British Blooms – RHS Chelsea 2015

Tags

Adam Frost, Avone Bulbs, Chris Beardshaw, Foxglove Illumination Series 'Apricot', Fritillaria acmopetala, Geum 'Totally Tangerine', Matthew Wilson, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2015, Sean Murray

The sheer amount of plant loveliness on display at the Chelsea Flower Show can be quite overwhelming. It’s also difficult to do the whole showground in just one day, so it can be hard to know where to start. This year my plan was to go with a theme in mind in the hope that this would give me some focus, particularly in the Great Pavilion.

Regular readers will know I’m a bit obsessed by home-grown cut flowers, whether they’re from my own cut flower patch or purchased from the growing number of small-scale flower farmers here in the UK. I’m always looking for new blooms that would be fabulous in a vase, or colour combinations that I could tailor my seed sowing plans towards. So what better place to start when looking for inspiration to take away with me from this year’s show?

M&S stand Blooms of the British Isles – RHS Chelsea 2015 ©Ian Curley

It seems that the message about British cut flowers finally seems to be getting out there. Marks and Spencer chose to celebrate their suppliers of home-grown flowers with a ‘Blooms of the British Isles’ stand in the Great Pavilion. The exhibit was designed as a quadrant, divided into blocks of flowers grown in the UK to supply M&S. The centre featured a tiered stand filled with flowers which was designed to represent a huge bouquet and the different layers of blooms. Flowers included scented stocks, peonies, lady’s mantle, alliums and tulips, along with pots of moth orchids, roses and chrysanthemums. These container-grown flowers didn’t fill me with joy, they just seem to lack the movement, delicacy and impact of larger cut flowers. The element that really did appeal to me though was the boundary to the display. This was a series of blocks of individual varieties which incorporated details of where the flowers were grown – alliums in Lincolnshire, peonies in Hertfordshire and scented stocks in Norfolk. It also conveyed the sense of them being grown as a crop rather than for ornamental purposes. The leaflet which accompanied the stand included a ‘meet the growers’ section with fab photos of the flower growers and snippets of info such as how Steve Ward of Bury Lane Peonies has 23 acres devoted to growing 140,000 peonies to meet the growing demand for these stunning blooms.

Rebecca Louise Law floral installation – RHS Chelsea 2015 ©Ian Curley

The flower installation by Rebecca Louise Law which hung above the heads of people as they used the walkway which links Main Avenue to the rest of the showground was such a clever idea, particularly for an area which might otherwise be neglected. She’d used a mixture of dried flowers and fresh, tied in bunches, which were then suspended from the roof. Unfortunately on Monday the walkway was like a huge wind tunnel which meant walking through it was like the tornado scene from the Wizard of Oz. Combine the wind with low light levels and it made it tricky to get a good photograph. I’m a huge fan of dried flowers, so I’ve come away with a few ideas for new ways to use them around my home.

Verbascum ‘Merlin’ – Matthew Wilson’s Royal Bank of Canada Garden ©Ian Curley

I’m always looking for new flowers and foliage which could find a way on to my cutting patch. Verbascums and geums were the two most popular flowers on the show gardens this year. I think Verbascum ‘Merlin’, used on both Matthew Wilson’s Royal Bank of Canada Garden and Chris Beardshaw’s Morgan Stanley Garden, was my favourite. It’s just such a pretty colour, subtle with a slightly faded quality about it that makes me think of antique fabric. I haven’t grown verbascums at home before; they need well-drained soil which might mean winter wet would see them off in my garden, but I’d certainly love to give them a go.

Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ – RHS Chelsea 2015 ©Ian Curley

Cow parsley has become a bit of a planting cliché at Chelsea in recent years. This part of London has done a passable impression of a spring hedgerow for a week every May for the last couple of years. It’s common for one plant to prove popular with designers year after year – plants which perform reliably each May regardless of the vagaries of the British weather are bound to be favoured by plant nurseries and designers. But even die-hard cow parsley lovers were starting to get a bit sick of seeing it. I’m one of those fans of naturalistic plants and delicate hedgerow frothiness, but I was pleased to see that there was much less of it around this year, although designers haven’t been able to let go of it completely. This time it was the turn of Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ to be totally everywhere. Launched in 2005 by Hardy’s Cottage Plants there’s talk of the shelves being cleared of it due to its Chelsea popularity this year. As a cut flower it apparently has a lot going for it – it’ll bloom throughout the summer and the long stems are perfect for the vase. I think it’s such a cheerful colour and I can see it working well with late-flowering tulips and wallflowers to make some gorgeous late spring/early summer arrangements and later on in the season with dahlias.

Antirrhinum ‘Pretty in Pink’ – RHS Chelsea 2015 ©Ian Curley

The Great Pavilion is the place to look out for new introductions and I spotted this snapdragon on the Hardy’s stand. Antirrhinum ‘Pretty in Pink’ is the first truly perennial form, it blooms all summer long and has good resistance to the fungal disease rust to which snapdragons are so prone. It’s another which won’t like sitting in wet soils, so it would be worth providing extra drainage and giving it some protection in winter.

Fritillaria acmopetala – RHS Chelsea 2015 ©Ian Curley

I love green flowers. They’re so unusual and striking and work well in a vase as they can provide the focal point or be a foil for other more colourful blooms. So what about this Fritillaria acmopetala on the Avon Bulbs stand? I love the little turn up at the base of the bell-shaped flowers – it reminds me of a bob hair cut where the ends have been flicked outwards. The delicate veining, the hints of gold and flashes of maroon all make it a very intriguing flower. This wouldn’t be a plant to provide bunches of flowers but I can imagine just a couple of stems in a simple vase would make such a pretty display.

