Tatton Flower Show is always a predominant date in the garden centre diary and the one that’s triple underlined to ensure we get to go so, despite the wet summer weather, we packed a picnic and set off.

We arrived around 10 am as the show opened.  There’s something about queues of gardeners that makes one feel quite at ease, no jostling, and a nod to the stable weather conditions and all’s good.  It was a bonus then, and a tribute to the gardening community, that we were lucky enough to be handed a free ticket from another show-goer with one to spare while waiting in the queue.  Definitely a case of “right place right time”…

The plant tent was our first port of call.  I was looking for a Cow Parsley type plant for my front garden and for Anita, the search was on for a Dierama (Angel’s Fishing Rods). The displays in the plant marquee were as inspiring and tempting as ever.  For “planty” people it’s good to go to with a shopping list.  I like the look of Cow Parsley in the grass verges along the road sides and have a Bee and Butterfly garden so thought it would fit in well and attract Hoverflies and other pollinating insects. Has anyone noticed anything in their own garden that has been popular with bees this year?  When we came across Ammi majus our search was over, but as it’s only an annual and the seed was on sale we opted for the seed instead.

Apart from the plant displays, Tatton’s highlights for us were the use of Sedums on the roofs of a variety of garden structures and sheds – we are definitely going to build something at the garden centre for next spring – and the Twigtwisters, headed by Sarah Gallagher, willow sculptor and artist.  Sarah’s was by far our favourite garden and deservedly, the winner of the People’s Choice Best Small Garden Award.