Spring Cleaning

Now the snow has melted away, leaving Tatton’s gardens looking fresh and green again, we’ve been continuing with our winter programme.

The glasshouses have had a thorough spring-clean. We have eleven glasshouses to clean each year and make them free of bugs and fungal diseases for our tender plants. A blast with a power-washer is followed with a more traditional method (always best) of a bucket of water and some soap. We also use a traditional round Turk’s Head brush; its long bristles reach into all those tricky corners.

One glasshouse in particular has been getting some special attention. This year we've been delighted to have purchased a Begonia Rex collection from Terry and Shirley Tasker of Southport. Over a number of years, the couple have built up a fabulous collection of these special plants. 151 types of begonias will now be housed in one of Tatton’s glasshouses and open to the public to enjoy from the high season at the end of March.

Amongst these 151 varieties are 21 from the original collection of the Begonia enthusiast, Mac Mcintyre. McIntyre was born in Edinburgh in 1905 and, on his death in 1983, his collection of Begonias was bequeathed to Glasgow Botanic Gardens. Interestingly, he actually lived in Knutsford for a while! It’s great for us to be able to make that direct link with this important Begonia champion and also to be able to reintroduce a Begonia collection to Tatton Park. In the past, these plants were kept in the Fernery; we have some black and white photographs in the archive from c.1891 where you can clearly see Begonias amongst the tree ferns.

We are currently re-flagging the York stone paths in the new Begonia glasshouse and will be putting in the traditional decorative iron staging – crafted by the local Mobberley blacksmith Dave Broadbent. I can’t wait to see it in situ!

Another job this week has been to put forcing bells (clay pots) over the rhubarb in the kitchen gardens. This will keep the ground warm and hopefully bring on some early rhubarb for us this spring.

And finally.. the photo shows us at the annual Gordale Orchid Show on the Wirral on the weekend of 16th and 17th January. We love taking part in this event; it’s a great opportunity for us to display our own fantastic orchid collection, swap some plants, meet old friends and make some new ones.

Bob Buckley
Glasshouse and Kitchen Garden Supervisor

Still covered with a blanket of snow, with frost still picking out the beautiful tracery of the tree skeletons, Tatton Park is getting ready for spring. Under the snow, our Pinetum is transformed into a magical winter wonderland, giving many of our magnificent specimens a taste of their true homes: Bhutan, China, Japan and North America. It was originally the only way people could experience the four corners of the globe and even still, it has lost none of its charm and magic to see stately pines, laden with snow sparkling under a low winter sun.
With a thaw slowly taking place another special experience awaits the visitor at Tatton. The sweet delicate perfumes of winter shrubs start to fill the air. As you walk out of the Tower Garden, through Tower Wood, the spidery petals of the Witch Hazels are starting to give out their smell. Both Hammamellis mollis and intermedia will be at their very best in a week or two. Wafting through the air also is the smell of Mahonia x media, a sweet and strong smell so loved by the hardiest of bees.
Another cracking small shrub for this time of year is the sweet-smelling Sarcocca hookeriana, whose tiny white flowers with pink anthers pack a heady punch on these still, frosty days. I couldn't not mention Calicarpa bodinieri 'Profusion' whose steely violet berries leap out of our L border for visitors who, along with all the other berries and fruits in the garden, maintains a great deal of winter interest around the garden. And finally, don't miss all the wonderful bark colours and textures around the garden, including the ghostly white Betula ermanii and the knarled, twisted shapes of the Dawn Redwoods.
Tatton, more than any other garden has so much all season interest. There is as much to see as you want, whatever the time of year and we are always busy maintaining the garden for your next visit.

Simon Tetlow, Garden Team Leader
www.tattonpark.org.uk