D14 England - Tatton Park

Anthony was nothing short of excited... today was his return to the world of plants and English show gardens - the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park.

Nigel, Anthony’s old boss and mentor from RHS Wisely was running the retail operations at Tatton Park and was able to secure us tickets to the show. On our early arrival, the security guard refused our entry, and so with Nigel’s charm, we were able to get photo security passes made up which provided us with unrivalled entry to the show for the day as volunteers.

We spent the day wandering around the show, avoiding the light drizzle at times but remaining optimistic that the sun would shine. A few insights from the day:
1. The capacity for the general public to use the meta language of gardening is impressive. They simply know their stuff.
2. The show is unlike Chelsea which is primarily for world class displays. This show is all about selling garden related paraphernalia. It’s big business.
3. The metal workers are all competing for business with delicate constructions of foxgloves through to highland cows (aka coos).
4. Old people and their plastic crate trolleys, all hepped up on an aggressive desire to score a rare Hydeangea with black stems, can be a dangerous thing to get yourself caught up in.
5. Anthony really is a plant geek.

We left the show late afternoon and spent the following three hours stuck in traffic as we navigated our way to Darley in the Yorkshire Dales. Here we ate a classic pub meal with old friends (Nige, Jo, Pam), before hightailing it back to Manchester (completed with a twilight tour of the Yorkshire Dales).Read more