was no end to our exhibitors skill for shed reinvention.
Popular with visitors were the Back to Back Gardens. These scaled down designs showed what is possible in an ordinary garden and proves that size does not matter, or prevent you from including a proper garden design in your own backyard. Densely planted, brimming with colour and fascinating design tips these gardens were a delight for visitors.
Young horticultural talent was evident in all areas of the show, from school children to college students and young professionals. The Floral Pavilion hosted the Future Florist Competition where four colleges interpreted the Rio Carnival theme with some eye-popping colour and exotic designs. The Pavilion also hosted the final of the prestigious UK Florist of the Year Competition with some beautiful work from established floristry exhibitors.
A wander through the National Plant Societies and Plant Heritage marquee showed the passion and imagination poured into these, often small, societies run by plant enthusiasts. This was a perfect place to meet plants people and find out more about your favourite plants and how you could get involved. Find out more about Plant Society Events.
For the tenth year running we had mini-gardens designed and built by school children. This year the theme was 'Musicals' which gave visitors 20 delightful and very colourful gardens to enjoy. There was lots to interest and entertain children at the show from the giant willow statue of Roald Dahl's 'BFG' to the wonderful Garden Hideaways and so many quirky statues and garden features to discover. Family Day had even more activities to entertain children such as: the RHS Campaign for School Gardening activities, Roald Dahl's Tremendous Adventures and a Plant Explorers Trail.
The Show had so many opportunities to buy beautiful things for the garden and home. With a choice of thousands of new and unusual plants, fine sculptures, stunning art and craft works, delicious food and drink to buy, or admire, in the lovely setting of the historic Tatton Park Showground.
For Grow Your Own gardeners there was plenty of food for thought! From the Summer Fruit and Vegetable Pavilion with some marvellous displays such as the Tom Smith Plants stand, with containerised fruit, veg and herbs, as well as the Discover and Grow demonstrations. Fruit and veg and herbs were also well represented in the Floral Pavilion and National Plant Societies & Plant Heritage Marquee with some stunning medal-winning displays.
In celebration of their 40th Anniversary Bruntwood became our headline sponsors in 2016 and challenged our view of working environments with their wonderful Field Office Garden. This design illustrated Bruntwood's vision to promote better social, business and cultural environments for us to enjoy. Find out more about Bruntwood.