Tatton Magazine 2023

Dear reader,

As J. Parker’s reaches its 90th anniversary, we felt it was only right to commemorate such an occasion the only way we saw fit - with our first exhibition garden at the most prestigious North West flower show in over twenty years.

Our contemporary theme, ‘Chained to Tech’, is a topic that’s close to our hearts as a family-run business. With links to Manchester Metropolitan University, making a long-lasting and valuable impact on society was ultimately the goal for our garden this year. Alongside the topic of the design, our aim of supporting young people within horticulture is something that we feel passionately about, and we’re excited to be working with two incredible garden designers at the start of their careers.

We hope our garden evokes inspiration and emotion, which we encourage you to channel into designs for your own gardens.

Thank you for 90 incredible years. We hope to see you at the show.

Paul Duiker-Parker, Managing Director at J. Parker’s

J. Parker’s Celebrates 90

Years!

Did you know that J. Parker’s is a family-owned and run business? Did you also know that this year marks our 90-year anniversary? In 1933, Martin Parker moved his family from Beverwijk, Holland to Manchester, England. The plan? Launch a wholesale mail-order bulb business.

Born into generations of bulb growers and exporters, Martin was excited to provide his customers with top-quality products with his inherited knowledge. In those early days, the business was run from a small, terraced house on Chester Road in Manchester. This was where Martin and his wife, Joan, would package products – or more specifically, from their shed. From that moment, history was made, and customers were left with impeccable (and affordable) gardens.

To this day, we are owned and run by a third generation of Parkers. With one of the largest online catalogues in the market, we’re proud to continuously provide customers with top-quality products at value prices, alongside our top-notch customer service.

RHS Flower Show Tatton Park marks our first appearance in over 20 years. We’re excited to showcase our garden with you all, and we’re proud to be exhibiting our ‘Chained to Tech Garden’ the same year as our 90th anniversary, in the North West where our story began. Here’s to many more!

Follow our 90-Year Journey...

1933 -1949

Martin Parker flew to England from Holland to kickstart his new wholesale business – J. Parker’s Dutch Bulbs.

1950-1973

Martin’s son Chris joined the family business, alongside expanding into retail. In 1971, Britain’s first postal strike rocked the boat, with thousands of catalogues undelivered. Land was sold to help us persevere.

1974-1999

Chris took over the business and introduced trend-setting competitor comparison newspaper ads which caused a business boom. In 1999, Chris’s son, Paul, joined the company.

2000-2009

Our retail site was launched in 2000, followed by wholesale in 2004. This revolutionised the business, helping us take orders and assist customers online.

2010-2022

Improvements in our garden centres ran from 2010-19. This saw updates to our Flixton centre and an expansion in Anwick. In 2016, Paul became Managing Director. Chris still works solely within the wholesale business.

2023

This year, J. Parker’s celebrates its 90th anniversary. 90 years of providing customers with quality products and customer service. Here’s to many more!

Welcome to the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2023

RHS Flower Show Tatton Park is the biggest northern flower festival of the year. This spectacular day out provides fun for all ages, from family activities to talks, workshops, gardening advice, and even shopping. Plus, what would a flower show be without a few exhibition gardens? Just like RHS Chelsea Flower Show, exhibitionists compete for medals as they unveil their elaborately themed gardens. Here’s what you can look forward to this year.

You Should Know...

This year, the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park will run from Wednesday 19th to Sunday 23rd of July 2023. Wednesday is RHS Members’ Day, and you will need an RHS membership to enter the flower show on this day. Thursday to Sunday is open to the public, although you will need a general sale ticket to enter. You can purchase your tickets on the RHS website. Prices range from £29.85 (£25.85 for members) for an adult to £8.85 for children aged 5-16. Children under 5 get free admission.

If you’d like to become an RHS member, you can apply on the RHS website at www.rhs.org.uk/join. The signup process is quick and simple – all you need to do is fill out an online form and pay the fee!

What to Expect at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park

Tatton is a family-friendly environment that’s bursting at the seams with things to see, do, and eat! There are flower stalls where you can buy a spectacular array of plants, exhibitions with garden-theme inspiration, talks held by gardening experts, and food stalls to quench your thirst and satisfy your hunger.

If you, your friends, and your family are avid gardening enthusiasts, then don’t miss out! Buy your tickets today.

Will We See You There?

J. Parker’s will be at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park! For the first time in twenty years, we will be showcasing an exhibition garden (read more about our garden on pages 8-11), as well as being on-hand for any gardening-related questions at our stall! Will we see you there?

