The floral marquee
Post categories: Louise Danks
| 13:51 UK time, Wednesday, 23 July 2008
One of the occupational hazards if you like of working at flower shows is that you tend to be on-site before the show's open and you're still around after it's closed. It's these times that I love. Take this morning for example, I got the chance to have a proper look around the floral marquee, I almost had it completely to myself, now I don't mean to show off but how many of you can say that? Not only a bit of peace and quiet but also, the medals had been awarded so I was able to peruse at my own leisure...heaven! I'm a bit of a sucker for perennials and there's no shortage of herbaceous nurseries in the floral marquee.
I couldn't resist having a closer look at Hardy's cottage garden plants (silver-gilt), 
there were a couple of new plants on the stand, a sturdy looking, low-growing campanula (Campanula 'Jenny) with white, open, bell shaped flowers that have the most delicate touch of blue at the throat.
A vibrant ornamental and edible pea, Lablab purpurescens 'Ruby Moon' will be a real talking point throughout the show I'm sure. I also spotted a couple of my favourites, Lobelia 'Hadspen Purple' and the ethereal Thalictrum delavayi 'Album' on the stand, I always feel a little bit smug when I spot something on an exhibit that I have in my own garden, it's not quite show standard, more a work in progress lets say!
Enjoying my gentle nose around the marquee, my eyes were drawn to what I can only describe as a horticultural sweet shop, Philip Tivey and sons (Silver-gilt) grow alstroemeria and this stand is sure to be a real crowd pleaser,
the colours are amazing and with over 900 stems on the table it's impressive to say the least. Chris Tivey explained "Alstroemeria make great cut-flowers, they are very long lasting, so much so, the leaves will fade before the blooms!"
Onwards to my botany lesson for the day, a one-to-one with Howard and Sally Wills of Ferndown nursery (Gold) who grow sempervivums or house leeks. Their display is crammed full of information and it's well worth stopping to have a good look. It's divided up into four really useful sections, interesting garden sempervivums, species sempervivums, plants related to sempervivums and plants that are commonly confused with sempervivums. There is something pretty special on the stand, Howard has never even seen it shown before, it's Sempervivum pittonii, 
Howard told me a bit about it "It's very rare in the wild and tricky in cultivation, we are very pleased to have this in flower because yellow flowers are very unusual. It grows on serpentine rock in the wild so we've put a little piece in the pot with it, that piece is from Kynance Cove in Cornwall." I was very impressed that a tiny piece of my homeland had made it to Tatton and was helping such a special little plant to grow. I've got several house leeks in my garden and not surprisingly they look nothing like Howard and Sally's so while I had their attention I thought I'd pick their brains, Sally gave me a few cultivation tips "We give our succulents fresh compost every year, they have full sun, good drainage and there's no need to worry about watering them if they're outside, they won't need any watering at all." Right, after my succulent masterclass I know where I've been going wrong so there's no excuse.
After being reminded of home with the mention of Kynance Cove, what should I spot but a stand of agapanthus, more Cornish associations! Lady Skelmersdale of Broadleigh Bulbs (Silver-gilt) kindly had a few minutes to talk to me while she was watering, "With milder winters, more and more agapanthus are proving hardy for the open garden, there is a huge range from the smaller flowering ones like Agapanthus 'Profusion' 
which give you masses and masses of flowers to the larger plants that'll give you fewer more stately blooms." Right, top tip alert "Grow them at the front of a border, you'll have the low dome of glossy leaves throughout the summer and then six weeks of flowering, it is lovely to veiw a border through the flowers of an agapanthus and of course they make wonderful pot plants."
there were a couple of new plants on the stand, a sturdy looking, low-growing campanula (Campanula 'Jenny) with white, open, bell shaped flowers that have the most delicate touch of blue at the throat. A vibrant ornamental and edible pea, Lablab purpurescens 'Ruby Moon' will be a real talking point throughout the show I'm sure. I also spotted a couple of my favourites, Lobelia 'Hadspen Purple' and the ethereal Thalictrum delavayi 'Album' on the stand, I always feel a little bit smug when I spot something on an exhibit that I have in my own garden, it's not quite show standard, more a work in progress lets say!
Enjoying my gentle nose around the marquee, my eyes were drawn to what I can only describe as a horticultural sweet shop, Philip Tivey and sons (Silver-gilt) grow alstroemeria and this stand is sure to be a real crowd pleaser, the colours are amazing and with over 900 stems on the table it's impressive to say the least. Chris Tivey explained "Alstroemeria make great cut-flowers, they are very long lasting, so much so, the leaves will fade before the blooms!"
Onwards to my botany lesson for the day, a one-to-one with Howard and Sally Wills of Ferndown nursery (Gold) who grow sempervivums or house leeks. Their display is crammed full of information and it's well worth stopping to have a good look. It's divided up into four really useful sections, interesting garden sempervivums, species sempervivums, plants related to sempervivums and plants that are commonly confused with sempervivums. There is something pretty special on the stand, Howard has never even seen it shown before, it's Sempervivum pittonii, Howard told me a bit about it "It's very rare in the wild and tricky in cultivation, we are very pleased to have this in flower because yellow flowers are very unusual. It grows on serpentine rock in the wild so we've put a little piece in the pot with it, that piece is from Kynance Cove in Cornwall." I was very impressed that a tiny piece of my homeland had made it to Tatton and was helping such a special little plant to grow. I've got several house leeks in my garden and not surprisingly they look nothing like Howard and Sally's so while I had their attention I thought I'd pick their brains, Sally gave me a few cultivation tips "We give our succulents fresh compost every year, they have full sun, good drainage and there's no need to worry about watering them if they're outside, they won't need any watering at all." Right, after my succulent masterclass I know where I've been going wrong so there's no excuse.
After being reminded of home with the mention of Kynance Cove, what should I spot but a stand of agapanthus, more Cornish associations! Lady Skelmersdale of Broadleigh Bulbs (Silver-gilt) kindly had a few minutes to talk to me while she was watering, "With milder winters, more and more agapanthus are proving hardy for the open garden, there is a huge range from the smaller flowering ones like Agapanthus 'Profusion' which give you masses and masses of flowers to the larger plants that'll give you fewer more stately blooms." Right, top tip alert "Grow them at the front of a border, you'll have the low dome of glossy leaves throughout the summer and then six weeks of flowering, it is lovely to veiw a border through the flowers of an agapanthus and of course they make wonderful pot plants."
Comment number 1.
At 2nd Aug 2008, bizarreAnnesh wrote:I was watching the Tatton Flower Show and wrote down the name of a new Gladiolus - Anticus. I cannot trace this anywhere online and wondered where it could be ordered from. Thank you.
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