Cheshire’s horticultural finest make their mark at the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) Flower Show at Tatton Park from July 22-26 as the region’s gardening talent takes centre stage for yet another year.

Regarded as one of the highlights of the North’s summer calendar, the great garden carnival will once again wow visitors with a host of gardens, from conceptual designs based on the UN’s International Year of Light initiative, to show gardens, new water gardens, and the return of the much-loved back to back gardens, many of which are flying the regional flag.

Warrington-based designer Alan Nugent has teamed up with Golden Gates Housing Trust and LiveWire CIC to create a show garden specifically designed for children with special needs, which aims both to stimulate and relax children while providing a sanctuary for parents.

Intended as a sensory garden, It Makes Sense uses vibrant colours and planting designed to attract wildlife and further excite the interest of children.

Cheshire East Council’s show garden China Mother of Gardens by local designer and Tatton Park head gardener Simon Tetlow takes its exotic inspiration from plant-hunter EH Wilson and the courtyard garden of Suzhou, featuring a wild Chinese forest full of collectable materials, surrounding a walled courtyard garden.

Also designing a show garden this year for the fourth time is HMP and YOI Styal Wilmslow, whose inspiration for Picking Up the Pieces takes the form of a jigsaw.

It urges anyone who has gone through a difficult period in their lives to reflect and realise that there is no situation that cannot be overcome.

This is especially apt for the prisoners involved in the design of the garden, as it has inspired them to fulfil their potential and begin to ‘pick up the pieces’.

Nowhere is the talent of Cheshire displayed more prominently than in the back to back gardens, which is a showcase of clever designs ideal for small spaces. This category makes a welcome return to the show after a two-year absence.

The Hermit’s Garden by Adlington Hall will replicate a façade of the root house at Adlington, using plywood rendered with lime mortar to give a rough effect, with scallop and mussel shells attached.

An infinity path will also be constructed of salvaged 18th-century stone roof tiles and will be laid on a bed of sand.

Malpas-based Cholmondeley Estates presents A Midsummer Night’s Theme. Inspired as a pun on the Shakespearian classic, this design contains a mossy bank surrounding a natural seat scented with herbs, while a temple ruin, pool and fallen pillars add a fitting sense of theatre and atmosphere to the garden.

Janet Leigh’s design, Connecting Cheshire, builds directly from the region’s own atmosphere and is inspired by the artwork of Mondrian and the green tapestry of the Cheshire landscape.

This back to back garden is interactive, allowing visitors to connect with Cheshire via a computer tablet by selecting one of several aluminium/LED light pathways that run through the garden to illuminate the back wall.

The Floral Marquee also acts as a magnet for local exhibitors, including beautiful displays of fuchsias from Bromac Nursery of Wrenbury, late-summer perennials and grasses from Bluebell Cottage Gardens in Warrington, and a range of oramental grasses in pots courtesy of K&S Nurseries, Nantwich.

Knutsford’s own Fryer’s Roses will also show the best of its blooms, while the latest cut-flower blooms and sprays will be on display from Chrysanthemums Direct of Over Peover, together with many other talented exhibitors.

With all of this regional expertise, alongside the prestigious RHS Young Designer of the Year competition, ever-popular carnival theme, and Ladies’ Day on Friday, July 24, as well as an array of amazing exhibits across the three zones of Feast, Grow and Inspire, visitors are sure to have a great day out at this year’s RHS Flower Show Tatton Park.

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