The Show Garden Concept ‘Chained to Tech’

The theme of our show garden is ‘Chained to Tech.’ The garden design will focus around bringing awareness to mental health amongst young people and will highlight the role that ‘addiction to technology’ is having on the wellness of younger people. The message is extremely relevant today following the reliance on technology during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The garden will incorporate both hard and soft landscaping ideas to help tell the story, including a selection of different coloured and textured plants to symbolise issues that technology addicted younger people may face such as: stress, anxiety and attention deficiency.

Once the show has finished, we will utilise this amazing garden fully by re-locating it locally to the Manchester community.

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We appreciate technology is an important part of day-to-day life, but we are also becoming increasingly aware of the impact excessive use can have on mental health. We have seen first-hand the positive impact horticulture can have and hope this garden will educate as many people as possible.

Paul Duiker-Parker, Managing Director at J. Parker’s

Plants of Distinction Within Our Garden

Achillea filipendulina ‘Cloth of Gold’

Achillea ‘Terracotta’

Agastache ‘Blue Fountain’

Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’

Catananche caerulea ‘Major’

Coreopsis ‘Mercury Rising’

Carex comans ‘Frosted Curls’

Dryopteris filix-mas

Dryopteris filix-mas ‘Linearis Polydactyla’

Echinops sphaerocephalus ‘Blue Globe’

Euonymus alatus

Foeniculum vulgare

Hemerocallis ‘Frans Hals’

Kniphofia ‘Papaya Popsicle’

Nepeta x faassenii

Phlomis russeliana

Phormium t. ‘Rainbow Queen’

Pittosporum tobira ‘Nanum’

Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Bloom’

Scabiosa ochroleuca

Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’

Stipa tenuissima

Teucrium fruticans

Vitis

Chamomile nobile ‘Treneague’ Coreopsis ‘Limerock Passion’

Cordyline australia Cynara carndunculus

Dahlia ‘Kelsey Annie Joy’

Eryngium planum ‘Blaukappe’

Punica granatum

Trachelosperum jasminoides

The Design of ‘Chained to Tech’

The design uses a mass of physical components you would typically relate to technological devices. Polished brass strips are used along the ground and on walls. Rebar, abstractly representing technological cables, decorates the arbour and fence line. Even laser-cut panels are used to mimic circuit board patterns.

To create a textural concrete finish, recycled Shou-Sugi-Ban timber and the Corten effect steel are used throughout the design. Drought-tolerant and lowmaintenance plants can look quite weathered, and we are using them to represent the dry eyes caused by excessive screen use. Even our planting scheme has been considered and features a mass of bold colours and shapes – mimicking the anger and frustration one might feel while also simulating the instant gratification that’s experienced when using technology.

Although the overall design is inspired by the physical effects technology can produce, we also hope for it to encourage young adults to spend more time outside. A hanging chair has been included within the design, providing a relaxing setting that encourages social interaction. It overlooks the garden, helping to reduce feelings of anxiety and depression as you observe nature.

Please scan the QR code to shop the full range of plants within the show garden or visit:

www.jparkers.co.uk/shoptatton

I was thrilled to be approached by J. Parker’s to design their show garden this year. This garden really resonates with me, having seen the impact of technological addiction myself and I hope the garden will be meaningful and impactful for others.

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Rachel Platt, Garden Designer

Meet the Designer Rachel Platt

We have partnered with last year’s RHS Young Designer of the Year finalist, Rachel Platt, who designed our ‘Chained to Tech’ garden. We decided to ask her all about her style and inspiration so you can get to know the genius behind the exhibition.

Have you always loved gardening?

Yes, growing up my dad gave me a love of propagation. He absolutely loves propagating plants and over the years that turned into me learning how to grow things. We’d go around garden centres and RHS Gardens too, so I think it was mainly my dad that got me into gardening and since then, the passion has grown.

How did you get into garden design?

I didn’t know you could do it as a career! When I would walk around RHS shows when I was younger, it was not advertised as a possible career. But then I went to university, and I studied how nature and culture interact in various mediums, like paintings and music, and I found it fascinating. I decided to do a dissertation on a landscape garden by Capability Brown. I always knew I wanted to do something design-wise, and I was thinking of doing fashion design, but after doing geography at university and realising I wanted to use the environment in my design work, that’s how I then came up with the idea. After university, I did a bit of research and realised you could do this as a career, so I just went for it, got stuck in, and saved up the money to be able to do the course.

What’s been the biggest challenge with the show garden?