Adam Frost’s Homebase Garden – RHS Chelsea 2015 ©Ian Curley

Orange was the colour of Chelsea 2015. Rust-coloured metalwork featured in several gardens from Chris Beardshaw’s with its sculpture and the rusty panels of Adam Frost’s Homebase Garden, to the rusted tin can sculptures on Sean Murray’s garden. Tones of rust were found in the planting too particularly on the Pure Land Foundation Fresh Garden with Iris germanica ‘Kent Pride’ and the newly-introduced Foxglove Illumination Series ‘Apricot’. Elsewhere there were the striking orange Californian poppies and Libertia peregrinans on Matthew Wilson’s garden. And the lighter, almost apricot colour of the Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ (it looks more apricot than tangerine to me) added a zing across the showground.

Lithodora and rusty metal – RHS Chelsea 2015 ©Ian Curley

As for how to use orange, well how about this combination which packs a punch, the blue flowers of lithodora against a rust-coloured container I spotted on one of the trade stands? It’s a mix of colours I hope I can replicate in a vase this summer using Salvia patens and a variety of orangey dahlias, strawflowers and pot marigolds.

Plummy planting – RHS Chelsea 2015 ©Ian Curley

Dark purples and rich plums were in evidence too. Lupins seem to be making a comeback. I’ve come around to many ‘old-fashioned’ plants in recent years from gladioli to chrysanthemums but I’m still not convinced by these rocket-shaped blooms. I do love the colour combination of this planting on the Alitex greenhouse stand though. And the clashing of dark colours with bright on Chris Beardshaw’s garden with purple irises and salivas placed next to orange geums is truly sumptuous. Using colours like this can be tricky to pull off, whether it’s in the garden or in a floral arrangement. We’ve all seen bouquets of gaudily-coloured flowers shoved together which really don’t work. Taking ideas from the masters of planting like Chris Beardshaw and applying that to the flowers you grow and use for cutting is one way of dipping your foot into the water.

Scrummy planting on Chris Beardshaw’s Morgan Stanley Garden – RHS Chelsea 2015 ©Ian Curley

So that’s plenty of ideas and images to inspire me this winter as I come up with my cut flower plans for next summer.

Advertisement

Windswept and Interesting – RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2015

Tags

Anneka Rice, Beth Chatto, Chatsworth, Dan Pearson, Great Pavilion, Jo Thompson, Matthew Wilson, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2015, RHS Hyde Hall, Sissinghurst

Protea on Charles Albone’s Time in Between Garden © Ian Curley

I spent yesterday immersed in plants, from orchids and exotic proteas to classic English roses and native elm trees. There were gardens created by the best designers and plantspeople from Britain and beyond. One enormous marquee – the Great Pavilion – a temple to plant passion with nurseries from across the country. There were sculptures, greenhouses and all manner of garden-related bit and bobs. This was press day at RHS Chelsea Flower Show and it really doesn’t get much better than this for someone who loves plants.

On a cold, grey morning in south-west London someone had clearly forgotten to mention to the weather that it was meant to be spring and, as if on cue, the spots of rain started to fall just as we entered the showground at 8am. Press Day is the day when suits, summery frocks and fabulous hats abound. Exhibitors, designers and sponsors want to look their best for the press calls, photos and, later in the day, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family. I had huge admiration for those ladies who had looked out of the window that morning and had disregarded the weather forecasts and thought ‘I’m wearing those heels and floaty dress regardless’. Then there were the rest of us in waterproofs huddled under umbrellas trying desperately to stay warm. Later on that morning Anneka Rice would enter the Great Pavilion looking like it was a summer’s day outside despite the fact that a deluge of rain was pounding the roof. I’ve always been somewhat in awe of women who manage to look glamorous in situations when I look bedraggled and windswept. I’m sure Anneka must have had lots of those heat pads strategically stitched into her dress, as I was wishing I’d worn a second pair of socks and some thermals at that point. I think she must win the award for smile of the day – like the ray of sunshine we were hoping would come from the sky at some point.

Despite the weather the plants shone and looking back now through the photos you really can’t tell that it felt more like March than May. A testament to all the hard work that goes into creating these gardens and the nurturing of plants over the previous months and, of course, Wellyman’s lovely photos.

Dan Pearson’s Chatsworth inspired garden © Ian Curley

I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of seeing Dan Pearson’s Chatsworth inspired garden and Jo Thompson’s design with its natural swimming pool. Seriously, I’m like a child before Christmas in the period before Chelsea. These two gardens, in particular, had caught my eye because they looked so different from the more typical Chelsea show garden. I often find some of the show gardens to be a little too similar – very masculine, blocky and sometimes a bit too slick for me, very suited to their sponsors and potential clients in the City but no spaces I can warm to. The space alongside Main Avenue is divide up into rectangles which need to be viewed from two sides, both elements which create restrictions on the designer from the start. It could also be why some of the more successful and unusual gardens in recent years have been those off Main Avenue where they have a slightly different footprint.

