The 2011 RHS Flower Show Tatton Park opened yesterday and is expected to attract 100,000 visitors over the next four days.
This year's winners include Chester Zoo for their Back to Back Garden entitled 'Dinosaurs at Large'. Designed by Mark Sparrow and Mark Hargreaves 'Dinosaurs at Large' was judged best Small Garden.
Mark Sparrow told me "We have got a temporary dinosaur exhibition at Chester Zoo with animatronic dinosaurs which are very lifelike and have been shipped over from America. That was the inspiration for our garden.
"Dinosaurs are something I've always had a fascination with and primative plants. We stuck very strictly to only using plants that were around when dinosaurs were, so all the plants have been around at least 65 million years, which we know from fossil records."
Other winners at this year's show include include 'Save a Life, Drop a Knife', designed by Glen Jackson and offenders from HMP Everthorpe, which was judged the Best Show Garden and 'I Dreamed of the Promised Land', by TheDesign CIC, won Best Visionary Garden.
Tatton itself are celebrating a gold medal for this year's show garden entitled 'Paradise Isle: 100 years on' which is inspired by the serene Japanese garden introduced to Tatton a hundred years ago.
Gardens Manager, Sam Youd said: "We're delighted to receive a gold medal for this year's garden. The team have worked tremendously hard to realise this technically demanding garden – whilst making it all look effortless of course! It's great to see and hear how well the garden is being received by the public."
This year's show garden is particularly poignant for Head Gardner Sam Youd, as it is his last RHS garden for Tatton. Sam retires next March after 30 years as head gardener at the historic estate, during which time the team have won 26 medals at the Tatton RHS Flower Show.
Sam told me "This probably won't be my last show though, you can't not do a hobby. I started the show 13 years ago to put the North on the map so it means an awful lot to me."
A full list of 2011 winners can be seen on the RHS website.
The annual horticultural show continues until Sunday, July 24th.
On Friday, 22nd July, Tatton Park will be receiving His Excellency the Ambassador of Japan, Mr Keiichi Hayashi. The ambassador will be visiting Tatton's show garden and planting a Maackia amurensis 'Buergeri' tree in memory of the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.
Ticket prices range from £19.50 to £28 and are on sale now from the RHS website or 0844 581 0810. Children under 16 go free.
