This was my first visit to The RHS Tatton Flower Show – despite living less than 20 minutes from the park for nearly 30 years! Shame on me… It was somehow a chance to reminisce – the last time I was here was to fly model aeroplanes across the wide expanse of parkland, my interests have changed somewhat over the years!
Young designers seem to creating most of the waves this year at the RHS flower shows.
James Callicott and Jack Dunckley at Hampton Court and at Tatton we saw the finalists of the Young Designer of the Year fight it out - not only for the opportunity of helping with the design of next years Champagne Laurent Perrier garden at Chelsea but as it turned out winning best in Show at Tatton.
Hugo Bugg fought off stiff competition from fellow finalists Olivia Stewart & William Quarmby to win Gold, Best in Show and RHS Young Designer of the Year. He collected his award from Elizabeth Banks the new President of the RHS.


The Albert Dock Garden by Hugo Bugg
It is also good to see the schools gardens which actively encourage children to explore gardening. There were some lovely exhibits – all naturally bright and vibrant on a nursery rhyme and children’s story theme.

Peter Rabbit

Humpty Dumpty
There was also a category called Tunes in Bloom for schools which produced some interesting entries.
The category that is particular to Tatton are the Back to Back Gardens. This spawned some great awards from the entrants this year as they fared much better than the Show Gardens Category
Amongst the Gold Medals were a Plant Hunters Retreat which caught my eye when I saw the modern take on A Wardian Case - a kind of mobile cold frame – used by Plant Hunters to bring their finds home.
Chic Tranquility which was well executed and had some nice touches – if a little vibrant on the green – and impractical with white decking!
Two gardens though that exhibited plenty of take home ability in this category were the Shower Time Garden and Visit Plantation: Colonial Chic & Bajan Roots Garden

Shower Time

Two gardens in one from Visit Plantation
As ever the Visionary Gardens cause a certain amount of controversy. Are they gardens or are they art? One visitor visibly turned their nose up at these gardens expressing the view that they would never want anything like this in their garden. That probably misses the point – if there is a point!

What did these visitors make of ‘A Matter of Time’?

Wave Dance showed a very strong rhythm with some powerful imagery.
My overall take on the show was that it was rather thin on the ground – perhaps as a result of the current economic climate. Exhibitors, designers and sponsors seemed to have tightened their belts – yet I met with another Garden Network member who was busier than ever with live commissions which hardly seems to support this theory!