Dan Pearson’s Chatsworth Garden for Laurent Perrier © Ian Curley

Dan Pearson’s garden inhabits the triangular-shaped spot at the end of Main Avenue. Viewed from all sides, unlike the other gardens, this can prove tricky, but Dan had requested this spot specifically. Dan Pearson is one of the UK’s most successful designers, but it has been over a decade since he last designed a garden at the show. His return has been much-anticipated by fans of his naturalistic planting and take on garden design. His garden this year for Laurent Perrier has been based around the landscape and gardens of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Enormous boulders chosen from the estate perched, some of them seemingly precariously, in the space. Around these stones the garden trod the boundary between wild and cultivated. Water meandered through the garden inspired by the trout stream at Chatsworth. The attention to detail was incredible. Honestly I’ve never seen anything like it. My eye was drawn initially to a patch of grasses with red campions and leaf litter mixed in amongst it. Initial thoughts were this had to have been there before the build started and that it was perhaps a piece of the ground poking through from the pre-Chelsea build; it looked just like a patch of woodland glade or hedgerow verge. But, as I took in the rest of the garden, it became clear this had been created. And it really was fabulous. It wasn’t a wow garden in an obvious luscious planting, stunning hard landscaping way. For me, both Jo Thompson’s and Matthew Wilson’s gardens wowed me straight away. Dan’s garden however was much more of a slow burner. I just wanted to keep looking at all of the details then I’d spot something else, another plant like a delightful white ragged robin, or the way the plants mingled together so naturally. This is what made it so different from so many other gardens. From what I have read about Dan and from interviews I have seen with him this very much seemed like a garden which reflected its designer; quiet, thoughtful, unshowy. The judges loved it too, awarding it a gold medal and Best in Show.

Lychnis flos-cuculi ‘White Robin’ on Dan Pearson’s garden © Ian Curley

Jo Thompson’s Writer’s Retreat Garden for M&G Investments takes its inspiration from Vita Sackvile-West’s writing room at Sissinghurst in Kent. Jo and her all-female planting team have created a stunning, feminine garden with voluptuous plantings of roses and species I recognised from my cut flower patch, such as ammi, ridolfia and Gypsophila ‘Covent Garden’. These mingle around the base of an impressive multi-stemmed Betula nigra with fabulously textural, peeling bark – the pinky-apricot tones cleverly reflected in the spires of foxglove ‘Sutton’s Apricot’.

Betula nigra and Digitalis ‘Sutton’s Apricot’ on Jo Thompson’s M&G Retreat Garden © Ian Curley

A richly planted backdrop of trees and shrubs creates a lush boundary and the natural swimming pool looked inviting. I think Jo’s garden is a real stunner and feel slightly disappointed for her and her team that the garden received silver-gilt and not gold, particularly as other gardens which didn’t appeal to me so much won gold.

Jo Thompson’s M&G Retreat Garden © Ian Curley

Matthew Wilson’s garden for the Royal Bank of Canada is inspired by Beth Chatto and his experience of previously managing the gardens at RHS Hyde Hall in Essex, where rainfall levels are similar to those in Beirut. Designed around the idea of a garden which uses water sustainably, the zero-irrigation ‘dry garden’ is packed with beautiful planting. Verbascum ‘Merlin’ was the first to catch my eye, followed by the shrubby Leptospermum scoparium ‘Red Damask’.

Verbascum ‘Merlin’ – Matthew Wilson’s Royal Bank of Canada Garden © Ian Curley

Clumps of striking Californian poppies contrasted with the purple flower spikes of Salvia nemorosa ‘Mainacht’ I started to hanker after my own gravel garden. The dramatic 150-year old macro-bonsai olive tree is spectacular and the steamed ash benches with their sinuous lines crafted by Cornish designer Tom Raffield must surely win the award for the most stunning seats at Chelsea. One of my top three gardens this year.

Matthew Wilson’s Royal Bank of Canada Garden © Ian Curley

You have to be prepared for every eventuality when it comes to the British weather. Swirling winds, low light levels in the Great Pavilion and lashing rain in the morning made photography and note taking tricky particularly as I was often juggling a tripod, umbrella, and notepad. My propped up umbrella nearly took out a couple of plants on a few occasions. I had visions of me being escorted from the showground for taking out an exhibit. Pollen and the tiny barbed seed pods of London plane trees planted around the periphery of the showground whipped up by the wind left most of sneezing, coughing and scratching our eyes, rather ironically like a plant-based biological weapon had been unleashed on Chelsea. We both did passable impressions of a cat coughing up a fur ball on the journey home.

Despite all of this the plants came out on top and I’ve come home brimming with ideas. Mid-May can be a tricky time for gardeners frustrated by the weather and exhausted by the demands of a spring garden. Chelsea is just the fillip this gardener needed.

A Show of Hands

Tags

Chelsea Fringe, cut flower patch, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Show of Hands

Show of Hands – Chelsea Fringe

I have been meaning to take part in Veg Plotting’s brilliant project dedicated to the hardest working part of most gardeners – their hands –  for the last few weeks but I keep getting distracted, generally by gardening. It appears though that I have managed to sneak in my contribution just before the project ends. A ‘Show of Hands’ is part of the Chelsea Fringe, a festival entirely run by volunteers, which celebrates the quirkier, edgier side of horticulture. It runs during May into June and coincides with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The idea of the Fringe is to show that gardening and growing are open to anyone. Gardening does have a reputation for being the preserve of the older generation and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show creates a certain air of exclusivity. The Fringe wants to turn those thoughts on their head. The first Chelsea Fringe took place in 2012 and it’s proved hugely popular. This year there have been over 250 projects with events not just in London but in other UK cities and even further afield in Europe.

Michelle asked people to post up a photo of hands in the context of gardening. It didn’t have to be their own, they didn’t even have to be human. Anna, for instance, on her Green Tapestry blog, posted an image of a sculpture depicting hands which she came across in the gardens of Sudeley Castle. All manner of social media has been put to use with people participating using Twitter, Facebook and blogging. Once the Fringe for 2014 draws to a close, on 8th June, Michelle will create a map showing where all the images have originated.

