Last year I didn’t start thinking seriously about Tatton Show until May (the show is in July). It may only be January but I know I need to start much earlier this year. The plants I need will be harder to find, and I want to produce better, bigger plants than I did last year.

I’ve mentioned to a few people that I want to do something ‘Inspired by Great Dixter’. To that end I went to Sussex last week to talk the idea over with Fergus Garrett and his team and spent a very happy hour or so plucking nuggets of advice from them about plant choices and how to grow them on to best effect. It is wonderful spending time with very experienced gardeners. Their accumulated knowledge is far greater than could ever be written down, so must be exchanged face to face or lost. Horticultural college is fine as far as it goes, but it’s barely a skeleton of knowledge, lacking the complex flesh of real understanding which takes decades to build up. Still, I’m building it slowly but perceptibly.

Here’s the picture I took at Dixter from which the Tatton idea originates. It feels quite scary to look at it – I have no idea really if I can produce anything with this strength of form, depth of colour and density of planting by July. I have started collecting plants – a couple of Musa basjoo, some Cannas, Ensete
ventricosa ‘Maurelii’ (Red Banana), and I’m on the trail of some specific Dahlia varieties. But there’s a very long way to go…
Great Dixter’s Exotic Garden, August 2006

January 19, 2008