My biggest challenge so far has been the weather because we’ve had a lot of heavy frosts, and we’re using a lot of drought-tolerant and Mediterranean plants, so that has had a little bit of an impact on what we can use at the show. Some plants had a bit of frost

damage or weren’t looking good, and some plants have come up too quickly, so we’re very much adapting to that now but we’ve got a great plant selection to choose from, but yeah, I’d say that’s probably been the biggest challenge so far.

What’s your design process?

I start with a survey of the land because it helps to plan. For example, where do you need steps? Or where would you need to change the levels in the garden? I then speak to the client to see exactly what they’d like. For instance, with the ‘Chained to Tech’ garden, we knew it was going to be about mental health, specifically how technology affects mental health. Then, once you’ve got the garden size, lay of the land and an idea of what the client wants, I turn to geometry and playing with shapes. I then do a 3D perspective, which gives an idea of how it’s going to look, where things are going to go, and what style you’re going for.

What can people look forward to the most about the ‘Chained to Tech’ Garden?

I think the thing people can most look forward to is the planting scheme. People are passionate about plants at Tatton, and I think they are going to see a lot of interesting shapes, forms, and lots of colour. It’s going to be bold; it’s going to have lots of contrast, it’s going to be quite hot compared to last year, when I did a woodland theme. The design is a bit different, but I think people will love it as it embodies the colour, vibrancy, and joyfulness that you see at Tatton.

• Rachel studied Garden Design at the Oxford College of Garden Design, graduating with distinction.

• She set up her own design practice, ‘Rachel Platt Garden Design’, during her postgraduate diploma course.

• Her awards include runner up Young Designer of the Year: Best Construction and Peoples Choice at RHS Tatton Park 2022 as well as Pro Landscaper’s 30 under 30.

Working In Partnership With Manchester Metropolitan University

Most of us have unlimited access to gadgets and tech that are designed to make our lives easier. But what if they achieve the opposite? For millions of people across the globe, tech addiction is a very real and debilitating reality. The word addiction is often synonymous with exposure to alcohol, drugs, gambling, eating and more. But as the tiny computers in our pockets become more advanced, our attachment to them grows.

A survey conducted by media watchdog Ofcom found that, out of the fifty million internet users in the UK, large numbers admitted that the internet had a severely negative impact on their lives. From this survey, a third of people admitted they spent too much time online and missed out on spending time with loved ones. Fifty-nine per cent admitted that they were ‘hooked’.

As well as working with award-winning garden designer, Rachel Platt on our exhibition garden, we decided to take it one step further. We contacted Manchester Metropolitan University in hopes they would be interested in running our nature-based research project. This project is an important asset to our garden, as it will help us better understand how the ‘Chained to Tech’ garden impacts observers and will gauge their perceptions of the theme.

Dr. Lucy Walker, Research Associate in the Psychology Department at MMU said: “We are very excited to be working with J. Parker’s on this innovative garden design. The garden demonstrates a clever use of colour and design elements to demonstrate the addictive qualities of technology and the impact this can have on mental

Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes report 2023, Ofcom

health. The garden will help to inform the public about the dangers of technology addiction and promote safe usage, especially among young people at most risk of poor mental health outcomes.”

How do we tackle this growing epidemic? Like any addiction, tech addiction can be difficult to overcome. According to UKRI, one of the largest studies to date on gardening found that ‘those who spent time in the garden reported better physical and mental health than those who did not’. The British Psychological Society found that gardening activities improve relationships,

Dr. Lucy Walker, Research Associate, Department of Psychology, MMU

reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and allow for a sense of achievement that boosts confidence and self-esteem. Although gardening may not be a prescription against tech addiction, it has been proved that spending more time outdoors can help shake the awful effects that tech addiction cause.

The ’Chained to Tech’ garden is a direct representation of tech addiction, featuring pleasing plants that induce instant gratification, like what you would experience when you use technology. Come see our exhibition garden for yourself for the full experience.

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“ More than nine in ten (92%) UK adults use the internet at home or elsewhere. Accessing information, education, entertainment and social connection can all occur online, reflecting the ever-blurring nature of ‘life’ and ‘life online.’

J. Parker’s Plant Village Garden

After nearly two decades away from summer shows, it was exciting to return to the RHS Tatton Flower Show last year. We hoped that the summer shows would provide an opportunity to showcase the quality of our products and service direct to gardeners across all sectors of the business, and thanks to the hard work of our team, this certainly proved to be the case. Our plant village display garden was a huge success and even became a talking point for visitors, with many lovely comments and praise passed along to team members.

This year, our plant village garden will be designed by our very own assistant manager and RHS-certified garden expert, Hannah Rowson. We caught up with her to learn more about her and the inspiration behind the display.

