BCSS Macclesfield & East Cheshire Branch

Newsletter September 2006 - The RHS Show at Tatton

One again members from branches in Zones 5 and 19 provided staff for a display put up in the name of the BCSS at Tatton. This year, as it happened, in the almost overpowering at times July heat. Over the five days of the Show there were more than twenty helpers drawn from seven branches; an excellent effort as usual. All the plants were provided and staged by our own branch, by Harold Cooper, Julia Davenport, Elizabeth Maddock, Judith and David Roseblade and yours truly. In addition to providing plants, Elizabeth had put in a lot of work producing colourful maps of North and South America and of the African continent. We thought we had a more informative display than last year and, as before, we opted to be judged in the educational/conservation category. We were a little disappointed to be awarded a Bronze Medal having gained a Silver on previous occasions. It was helpful to speak to one of the judges later and her view was that the display of plants was fine but the panel would have liked even greater emphasis on education/conservation. A challenge for 2007!

The Show itself, with the site laid out in a new grid system, provided the usual outstanding displays in the floral marquee, a great variety of show gardens (some difficult to understand) of all sizes, a bewildering array of garden equipment and furniture, all kinds of eatable and drinkable goodies in the Country Living Marquee (I do like the samples), about a dozen and a half of thematic displays put up by Local Authorities using bedding plants, a feature I think is unique to Tatton, and lots, lots more.

I like Echeverias so I went looking to see if I could spot any anywhere in addition to the few we had on our stand. The three Cactus and Succulent nurseries in the Floral Marquee had gained between them two Gold Medals and a Silver Gilt but not one Echeveria could I see in their displays. They did have a few for sale. Nothing much in the show gardens either although there was the odd cactus, Aloe and Aeonium. When, however, I turned to the bedding displays there were hundreds, if not thousands playing all kinds of roles in the objects constructed out of plant material. They were the eyes of a dinosaur in Scarborough’s 'Dinosaur Coast' and the title of the bed was picked out in Echeverias. They formed the wheel hubs of a lorry and were incorporated in floral traffic cones in Darlington’s representation of 'Blooms in Transit'. They formed bars of silver in the 'Cuerdale Hoard', Viking silver treasure found by the River Ribble in 1840 and recalled by Preston City Council in their flower bed. They were water in a canal lock. They were everywhere.

So there may have been a dearth of sophisticated Echeverias and cultivars but the jobbing, bedding Echeveria seems to have a great future.

I wonder how many of we succulent growers use them for bedding out, or do we prefer Busy Lizzies?

Alasdair Glen