A garden dedicated to rugby legend Doddie Weir and his fundraising efforts for motor neurone disease will be showcased at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park as the show celebrates its 25th anniversary this summer.
Designed by Pip Probert, My Name’5 Doddie will incorporate the colours of the player’s own private tartan, with sculptures representing players in a line out, rugby goal posts and a water feature based on the tartan flower brooch used by the charity.
Weir revealed in June 2017 that he was suffering from MND and launched the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation later that year with a vision of ridding the world of the cruel disease.
Sadly he died in November 2022 but his foundation has now committed more than £11 million to 40 research projects to help find effective treatments and, one day, a cure for the disease.
The RHS Flower Show garden’s scheme will represent the number 5, his position on the rugby field.
Other gardens will include The 1804 Garden by Carolyn Hardern and Jon Jarvis, the design duo behind last year’s Best Show Garden.
Hardern and Jarvis continue their campaign to support construction workers, this time focusing on how a garden can be designed to mitigate against the risks of melanoma caused by excessive sun exposure.
Skills of local artisans and craftspeople are celebrated in The Grant Horticulture Arts & Crafts Garden, by Callum Bain MacKay.
The final Show Garden comes from Ollie Pike, with This Garden Isn’t Finished Without You, sponsored by the Methodist Church, showcasing the church’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
In the Terrace Gardens, Tom Saunders will bring a touch of the Andes to a Peak District setting with The Orchid Garden, after the designer’s travels to South America where he saw the flowers growing in their natural ecosystem and realised that native orchids can be grown domestically and set within dry stone walls.
Sophie Godber’s Big Picture Garden highlights conscious consumerism, embracing a repurposed appearance with objects and materials sourced from a 19th century farmstead to demonstrate how building a new garden doesn’t need to cost the earth, while Hilary Newhall’s The Secret Garden: For Us, By Us raises awareness of the challenges faced by autistic adults.
This year will also see the return of the Long Borders. Women’s rights and the colours of the Women’s Suffrage Movement are highlighted in Susan Booth’s garden, while other themes will include the Cheshire rail network, LGBTQ+ rights, the Manchester skyline and an edible family garden.
The next time that RHS Flower Show Tatton Park will be on the site will be in 2027, as part of a roster of changes to the show’s schedule announced earlier this year.
Sarah Poll, RHS Head of Shows Development, said: "What a fantastic line-up for the 25th anniversary of the wonderful RHS Flower Show Tatton Park.
“From gardens addressing illnesses such as MND to sustainability, arts and crafts, orchids and even Barbie – we're delighted to showcase the best of cutting-edge design and thought provoking gardens.
"We've also got a superb range of food and drinks, live entertainment and shopping opportunities so everyone, young or old, families or individuals can come and enjoy a great day out."
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park takes place from July 17-21. Tickets can be bought by visiting rhs.org.uk/tatton