Has gardening always been a hobby of yours?

I’d say that gardening was a definite part of my childhood as we had a little vegetable patch at the bottom of my parent’s garden which we loved. As I got older, throughout high school and college I helped less and less but then when I started working at J. Parker’s whilst at university, I started to get back into it again, helping my parents with their garden and now I love it!

What is it that you enjoy most about gardening?

I think that it’s probably one of the only times where I completely switch off and just focus on what I’m doing when I’m gardening. You also can’t beat when all your plants and vegetables come into flower and fruit, it’s the best feeling seeing all your hard work pay off.

How did you get into gardening?

I think that it was a mixture of things really. As I said previously it was always a part of my life growing up but then I think working in the horticulture industry whilst doing my degree also got me into it. Whenever the new catalogues came out, I’d always flick through and see which my favourites were! Then I started helping my parents with their garden more and more and now I’m just obsessed with plants!

How does garden designing differ from your day-to-day work at Mottram Garden Centre?

I suppose everything differs really. At Mottram, I’m assisting the management of the garden centre and

ordering seasonally to suit a multitude of tastes and requirements for our customers. The Tatton trade stall border has given me an opportunity to focus on one theme and to put a design together that will hopefully inspire people to try different plants/schemes in their own gardens.

What’s been your biggest challenge designing the trade stall border?

I would say that it’s probably narrowing down the choice of plants, there are so many plants that I love and would want to use but it’s not possible to cram them all in!

When designing, what was your process?

The first thing was deciding what our theme would be and what we wanted the stall border to represent. So, myself and the team decided that we wanted our colour theme to relate back to our show garden, to include drought tolerant and pollinator-friendly plants and also plants that we supply as part of the mail order. I also wanted the border to be as accessible as possible, so we haven’t chosen any plants that are extremely difficult to grow or get hold of. Then for the design itself, I decided to keep it as simple as

possible with a cottage-style border full of colour. We want people to go home feeling like this is something that they could try in their own gardens and not feel intimidated by it, it doesn’t have to be fancy!

What can people at home look forward to most about the trade stall border at RHS Tatton?

There will be lots of plants that are in the border that are available to buy along with bulbs and other plants we sell at J Parkers. You can sign up for our mailing list, meet our team, and bag some exclusive discounts!

View Hannah’s planting videos on TikTok @jparkersbulbs

J. Parker’s in the Community

One of our goals for 2023, especially as a family business, is to give back to local charities and community groups. Internally, our community team works hard with charities to give something back to local communities in any way we can.

Since 2021, we have worked with five local charities to help them bring their projects to life. This includes organisations like Manchester Mind, Northern Care Alliance NHS, Mid-Cheshire Bee Committee, and more!

Our community team ensures that we are always on the lookout for charities that would benefit from our assistance. Our goal is to encourage an interest in horticulture and gardening, which these charities promote on their own. Hand in hand, our aim is always to encourage and support, in whatever way we can. With more projects in the pipeline for 2023 alone, we’re excited to see what the future brings. Stay up to date with our projects via our blog and social media.

Manchester Mind Sensory Garden

Mid-Cheshire Bee Committee

Maples Care Home Garden Redevelopment

NorthCare

In 2022, we partnered up with NorthCare - the official charity of Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust. Their Greater Manchester homes provide patients with onsite care and rehabilitation. So far, we have injected life into a rundown garden in Worsley, giving patients and employees a place to unwind. We hope to partner more with NorthCare in the future.

northcarecharity.org

northcarecharity@nca.nhs.uk

Manchester Mind

Manchester Mind is a local mental health charity that has provided support to the people of Manchester for over 30 years. We’ve been partnered with Manchester Mind since 2021, collaborating with them on local mental health projects. We have so far assisted Manchester Mind to provide their patients with an outlet that promotes wellness.

manchestermind.org

info@manchestermind.org

Mid-Cheshire Bee Committee

The Mid-Cheshire Bee Committee helps spread awareness of the importance of pollinators, as well as providing keen participants with the opportunity for mentorship and training on beekeeping. In 2023, our goal is to help boost their training program and fund the cost of their first beehive at their training site in Northwich - plus regular monthly donations to help them continue their beekeeping efforts.

midcheshirebeekeepers.co.uk

info@midcheshirebeekeepers.co.uk

Home Start, Trafford, Salford and Wigan

Home Start is a community-based support group that helps new parents settle into their new lifestyle. Trained volunteers visit families regularly, all of whom know how hard parenting can be at times, to provide advice and guidance where needed. J. Parker’s will soon assist with fundraising and projects to show how gardening can support local families.

hsts.org.uk

admin@hsts.org.uk

Garden Needs

Garden Needs is a dedicated community group based in Salford that supports the local community through horticulture. They help people connect with nature and gardening, promoting a healthier and happier lifestyle. This service is free to Salford-based residents, providing them with peer support and outdoor activities. J. Parker’s will provide plants like trees and shrubs, as well as regular support on ongoing projects (like building a new plant border) and knowledge sharing.

gardenneeds.org.uk

hello@socialadventures.org.uk

Scan here to view our charity partners

We love to collaborate with charities and local companies, providing rich industry knowledge and supplies to whatever project you’re planning.

