Tag: Challenges

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On Display: Four Trends From The RHS Tatton Park Flower Show

The Balanced Garden, Tatton Park Flower Show
Soft, romantic planting in The Balanced Garden

Usually, my posts about flower shows focus on the plants, gardens and planting combinations I enjoyed best, or trends I picked out. Today, I’m taking a step back and illustrating the official trends from this year’s Tatton Park Flower Show.

To be honest, I’d not have guessed all four trends that the Royal Horticulture Society highlighted, but I didn’t have to as the RHS helpfully listed them online.

Trend one: Soft planting

Billowing clouds of grasses and soft pink colour palettes gave the show a romantic feel with plants spilling onto paths and tumbling over the edges of containers.

Continue reading “On Display: Four Trends From The RHS Tatton Park Flower Show”

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On The Edge: I’m Offering A Mixed Bag And Being Nowty

Tree that snapped and twisted as it fell
Tree that snapped and twisted as it fell

Today’s images are linked by featuring edges of various types. I never saw the wonderfully scenic, 300 year old Sycamore Gap tree which has been felled this week by vandals with a chainsaw, but I recently encountered the word ‘solastalgia’ which expresses the shock of the thousands of people who loved this tree. Along similar lines to nostalgia, solastalgia is the distress we feel when much-loved surroundings are altered and we are powerless to do anything about it. It’s a form of homesickness where we are at home, but sick because our home is no longer the same.

In contrast, my fallen tree with splintered edges is an unsung one. I fully feel the outrage about Sycamore Gap, but while it was leading the headlines, the UK’s State of Nature Report 2023 was quietly published, with little attention paid to its reminder that ‘the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.’ Continue reading “On The Edge: I’m Offering A Mixed Bag And Being Nowty”

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Nature Photo Challenge: Ferns

Fern

Once, my sweetheart and I were coatless in the middle of Sunnyhurst Wood when a sudden downpour threatened to drench us. A young girl and boy appeared out of nowhere, shyly offering each of us the largest bracken frond they could find to pick, gesturing that that we should use them as makeshift umbrellas.

We accepted, thanked the children (who, satisfied, ran off to their parents) and carried the fronds over our heads as if they offered a magical form of protection, which they did – the kindness of young strangers.

I suppose drippier umbrellas have been used by smilier people, but we had a good try for the world record. Continue reading “Nature Photo Challenge: Ferns”

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Flowers to Celebrate, Thank and Remember

Large flower arrangement with coral, pink and cream roses

Can you believe I happened upon this huge flower arrangement which had been deserted against a backdrop of greenery during a walk? We were exploring gardens attached to an art gallery the morning after some form of celebration had been held.

I was surprised they had been abandoned, but happy to have a few minutes with such a brilliant floral showpiece. Pink, apricot and cream roses popped out, while lilies, peonies and larkspur provided white highlights. Eustoma, eucalyptus, sprays of azalea, other leafy foliage and (I think) an ornamental cabbage carried the garden flowers theme and helped to pack it out.

Continue reading “Flowers to Celebrate, Thank and Remember”