Take a look around the colourful Floral Marquee at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2018
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park marks the end of my RHS summer flower show season. And as 2018 marked my first visit to the show, so I was really looking forward to seeing what was on offer.
And it was a really spectacular Floral Marquee, with lots of varieties on display that I hadn’t seen before.
There were even some flowers that were hard to see… Read on to find out more!
A Dazzling Dahlia
Be still my beating heart…
As I mentioned in my report from BBC Gardeners’ World Live, I’ve fallen a little bit in love with dahlias recently. So my heart did quicken a bit when I spotted this extraordinary beauty on the Pheasant Acre Plants stand at RHS Tatton Park.
This is Dahlia ‘Cafe au Lait Royale’, a large decorative dahlia that flowers from July through to autumn. Its stunning flowers will look gorgeous in your borders, and make a fantastic cut flower for vases or bouquets.
The combination of cream, peach and pink is absolutely breathtaking!
The Understated Elegance of Roscoea
Something a little more subtle next.
This is Roscoea ‘Wisley Amethyst’, which I spotted on the Hartside Nursery Garden stand.
Its graceful leaves and orchid-like flowers will look beautiful in your borders and beds, and it will flower in succession through the summer and into autumn.
It likes a cool, sheltered position in partial shade, and will look perfect in an informal rock or cottage style garden.
Fabulous Fuschias
The RHS pick out one exhibitor for special attention at each of their flower shows. The Master Grower award celebrates growers who use ethical and sustainable growing methods, give great customer service, and are deeply involved in developing new plant varieties.
The Master Grower at RHS Tatton Park 2018 was Roualeyn Nurseries. Based in Conwy, Wales, they now offer over 400 varieties of fuchsia and have won numerous RHS Gold medals throughout the years.
Their display in the Floral Marquee included this amazing 20ft wide carousel display, which was packed full of fuchsias.
It was certainly one of the biggest and most dramatic floral displays that I’ve seen at this year’s flower shows.
And from one of the biggest to one of the smallest…
Roualeyn Fuchsias were also displaying Fuchsia ‘Festival Lights’, which is certainly the smallest fuchsia that I’ve ever seen!
They had kindly provided a magnifying glass to help visitors see the flowers more clearly.
And Even Smaller Orchids
Would you be surprised if I told you that every plant in the photo below is in full flower?
I spent some time talking to Viv Brown, who looks after the orchid collection at Chester Zoo. I didn’t know that Chester Zoo have an orchid collection, but it contains over 3000 varieties!
Viv is wonderfully passionate about these flowers, and listening to her talk about them was fascinating.
Each of the orchids above is displaying its own tiny blooms. Some of them were hidden away under leaves, where ground-dwelling insects will pollinate them.
Others have flowers so tiny, that even with a magnifying glass it was hard to see them!
I also treated myself to this gorgeous Paphiopedium ‘Black Jack’ which caught my eye on the Lawrence Hobbs Orchids stand.
I haven’t been incredibly successful with orchids in the past. But the gorgeous colour of this flower drew me in, and so I’m going to give it another go.
Three weeks in, and it’s still alive – keep your fingers crossed!
Decorative Herbs
One thing I’ve loved seeing this year has been the use of herbs as a decorative feature in the garden.
I think that a collection of containers filled with herbs looks absolutely stunning. And of course, they taste good as well!
This bee was clearly enjoying tucking into the flowers on this Oregano ‘White Charm’.
I’ve been inspired by stands like Newlands Nursery this year, and I’m thinking of setting up my own herb garden in containers at home next year.
Amazing Alliums
I’ve long been a fan of alliums. Their gorgeous globe-shaped flower heads are visually stunning and a great way to add height into a flower bed.
And as I’ve mentioned before, bees can see blue and purple more easily than other colours. So the blue/purple varieties are fantastic for attracting bees into your garden.
But I’d never seen alliums like these before! This is Allium ‘Forelock’, which has a funky quiff instead of a perfectly round globe shape.
They’re available from WS Warmenhoven, who have a large range of alliums to choose from.
Hydrangeas in all hues
Yes, Hydrangeas are one of my other floral passions at the moment, especially when they come in vivid colours like this.
The stunning pink hydrangea above is Hydrangea ‘Rotschwanz’.
And this is Hydrangea ‘Kardinal Violet’, which I think might be one of my favourites that I’ve seen this year.
And if you are looking for something a little different, the flower below is Hydrangea Paniculata ‘Limelight’.
The term paniculata refers to the conicle shape of the flower heads and it’s a very pretty, delicate hydrangea.
I spotted all of these hydrangeas on the Cook’s Garden Centre stand.
Their Gold Medal winning range of hydrangeas can be seen either on their website, or at their garden centre in Stourport.
Glorious Gladioli
And one final burst of colour from RHS Tatton Park. This time it’s an array of gladioli, seen on the Pheasant Acre Plants stand.
I must admit that gladioli aren’t strictly speaking one of my favourite flowers. But when you see a display of vivid colour like this, you can’t help but be impressed!