So, for my contribution Wellyman took a photograph of me holding a bunch of flowers picked from the cut flower patch. It gets you thinking when you focus on something. I probably take my hands for granted. They are so fundamental in my gardening, and writing about gardening; I really should look after them more. I don’t moisturize enough, I’m normally so tired when I get into bed that I forget. But I do have a degree of vanity when it comes to their ‘maintenance’ – I do try to keep my nails looking nice.  I rarely garden with gloves. I should wear them more – it would certainly make cleaning them at the end of the day much easier but I find them cumbersome. It’s impossible to sow or take cuttings wearing them so I might start wearing them but inevitably once I have removed them for one task I forget where I’ve put them. My one concession is if I’m planting or weeding in the garden as I’d rather not put my hand in a pile of cat mess.

Increasingly I suffer from allergic reactions to plants. Borage brings me out in a nasty rash and last year during a spot of weeding I discovered echiums and I don’t seem to like each other. My hands were quite a sight, covered in weals and burning like I had never experienced before. It wouldn’t have been so much of a problem if I hadn’t had a photo shoot the next day where my hands would be captured for posterity. Thanks to the wonders of antihistamines my hands were restored to normal by the morning, which is just as well as I think there’s only so much you can do with Photoshop.

I chose this picture because it sums up how much my hands mean to me. They give me the chance to grow beautiful flowers which give pleasure to me, my family and friends. The hands which sow and grow so many plants allow me to also write about my passion for plants. When I think about it they really are fantastic.

Thanks to Michelle for such an inspired idea. If you’d like to join in there’s still time.

Chelsea inspirations

Tags

Artisan Gardens, Heucheraholics, Hillier Nurseries, Jo Thompson, Khora, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2104, RNIB 'In the Mind's Eye' Garden, Silene diocia 'Firefly', World Vision

Rose-bud Gorilla by Pollyfields – Chelsea 2014 ©2014 Ian Curley

Chelsea Flower Show is packed with so much to see that it’s a bit hard to take it all in when you’re actually there. Scrolling through the photos once I got home and seeing the coverage on TV always makes me wish I could pop back for another visit to soak it all up in a slightly less frantic way.

Khora conservatory – Chelsea 2014 ©2014 Ian Curley

Where else would you see an orang-utan, a rose-bud encrusted gorilla, a £200,000 conservatory, bump into Christopher Biggins and see World War One commemorated with plants? The person dressed up as an orang-utan wandering around the World Vision garden seemed a bit random. The attention to detail on the rose-bud gorilla was incredible – there was a lavender elephant too – but I did wonder how anyone would have the patience to create such sculptures and whilst they smelt amazing, I couldn’t work out who would buy one. That’s a thought which quite often creeps into your head at Chelsea. As spectacular as the Khora dome-roofed conservatory was it’s hard to imagine who would part with £200,000 for such a building. But those hospitality tents at Chelsea aren’t there just to feed and water the plant lovers who visit over the course of the week. As Ed Cumming’s wrote last year in The Telegraph, Chelsea has become a place for big businesses, politicians and dignitaries to network. Who knows, perhaps Khora’s order book will be full by the end of the week.

The House of Fraser Textile Garden – Chelsea 2014 ©2014 Ian Curley

The Fresh Gardens are smaller spaces with a more contemporary feel. The’ In the Mind’s Eye’ Garden for the RNIB was fantastic. Designed as a sensory garden it had water, textural planting and vibrant colours. The colour combinations in some of the borders might not appeal to everyone as there was a lot going on but it was designed with those with visual impairments in mind where extra colours and contrast are important. I was so pleased this won ‘Best in Show’ in its category. The quirky House of Fraser Garden really caught my eye. I loved the colours on display and the idea that textile design can be inspired by nature.

Silene diocia ‘Firefly’ – Chelsea 2014 ©2014 Ian Curley

In the Great Pavilion I came across this beauty, Silene diocia ‘Firefly’. I wonder if it would make a good cut flower?

Heucheraholis – Chelsea 2014 ©2014 Ian Curley

I thought the Heucheraholics stand commemorating the First World War was outstanding.

The Hillier’s exhibit was something else. They take their displays at Chelsea to another level with trees as tall as the pavilion and so many plants packed into their space it was quite breathtaking.

Floral dresses – Chelsea 2014 ©2014 Ian Curley

The Chelsea Florist of the Year competition and the row of dresses decorated with flowers and plant material was really inspiring and I took an epic amount of photos of the incredible detail.

Chelsea 2014 ©2014 Ian Curley

And who could resist a photo on this cutie? He was one of the dogs brought in to check the showground for explosives before the Queen arrived. Tail wagging, he was lead into the gardens sniffing for anything untoward. They’re obviously trained to not to eat anything they shouldn’t. Imagine if they got a rogue dog in one year who took a fancy to some violas or who cocked his leg on a box ball.

My favourite part of Chelsea has to be the Serpentine Walk in a leafy area where you’ll find the Artisan Gardens. In this quiet secluded spot it’s much easier to appreciate the gardens and plants. I wish the RHS would devote a separate space to the Fresh Gardens. In my opinion, the Fresh Gardens suffer from being just off Main Avenue in front of the Great Pavilion – there’s just so much competing for your attention. It’s often hard to know what’s a garden and what’s a trade stand. I thought the planting on Jo Thompson’s ‘Town Square’ Garden was so beautiful but it all got rather lost in amongst the giant potpourri animals and expensive barbecues. How different it would have been if Jo’s garden had been placed in a similar setting to the Artisan Gardens.

So that’s it for another year but there’s plenty for me to take away from Chelsea 2014. I’ll be seeking out plum and wine coloured flowers for my cutting patch next year. I’m hoping to take inspiration from the floral dresses for the book I’m working on and, thanks to Mr Kazuyuki, I want to learn more about Japanese gardens.

