Tuesday 28 July 2009

More Tatton Moments (VFTA No 1)

I promised more on Tatton so here we go...I think I'll start with the RHS/Ball Colegrave National Flower Bed Competition - the favourite entry for J and me was the Dumfries and Galloway entry of Peter Pan, Captain Hook and the Crocodile - fantastic! Not the show winner but, hey, what do RHS judges know!
Our two visits to the Floral Marquee were made during lulls in the sunshine - we were loathe to miss any sun this summer! The chrysanthemums and orchids seem to have been J's preferred options, judging by the number of photos taken. They were strangely attractive, though at odds with the prevailing cottage garden look of most of the exhibits.
But the highlight of the marquee for me was the Bowden Hostas stand - a Gold Medal winner with the judges and me. I managed to restrict myself to just one hosta but as mail order is their speciality I don't think that it will stop there!

In the National Plant and Societies Marquee we loved the display by the National Vegetable Society - how do they get the vegetables to look so perfect! And the Tomato Growers' Association st
and tasted delicious - hmm, time for lunch...
After a bite of lunch we moved on to the show gardens - all in all a bit disappointing this year and the same could be said for most of the Back to Backs.

So onward to the Plant Plaza where the urge
to purchase became irresistible...so much to see, touch, smell, buy! Some of the displays outside of the little stalls rivaled the back to backs in content and structure.

A lovely day out with good company, fine weather and the joy of gardening...can't wait until next year!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You forgot to mention the lovely carnations. Yet again not very fashionable at the moment but the one display we found I thought was beautiful. It was always a family favourite...along with the lovely roses and sweet peas from Granda Bs garden.
I enjoyed the day and the wee bit of sun too.
jx