The history of the Tatton Garden Society
In 1992, the Tatton Garden Society published an anniversary booklet to celebrate their first 30 years, giving a history of the Society at Tatton and celebrating the people who were instrumental in setting it up. You can read the full content here.
The history of the Lovell Quinta Arboretum
The Arboretum takes its name from a house built in 1911 by a Reverend Banner whose fiancee had agreed to marry him on the condition that he built a copy of her Congleton home named The Quinta (the name derives from the Portuguese for a ‘country house’). To read the full article, click here.
Rhododendrons by Malcolm Bruce
Rhododendrons are descended from the Magnolias through the Camellia and Dillenia families. They belong to the family Ericaceae. Their floral parts are typical of those of primitive plants. Fossil records show that rhododendrons existed in Europe and North America some 50 million years ago, essentially in the same form as the wild ones in Asia; a few of these still exist in America (Asia and America were once contiguous). To read the full article, click here.
Improving the security of your house and garden by Peter Davies
Most burglars look for easy ways of getting into a house and two-thirds of them gain entry via the back garden. But by taking a few simple precautions you can reduce the risk. To read the full article, click here.
Caldwell’s Nurseries in Knutsford by Kathleen Goodchild
Very little is known about the early plant nurseries. The first ones were in the London area and in a few cases can be traced back to the beginning of the 17th century. Outside London we know of only three substantial nurseries in the provinces before 1700. These were the garden of John Lea in Shropshire, the Paradise Gardens at Oxford and the Friars’ Gardens at York. It seems that the earliest major nurseries supplying general stock outside the Metropolitan area were mainly in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. In NW England there is no trace of the trade before 1750. To read the full article, click here.
Benefits of membership include free entry into The Lovell Quinta Arboretum at Swettenham, free entry into Tatton Gardens, private garden tours, reduced car parking fees, discounts at selected garden centres, society plant sale, lectures and more.