On Show

Tags

Brewin Dolphin Garden, Cleve West, Joe Swift, Lysimachia 'Beaujolais', M&G Garden, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2104

© 2014 Ian Curley

Of all the RHS flower shows it is Chelsea where the gardens feature the most prominently. For some people they receive too much attention with reams of copy in the newspapers and the seemingly endless dissecting on TV. I have to admit that I do find certain elements of the coverage veers towards navel gazing and pretentiousness but I think this is inevitable when garden designers are discussing their contemporaries. It’s not just gardening which is guilty of this. Take a look at some of the food programmes on the TV at the moment and you’ll see the strange phenomenon whereby chefs are achieving a god-like status. And does anyone actually manage to sit through more than 10 minutes of any of those awards ceremonies without feeling nauseous? For me though, the gardens make Chelsea special.

The show gardens along Main Avenue are the starry element to the event. These are the haute couture of the gardening world. For most of us they are fantasy gardens but not for everybody. The Nancy Dell’Olio lookalike who stood next to me as we both looked towards The Telegraph Garden proceeded to tell the retinue around her that her own garden would look pretty much exactly like this by the end of the summer. It’s easy to dismiss these gardens as purely window dressing just as many do with catwalk fashion but just as the clothes we wear are influenced by the top fashion designers, their ideas filtering down to the high street, so do the trends, designs and plants used in the show gardens. I do shudder at the thought of how much money is spent on the large gardens but Chelsea has become a shop window for the best in British garden design.

I think the controversy that’s sparked every year when the medals are announced is fantastic. Why did so-and-so get a silver-gilt and not a gold, particularly when what’s-he-called got Best in Show? If the judges award more than 5 golds they’re being too generous, any less and they’re being too strict. I feel desperately for anyone who receives a silver or, even worse, a bronze. All that hard work and then you have to put on the brave face and say the medal doesn’t matter because the public love it. In reality we all know that if you go to all the trouble of putting yourself forward to design a garden you want silver-gilt at the very least. Or is that just my competitive streak talking?

Patrick Collins’ ‘A Garden for First Touch at St George’s’ – Chelsea 2014 © 2014 Ian Curley

I thought there was a lot to like about this year’s Chelsea gardens. Patrick Collins’ ‘A Garden for First Touch at St. George’s Hospital’ used the old rock bank and I loved the contrast his garden, built on a slope, provided to the relative flatness of the other show gardens. The planting was stunning, as was the use of the rusty steel, and it was one of the gardens which I felt offered realistic inspiration to your average gardener.

Matthew Childs’ Brewin Dolphin Garden received a silver-gilt but I really can’t see why he didn’t get a gold. Beautiful planting, stunning features and a joy to look at.

Cleve West’s M&G Garden. I love it from this angle. © 2014 Ian Curley

I’m a huge fan of Cleve West and was hugely looking forward to seeing his Persian inspired garden for M&G. Strangely though the garden didn’t have the impact I thought it would. It was beautifully executed and had fabulous planting but the front part of the garden which represented the dry, arid areas of the Iranian landscape slightly jarred. The odd thing was when I got home and looked through Wellyman’s photos it all seemed to work. Wellyman and I both came to the conclusion that the garden worked as a whole when viewed from certain points but not others.

The Rich brothers and their ‘A Night Sky Garden’ – Chelsea 2014′ © 2014 Ian Curley

The Rich brothers designed a fantastic artisan garden last year so I was looking forward to seeing their first show garden and I wasn’t disappointed. They take their inspiration from the landscape around their home in the Brecon Beacons, a place I know well. I loved the natural planting, the lack of bling and the idea that the garden will be used after Chelsea at an autistic centre in Cardiff.

The Telegraph Garden – Chelsea 2014 – I like the shot of colour here from Gladiolus byzantinus. © 2014 Ian Curley

The Telegraph Garden just didn’t do it for me, it was just too slick for my liking. Everyone seemed so taken with the pristine lawn but it just looked so green it could have been fake. Aren’t these types of lawns a little old-fashioned now anyway – a monoculture needing way too much attention, often of the chemical kind, and offering no real benefits to our native wildlife? Of all the gardens it felt the most corporate, the one which would appeal most to a city banker. It’s the type of garden I’d like to see less of at Chelsea. The geometric layout of Luciano Giubbilei’s Laurent Perrier Garden didn’t appeal but the planting was superb. A cool palette of creams, lemons and greens provided a nice contrast to the berry colours of reds and purples in evidence elsewhere.

Anchusa azurea ‘Loddon Royalist’ – Chelsea 2014 © 2014 Ian Curley

And that takes me to a point that has slightly niggled me for the last few years. The similarity in planting really can’t be a coincidence. Last year you couldn’t get stirred for cow parsley. Now I love a bit of frothy planting but I wouldn’t expect to see it on every garden. This year it was the turn of irises, aquilegia and Lysimachia ‘Beaujolais’. I know it’s spring and there are certain plants which are at their best now but the fact that the same plants, in the same colours turn up on different gardens is just a bit odd. Perhaps not so odd when you see that the gardens which shared the similar planting were all supplied by the same plant nursery. In the past it has been dismissed as ‘great minds think alike’ but, at last, Joe Swift suggested last night on the TV that it might well have something to do with nurseries presenting the designers with plants that will be at their peak for Chelsea week. The plum and claret colours I saw this year were really inspirational and I’m already thinking about ways I can incorporate them into my cut flower patch but perhaps for the gardens to be truly distinctive the issue of plant suppliers needs to be addressed.

 

 

Hot, Hot, Hot – Chelsea 2014

Tags

BoJo the crocheted gorilla, Brewin Dolphin, Hooksgreen Herbs, Ken Muir, Matt Keightley, Matthew Childs, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2104

Aquilegia stellata ‘Ruby Port’ (copyright Ian Curley)

Following on from the theme of my last post, May really wouldn’t be May without the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and that’s where I found myself yesterday.

