A plant lover's guide to 2018

Every year in late July, a sleepy and pastoral corner of Cheshire plays host to an explosion of plant life. I'm not talking about the blue-green algae on the local pond. I'm talking about one the best spectacles in the North for plant lovers: the RHS Tatton Flower Show. 

It's become a real mecca, providing an annual boost of inspiration and imagination for die-hard gardenistas - and a great day out for people who just love the stunning variety, the atmosphere of the fair, and the opportunity to get their hands on the latest in gardening fashion.

Like everything, garden fashions do change, and Tatton provides an insight into what's hot and what's not in the world of horticulture this year. So I've tried to capture some of the movers and shakers for 2018.

So, what's hot?

Sanguisorba minor

If there's one plant that stood out this year, it would be this rather unassuming herbaceous perennial, commonly known as Salad Burnet. Providing ground cover with a rowan-like fan of leaves and holding aloft bobs of modest scarlet flowers, it was everywhere, adding form and detail to cottage-style borders.

Agastache officinalis

A cottage garden favourite better known as Hyssop, these foot-high spikes of purple flowers were in almost every show garden, feeding hoards of hungry pollinators. (In fact, there were so many bees humming round at Tatton this year, I did wonder if there were more bees than people!)

The red bob-heads of Salad Burnet can be seen in front of the purple Hyssop

Achillea millefolium

Best known as Yarrow, this ferny-leaved plant with dense clusters of bee-friendly flowers was all the rage in the past few years, and it still hasn't lost its crown. With varieties ranging from purples and pinks to whites, yellows and ochres - all pastels - it brings a dainty pointillism to the garden.

The pinkish spots of Yarrow can just be seen behind the globes

Festuca glauca

The silvery-blue spikes of this little grass were everywhere to be found. In fact, a whole range of grasses were integrated into borders to create an almost meadow-like effect, and Acorus gramineus (an outdoor spider plant lookalike) was planted amongst ferns giving the feel of a woodland understorey.

The Brewer's Garden, recreating a meadow with a delicate palette of grasses

Grasses interspersed amongst the ferns

... and what's not?

Rosa

Some plants were conspicuous by their absence, not least the archetypal English rose. We only counted a single rose in any of the show gardens (and we had to ask for a plant ID because it looked more like a geranium!)

Agapanthus and Allium

In previous years, Agapanthus was all the rage, with its tall spheres of brilliant purple-blue trumpets taking the shows by storm, en masse. But this year, it was peppered around, returning to grace gardens as only a spot plant. No better was the fate of its cousin, the globe of the purple-headed allium, which was near invisible except as a specimen plant.

Moving water

This one's not a vegetable and it's not an animal; it's a mineral. Water is everywhere you look in a garden in one form or another, but where 'water features' would once have been in vogue, with elaborate features and jets, they have been replaced by dark, natural-looking pools of still water - the more natural the better. In fact, one garden tried to recreate the look of a blackish pond by using dye but tried to combine it with movement through jets. The effect was a woeful black stained water feature!

My favourite

I have to say that my 'hands-down' favourite garden at this year’s Tatton Flower Show had few of the ‘what’s hot’ plants and broke some of the ‘what’s not rules’. But the exotic allure of this garden - with its tropical Canna and red hot pokers - was undeniable, and the cuddly sloth nestled on the hot tub epitomised the luxury at the heart of the vision for this space. Perfect for the city garden!

Spot the sloth!