For charity enquiries please contact us at: charity@jparkers.co.uk

J. Parker’s Staff Garden

We understand the importance of green space for mental health so that’s why recently we launched our new Staff Garden located at our head office in Manchester. The garden is available to all staff on site, across all departments, and only includes plants that we sell as a company so we can experience the whole growing process, just like a customer would. We had a large number of employees who volunteered to help build the garden and other volunteers who have joined our maintenance team so that we can ensure the garden will look its best all year around.

The Completed J. Parker’s Staff Garden

Looking Internally: Our Staff Garden

We’ve built the staff garden for many reasons. The first priority when looking at the garden was training the contact centre to help out our customers. It’s a great learning experience for them to get hands-on experience in the garden, learn from some of our more senior members, and then we can pass that information on to our customers.

Another reason to build the garden was to do with staff wellbeing, as it’s really good for your physical health, really good for your mental health and it’s a great way to de-stress. As we’re in an urban area, having that bit of green space is a really good perk for the staff.

We also anticipate it being a really nice social area so a little area where staff can go and have their lunch breaks, morning/afternoon breaks, or to even meet with clients and suppliers.

We wanted the garden to be somewhere relaxing for the staff to go. So the garden promoted well-being and a bit of happiness at work!

We chose the colour scheme to be as relaxing as possible. All the plants chosen include scented ones, tactile ones with soft leaves and some fruit and veg too.

We wanted this garden to be accessible to everyone, giving our staff somewhere they can learn and grow. They even can take that knowledge home and apply it to their own gardens.

We wanted the garden to be as ‘reuse/recycle’ as possible, so we used crates that we already had in the warehouse. All the staff got involved with the painting and construction of the garden, and they’ve also been out there planting it up. So it’s all ready to go now for staff to enjoy!

Scan the QR code to watch our staff garden planting video.

Laura Davies, Head of HR & Payroll

Hannah Rowson, Assistant Manager

A Huge Thank You to Our Suppliers!

This year’s Tatton Garden design wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our amazing suppliers. A big shoutout to...

Schellevis

Producers of a premium range of high-quality decorative paving and concrete for garden landscapes, including the recycled concrete used within our show display.

schellevis.nl

Everest Garden Landscapes

An experienced multi-award-winning garden landscaper that has helped us sculpt our ideas and turned them into reality.

facebook.com/everestgardenlandscapes

Windhorst

Windhorst have been our key logistics partner on the project, providing us with quality key plants and materials for the show.

windhorst.nl

Platipus

Quality supplier of the tree anchors and g-wall display featured in the garden, adding those all-important finishing touches.

platipus-anchors.com

Alken Systems

Experienced engineering and steel fabrication services, giving the garden its contrasting and unique shape.

alkensystems.co.uk

Dzome

Creating unique and inspiring art pieces for the garden, including our bespoke hanging chair. These pieces help us to emphasise the digital theme that our garden conveys.

dzome.com

Liquid Metal FX

Liquid Metal FX have provided us with bespoke artisan finishes by using liquified metal for a unique effect. Their true artistry helps us to fully sell the theming of digital addiction.

liquidmetal.art

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the Conversation

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Tag your gardening triumphs with #grownbyyou at @jparkersbulbs

Grow Your Knowledge

New to gardening? Our website is full of expert knowledge, from handy growing guides to useful blogs and more. Visit us online today to get started.

Grow Your Garden for less with J. Parker’s

“As a family-run business, now stretching over three generations of the Duiker-Parker family, our commitment to providing quality and value is as strong as ever.”

Paul Duiker-Parker Managing Director

To find savings across 1000’s of products online visit: www.jparkers.co.uk

15 Allium Purple Rain £7.99 SALE £2.99 (B406)

30 Hyacinth Pastel Mix £26.97 SALE £17.98 (E769)

10 Narcissus Dick Wilden £7.99 SALE £2.99 (B785)

40 Tulip Van Eijk Collection £27.96 SALE £9.96 (B784)