Annual Tatton Park Flower Show draws crowds

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Across five July days thousands of pork rolls are scoffed and thousands more glasses of Pimm's quaffed on a Cheshire estate. Up to 80,000 people are expected to attend the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) Tatton Park Flower Show.

The Knutsford event, which ends on Sunday, is in its 17th year, having been created to complement other flower shows, such as Chelsea and Hampton Court, in the south of England.

Founded in 1804 by John Wedgwood, the son of ceramics magnate Josiah Wedgwood, the RHS now organises three flower shows and owns four gardens across the UK.

Apart from its setting within the grounds of a nearly 300-year-old mansion on the National Trust's award-winning Tatton Park estate, what else sets the Tatton show apart?

Sue Biggs, director general of the RHS, said it was "the show for true gardeners who love their plants; that is what really characterises Tatton."

The awards are handed out before the public are allowed in. The gardens are split into four categories this year: Water Garden, Show Garden, Back-to-Back Garden and Year of Light Garden.

Tucked away in the long floral marquee is Eagle Sweet Peas, from Stafford, and its large display of sweet peas. The marquee is a collision of colours and smells, and Derek Heathcote's blooms catch the eye.

"Tatton is our shop window to the seed buyers," said Mr Heathcote, as a steady stream of people came to look. Elsewhere in the marquee, plenty of exhibitors could be seen waving handheld chip-and-pin terminals in the air to get a signal for each purchase.

A family business, Eagle Sweet Peas has been running for 28 years, but tasted disappointment at Tatton Park by winning a silver-gilt medal. It felt like a far cry from the gold it came home with from Chelsea earlier this year, Mr Heathcote said.

Malcolm Dixon, of Hooksgreen Herbs in Stone, Staffordshire, was a bit more upbeat than his counterpart, and said his silver-gilt was "always a good one to get".

The flower show is not entirely about the plants, though. Goods on sale at other stalls include footwear, ladders, conservatories and lawnmowers.

Wood sculptor Michael McManus, 55, said he set up shop at Tatton for the second year in a row because the revenue boost was too good to miss. "I'd say business at Tatton is 50% above the other shows I do," he said.

There are also educational attractions for children. Reaseheath College, of Nantwich, Cheshire, offered them the chance to experiment with Venus flytraps. It also won the Floristry College of the Year award at the show.

RHS Tatton Flower Show manager, Kris Hulewicz, said setting up the event was almost a non-stop job, taking an entire year.

"We have about 70 floral marquee exhibitors and they need to know which events they're attending the following year, so they can grow on their plants and sell them," he said.

Selections are made for the show gardens in the December before Tatton starts in July, and designers can spend at least a week building their gardens in the run-up to the show opening.

South Cheshire gardener Barry Grain explained: "We've probably spent eight days building the garden.

"The thing with producing the show gardens is that it is the attention to detail that makes the difference."

It was overcast on Wednesday, helping to hide the planes coming and going from nearby Manchester Airport, although they could still be heard occasionally.

The weather was a mixture of cloud, spots of sun and patchy rain, and that is set to continue for the duration of the 2015 show. Lucinda Costello, senior shows development manager at the RHS, was not dismayed, however.

"This is perfect flower show weather," she said.

"It is not too hot for our visitors; it is just warm enough for an ice cream, and it keeps the plants looking spot-on."

The weather certainly did not appear to have dampened spirits. Nicola Carr, 53, from Widnes, has been coming to the Tatton Park show for the last seven years.

She was looking for some inspiration on how to decorate her patio. "I have a little trough on my new patio that I need to fill with flowers," she said.

"It is so friendly here and you can get expert knowledge. Because of that, I keep coming back."

Alan Graham, chairman of the Hatch End Horticulture Society in London, agreed.

"It is much less formal than the Chelsea flower show and much friendlier," he said.