Chelsea induces in me the levels of excitement you normally witness in children in the run up to Christmas. This plant extravaganza is, for me, the equivalent of a sea of presents under the Christmas tree. Perhaps this will explain my inability to get much sleep the night before. Strange sounds coming from the kitchen of the bed and breakfast didn’t help. To my sleep deprived brain it sounded like the frantic spoon-clearing of a yoghurt pot. There was a point when I lay there thinking, ‘I’m staying in some complete stranger’s house and how do I know they don’t have some odd midnight yoghurt eating craving’, until Wellyman pointed out it was just their dog lapping up water from its bowl!!!

Last year was my first visit to Chelsea. To say I was chuffed when I received a pass for Monday’s Press Day was an understatement. Unfortunately, the shine wore off rather quickly as I wandered around the show ground. There were mutterings and grumbles from the assembled crowd that the RHS was playing it safe with the designs it had picked and that the planting was lacklustre. The latter was no real surprise after last year’s very cold spring and it all left me thinking I hadn’t seen Chelsea at its best.

Sultry planting was a theme at Chelsea 2014 (copyright Ian Curley)

But what a difference a year can make – Chelsea 2014 felt like a different place. I’m sure this had a lot to do with the weather. Last year I was nithered (Geordie for bloody freezing). The grey, laden skies made everything look quite flat, and photography in the Great Pavilion was difficult because of the low light levels. Yesterday with blue skies and baking sunshine everything seemed to sparkle. It was almost as if the designers had an inkling it might be a scorcher with water features incorporated into several gardens and rich, sultry planting that seemed just perfect for the conditions.

It wasn’t just the weather though that had made the difference. Apart from a couple of well-known designers, the RHS had chosen to champion some younger horticultural talent and I really feel it needed this. There has been a tendency over the years for designers to create show gardens which I’m sure appeal to very wealthy potential clients but leave me feeling ambivalent. I rarely dislike them and I can see the skill involved in the creation but I just don’t connect with them. They feel very much like status symbol gardens and a tad formulaic with the pre-requisite finely cut hard landscaping, uncomfortable looking furniture and a building of some description that tends to dominate the whole space. There were inevitably still elements of that yesterday and I’m realistic enough to realise that Chelsea has become much more than a stage for plants but I felt there was a much better balance this time.

Help for Heroes ‘Hope on the Horizon’ garden – Chelsea 2014 (copyright Ian Curley)

Just as it’s hard to cover the whole of the show in the 6 or so hours I spent there – I’ll watch the TV coverage when I get home and wonder how I managed to miss a particular exhibit or newly introduced plant – it’s impossible to cover the day in one post so there’ll be a few posts over the course of the week. But, for now, here are a few of my highlights from Chelsea 2014.

The sultry colours of Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’, Aquilegia vulgairs var. stellata ‘Black Barlow’ and ‘Ruby Port’, Sangiusorba menziesii and Rosa ‘Darcy Bussell’.

Brewin Dolphin Garden – Chelsea 2014 (copyright Ian Curley)

Choosing a favourite show garden this year is difficult but I think it would have to be the Brewin Dolphin garden designed by Matthew Childs. The copper archways with the verdigris patina were stunning and gave the garden the wow factor without that element of bling that can so often be the focus of a show garden. The planting was a superb mix and included my favourite combination of Lysimachia ‘Beaujolais and Aquilegia ‘Ruby Port’. The Help for Heroes ‘Hope on the Horizon’ garden designed by 29 year old Matt Keightley came a close second. I loved the dappled light created by the hornbeam trees and the shade they cast worked incredibly well in the strong sunlight. Another favourite was the Royal Bank of Canada Waterscape Garden by Hugo Bugg who, at the age of 26, has become the youngest winner of a gold medal at Chelsea.

Royal Bank of Canada Waterscape Garden – Chelsea 2014 (copyright Ian Curley)

Can anyone have enough bun moss? Well not if you’re Kazuyuki Ishihara, designer of the Best in Show Artisan Garden. His ‘Paradise on Earth’ garden was truly stunning. The attention to detail is incredible and he always packs so much into his designs I could stand and look at them for hours marvelling at the intricacy.

A Paradise on Earth by Ishihara Kazuyuki (copyright Ian Curley)

Away from the show gardens of Main Avenue the rustic feel and stunning planting of ‘The Topiarist’s Garden’ in the Artisan category is more what I would look for in a garden and I could quite happily have taken it home with me.

The hottest day of the year so far meant the scent in the Great Pavilion was AMAZING. You could smell the strawberries on the Ken Muir stand before you got to them. The masses of lilies, hyacinths and roses too filled the air with a heady fragrance. It really was WOW!

And, I know it’s a bit twee but I did have soft spot for the Hooksgreen Herbs stand which was inspired by Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit. I really feel for the person dressed up as aforesaid bunny, who must have been cooking inside all that fur.

BoJo – a crocheted gorilla (copyright Ian Curley)

I’m not sure why but gorillas kept cropping up. If you want to part with a substantial wad of cash you could buy a humongous statue of one for your garden … well, each to their own. If you fancied a gorilla with an extra dimension you could have one clad in shells or lavender flowers, but my favourite had to be BoJo, a crocheted sculpture of a gorilla named after Boris Johnson. I know it sounds odd but it was quite incredible. Maybe someone didn’t understand the concept of ‘guerilla gardening’?

So, to sum up Chelsea 2014 – hot weather, hot planting and some hot new design talent.

 

Where to start

Tags

Lunaria annua 'Chedglow', RHS Cardiff Show, Suttons Seeds, Tomato 'Indigo Rose'

I’m never quite sure where to start when I have had a bit of a blogging break. I didn’t plan a hiatus. I rather like the discipline of writing a post every week and know from my attempts in the past to keep a diary how hard it can be to start writing again once you get out of the rhythm.

