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RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 2006 The Weather was Hot and the Gardens Sizzling! It's not only the weather which is sizzling at Tatton this year - the gardens are as well. There are some superb show and back-to-backs, imaginative flower beds in the RHS National Flower Bed Competition and a whole range of show feature gardens - gardens with no restrictions on the design brief intended to inspire, inform and educate. The standards at Tatton just get better and better and the 'North' can be justly proud of our own RHS Show.
Best Show Garden has gone to Peter Ashley Ltd, for 'The Four Elements: A Garden for the Senses' (Gold) (pictured above). This really is a delightful garden designed in a contemporary geometric design sitting alongside natural materials. Best Back-to-Back garden went to Paperbark & Thorner Garden Design & Build for 'The Contemplative Garden' (Gold). This is a formal and uncluttered garden with particularly striking stainless steel sculptures each with a jet of water. Particularly striking is 'Out of Africa' (Gold) designed by Lucy Hunter and Louise Ward (pictured below) - this is a lovely garden, inspired by the 1930s and set in Kenya - an Art Deco style garden to die for with a beautiful colour palette.
There has been a novel inspiration for several of the gardens this year - Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (Silver Flora) (pictured below) is the inspiration for 'Into the Valley' Clive Scott's tribute to the famous 600. "Into the Valley" uses Croscomia 'Lucifer' reflecting the colours of the uniform and Stipa tenuissima the hoof dust. The garden works wonderfully. Two of the men in the Charge had local connections - Trumpet-Major William Smith was a resident of Knutsford and Major Rudolph Sallis was a brother of Lady de Tabley.
I loved 'Tranquil Mountain Waters' (Bronze) (pictured below) from Pabo Nurseries, inspired by the Snowdonia National Park. Particularly commendable because the designer J.N. Davies brought his garden to Tatton without sponsorship. He uses more than 100 tonnes of Penmaemawr granite sourced locally and plants native to Snowdonia.This garden is bound to be a favourite with all who love Snowdonia and its landscape.
Two gardens I wanted to go and see again and again were Phillippa Probert's 'Crimson Crush' (Gold) (pictured below) and 'Inside Out' (Gold) designed by Andy Kirman. Phillippa's garden is a romantic dining area with a walkway and main deck, which seem to be floating above water. It has dark rich colours and looked cool and stunning in the heat of the sun.
Andy embraces the concept of using garden space as an additional room, and for me the really stunning part of this garden was the black granite-style material used and the elliptical table/water feature. Also liked the little area he creates for your wheelie bins - practical and stylish. This is Andy's first show garden and I think we will be seeing a lot more of his work in the future. (garden pictured below).
'A Garden for Cat Lovers & Their Cats' (Silver Flora) designed by Angus Starling is fun and its good to see gardeners encouraging us to provide havens for our little furry friends. The garden is full of practical ideas for those who have cats and want to keep them from roaming but who also love gardening and want to preserve their plants. So well done.
If you love ferns you will love 'Pteridomania' - meaning mad for ferns - by Robert Frier (Silver Flora). This is a cool and relaxing garden and a well chosen subject because native ferns are adapted to the changeable British climate. Lovely murals and lush cool planting. Ferns are making their mark at Tatton this year and there are several nurseries in the floral marquees offering a wide selection of ferns. The New Children's Hospital Appeal's 'The Living Garden' (Bronze) designed by David Domoney (pictured below) is lush and cool. Children from Manchester's existing children's hospitals helped David with the design and combines areas for both children and parents.]
The BBC Northwest Tonight garden 'Classroom jungle' (Gold) created a lot of interest during our time at the show. The garden will be moved to a school in Crosby when the show finishes. The jungle theme appeals to a child's sense of adventure and the design allows children to feel lost among the plants. Designed by Janine Crimmins, the jungle theme really came to life in the intense sun and heat. Congratulations to everyone who has worked through the intense heat of the previous week to get the gardens and the show ready. It really is spectacular and the new layout certainly improves flow around the showground for visitors. My lasting impression of the show, this year, is Croscomia, particularly 'Lucifer', which seem very vivid this year, and worked really well on all the gardens which used them in planting - a hot plant for a heatwave. So if you are off to Tatton pack the sun cream and make sure you have your hat! The weather is glorious, have fun! © Reckless Gardener Magazine 2005- 2006 Mill Cottage New Media |
Also liked Jackie Knight's 'Doin' what comes Natur'lly' (Silver Flora) 
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