Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Santa rosa rose paradee
Many people have commented that the trade stands at this year's shows have been every bit as good as some of the gardens themselves, and at Tatton I have to agree. Many of the gardens created outside some of the nursery stands were exquisite and beautifully done. I was particularly impressed with the display outside Brooklands nursery stand, which featured a swathe of perennials in a range of pastel colours. It was just the thing to entice visitors into the stand to buy plants (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to i t). I try to resist buying things, but I always like to take home something from the flower shows I work at, and in the end I chose a Dierama. I purchased a large plant from the plant societies marquee, which was accompanied by plenty of useful advice from the grower. Hopefully it will do well in a sunny free-draining spot I have in my new garden. I got at lot of attention as I walked back to our tent with it, I don't think I've had so many admiring glances in a long while. If you're ever at a flower show and want to get attract attention, forget waving a coloured umbrella and choose a large Dierama instead.
Filming the 10th anniversary show at Tatton Park has been a real treat for the team. Huge crowds turned up for the filming of our closing piece to camera featuring Joe Swift, Carol Klein and Rachel de Thame. It only took 18 takes for our esteemed talent to trip the light fantastic up Chris Beardsaw's garden and sample some '10th anniversary Tatton' cupcakes which were given out to all children under 15 who visited the show. Remember, kids go free! 'Have a go Joe' had a go at making a 'lunkie' also known as a 'smoot'. The crowds loved his attempt at thatching. He was offered a stick in the rural crafts marquee but as he quipped, he's hopefully not going to need that for sometime yet! Joe also went all artistic as he turned his hand to willow sculpting when he made two ears for a hare. Carol was at home in the floral marquee where of course she used to be an exhibitor. She was amazed by the high standard of the plants, in fact she's convinced that this year was the highest standard she's ever seen. Her highlights were the Hampshire carnivorous plants and Southfields nursery stands both of which won gold medals. Carol was also a bit partial to the perennials in the marquee which were fabulous this year due to the weather conditions having been particularly good in helping them get to peak performance at the right time. Rachel's enjoyed a blooming good time in the BFA marquee where eight of Britain's top florists competed for the title of 'Florist of the year'. She was on the sidelines as the competitors had to complete a surprise challenge, they had to create a floral masterpiece with a random selection of blooms, bits and bobs.
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