A virus sapped me of much of my energy for several weeks. I know something is wrong when the thought of going to the plot, or the need to spend some time in the greenhouse feels like too much of an effort and more like a chore than something I normally love. Work was pretty hectic too and the two combined to result in a stinking cold. There wasn’t much I could do but crawl into bed and stay there for a few days. Of course, I spent the whole time lying there thinking about how much there was to do. I would say if a gardener is going to go sick the worst time to do it is probably April. I could almost hear the weeds at the allotment growing as I reached for another tissue. Oh, and there was the small matter of having to prepare for the first photo shoot of my second book. I’m not quite sure how that bit happened but I find myself growing plants for another book and entering round two of my battle with the weather. Last year my panic was fuelled by the lack of any spring and the worry we might never have a summer. This year it’s all change with a spring of warm sunshine. Beautiful, and I wouldn’t swap it but it has been a bit of a nightmare trying to keep plants from going over.

Tricks of the trade – photo shoot day

With a bit of breathing space, now I have some photos in the bag, followed by a relaxing Easter break I thought it was about time I put fingers to keyboard and return to my neglected blog.

In some ways being otherwise occupied has been a bit of a blessing. I do have a tendency to get a bit carried away with half-hardy annuals, sowing them too early. I always seem to forget, or choose to ignore the fact that they germinate and grow pretty quickly. By the start of May, I have windowsills chock full of courgettes, French beans and squashes romping away with nowhere to go because it’s still too chilly for them outside. I’m hoping my timing this year, sowing in the middle of April rather than at the start of the month, might be a bit more realistic and save me the headache of trying to accommodate the triffids reaching for the sun.

R A Scamp – Floral marquee RHS Cardiff Show

It’s a pity I can’t be more realistic about the number of plants it is possible for me to grow. The greenhouse, cold frames and windowsills are running at full capacity at the moment. But it’s impossible to turn away more plants. One day, a few weeks ago, an unexpected parcel arrived from Suttons Seeds. They had very generously sent me a sample of 3 tomato plug plants. I did groan a little initially, thinking where on earth was I going to put them, but it wasn’t long before I had mentally rearranged the myriad of plants I already have to be able to squeeze them in. I’m really looking forward to giving them a go. I have had pretty disastrous results growing tomatoes since I moved to Wales, with tomatoes succumbing to blight, and then last year, with the greenhouse installed they suffered at the hands of a bad batch of compost and shrivelled up and died. The tomatoes Suttons sent are a new variety called ‘Indigo Rose’. It’s a black-skinned tomato that is apparently packed full of the antioxidant anthocyanin. It’s a grafted tomato too which I have never grown before. The apparent advantages of grafting include greater yields and improved disease resistance. They’re growing quickly on my study windowsill at the moment. Hopefully it won’t be long before some space is freed up in the greenhouse so they can take up residence there. I’ll let you know how I get on and hopefully I’ll get some fruit so I can report back on the all important flavour test.

RHS Cardiff Show – Victoria Wade’s Norwegian garden

My cold shifted in time for me to make a trip to the RHS Cardiff Show. The weather couldn’t have been more spring-like and the show does have a feeling of excitement and anticipation of the growing season to come. The floral marquee looked spectacular with the incredible R A Scamp narcissi display winning best exhibit. The show gardens were much improved this year compared to last. I particularly loved Victoria Wade’s Norwegian inspired garden with its naturalistic feel.

Lunaria annua ‘Chedglow’

The highlight of the show for me was the discovery of this beauty, Lunaria annua ‘Chedglow’ on the Avon Bulbs stand. It’s a variety of the humble honesty plant with incredible chocolate coloured leaves and striking purple stems. I love honesty for cutting, both for the spring flowers and for the moon-like seed pods produced in summer and think this will be a stunner when arranged with tulips. I came away with a packet of seeds. As a biennial it won’t produce flowers until next spring but it’ll be well worth the wait.

 

 

 

Plant Perfection, Celebs and Booze

Tags

Chris Beardshaw, Great Pavilion, Ishihara Kazuyuki, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Marc Quinn sculpture RHS Chelsea Flower Show

I’ve focussed quite a bit on the design element and the show gardens in my previous Chelsea posts. In this, my final post about my visit I’d thought I’d share the plants that caught my attention and something of the atmosphere on press day.

J S Pennings De Bilt Hyacinths

The Great Pavilion is truly enormous. The flower marquees at both Malvern and Hampton Court shows are impressive but this place was like an aircraft hangar. If the focus on design outside isn’t your thing then the nursery stands inside the pavilion could certainly absorb you for a whole day. These are plants and flowers at their peak and prime; nurtured over previous months by their nervous growers in the hope that they will be ready in time. All sorts of techniques are employed to achieve the stunning displays and I’m impressed that with one of the coldest springs on record everything looked so remarkable. I could have done with more time to wander around the pavilion and feel I didn’t give many of the stands enough attention. Of those I did see, one of my favourites was the incredible J S Pennings De Bilt hyacinth stand, which I smelt before I even saw it. The perfume really was incredible even on such a cold day. I loved the National Collection of dahlias which showed perfectly the wide range of flowers and forms that are available. I particularly liked the single varieties, especially this ‘Twyning’s Revel’ with its dark stems and foliage and gorgeous pink flowers.

Dahlia ‘Twyning’s Revel’

The display of alliums on the Warmenhoven stand were dramatic and theatrical and gave me a few ideas for containers of my own next year. The Hillier’s stand was incredible. The colour and sheer energy was impressive particularly on such a dull, overcast day, although there was nothing subtle about it. They transport nearly 3,500 plants to Chelsea to build their stand from birch trees so tall they almost scrape the top of the pavilion to the smallest of perennials.

Ishihara Kazuyuki’s An Alcove Garden

I must mention the artisan garden designed by Ishihara Kazuyuki called ‘An Alcove’ or ‘Tokonoma’. The design recreated an area within a traditional Japanese tatami room, somewhere where meetings would take place with important people. Sometimes the gardens that evoke somewhere come in for stick with the accusation that they are a bit clichéd and not cutting edge. I loved it. I have always wanted to visit Japan but I’m not sure I’ll ever get there, so to see a part of their culture up close was a real treat. Mr Kazuyuki’s attention to detail is incredible – the cobbles, the moss, the acers, it was a delight and deservedly won ‘best in show’ in the artisan garden category.

Where were all the gnomes?

For the 100th anniversary gnomes had been given special dispensation and were allowed access to the site. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed I didn’t see any. The two men wandering around in gnome costumes didn’t count in my opinion.

By lunch time the frantic buzz around the show gardens from the press photographers had waned, but as the celebrities who are invited arrived, flash bulbs started to go off once again. Spotting Ringo Starr and his wife, Bond Girl Barbara Bach, I attempted to subtly get a shot for Wellyman of his teenage crush. Barbara Bach of course, not Ringo. Unfortunately I was muscled out of the way by a much more experienced photographer and ended up with a shot of the back of their heads. I did manage to sneak on to Chris Beardshaw’s garden, behind Anneka Rice, when it was opened up for the celebrities to have a wander around. Not because I was particularly interested in her but it did mean I got a much better look at the garden and plants. Another of Wellyman’s crushes he’s rather gutted he wasn’t able to go.

Alcohol was flowing by the time I left, whether it was champagne, Pimms or Mark Diacono’s cocktails. If you were a member of the build team for the Trailfinders Australian garden I think it might have been flowing a little earlier. I was stood next to one of them at 9.30am and he already had a pint of something in his hand. They were all dressed in matching outfits which meant they looked like they were all on a stag do. I can only imagine what their celebrations were like the following day when they found out they had won gold and ‘best in show’. I, on the other hand, was a bit like the rabbit in the advert that didn’t get the Duracell batteries. After only two hours sleep the night before my energy levels were running low by about 2pm and I didn’t think it was wise to partake myself. I would have loved another trip around the Great Pavilion, but my legs wouldn’t take me any further and, with a long drive back to Wales, I wandered out of the show ground just as the police arrived to secure the area for the arrival of the Queen.

I loved my first visit to Chelsea. There are elements of it that are elitist and out of touch with how most of us live and garden. I’d like to see more variety in the designs, more edibles and grow your own on display but it’s good to have something that’s glamorous, exciting and inspiring every once in a while. And, ultimately, Chelsea Flower Show is a great showcase for horticulture.

A Garden for Show

Tags

Chris Beardshaw, Nigel Dunnett, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Roger Plats

Roger Platts’ stunning garden

It tends to be the show gardens that attract the most attention at Chelsea. Large sponsorship budgets and top garden designers combine with the intention of creating the wow factor. Show gardens can take a year to 18 months in the planning and 3 weeks to build. Then, on the first Monday of Chelsea the designers step back as the world’s press enter Main Avenue and the criticism and plaudits begin. A hush descends on a garden as the RHS judges enter and the designer looks on nervously. Gardens are awarded medals – gold, silver-gilt, silver and bronze on how well the garden meets the brief that was initially submitted, overall impressions and the quality of plants and the build. There is no quota for each medal so, technically, every garden could win a gold medal. Designs are also judged purely on their own merit and not compared to other gardens in the show. The results of the judging are then announced early on Tuesday morning.

Judging on the East Village Garden

Of course, everyone has their own opinion and it was interesting to be there on press day as the judging was taking place and hear the thoughts and predictions as to which gardens people liked the most. If the comments on twitter were anything to go by I wasn’t the only one to be surprised that 10 out of the 15 show gardens won gold. For me it wasn’t that gardens were badly designed or unattractive but some of them just didn’t do it for me. Whilst the judges might assess the gardens individually I would say that most people including myself tend to compare each garden.

The show gardens are quite an odd concept. Appreciating a garden fully only really happens when you can immerse yourself in it, wander through it, touch and smell the plants. Show gardens however provide a two-dimensional experience. Judges and some members of the media can get access to the show gardens but the rest of us have to view from a distance. Of course it would never be feasible to allow the numbers that visit these flower shows full access to the gardens but it might be one explanation as to why the opinions of the judges and the public so often differ. Then there is creating a garden that will look perfect for the third week in May. For most of us the challenge is a garden that will look good throughout the year. Plants need to be placed much closer together than you would ever do in reality to create that feeling of abundance and impact. And what about the practicalities of such a designs in the real world. I looked at the beautiful polished golden York stone path on Roger Platts’ garden having muddy footprints wiped off it before some filming was about to take place. It’s honeyed tones were stunning but it did strike me as being the horticultural equivalent of the white-painted lounge and a toddler with a chocolate bar.

Trailfinders Australian Garden – ‘Best in Show’

Criticisms of the show gardens often focus on the lack of originality. Occasionally there’ll be a Diarmuid Gavin design which stands out or there was the plasticine garden created by James May. These gardens gain a huge amount of publicity which I get the feeling annoys the ‘serious’ designers. Whether you think such gardens should be allowed into Chelsea or not they do offer something different. I’m not suggesting the gardening equivalent of a theme park but a little more variety would be nice. Perhaps it isn’t so simple though. A show garden comes with constraints and limitations before the actual design process has even started. The size and shape of each garden is restricted by the needs of the show-ground access to the site, and services such as underground cables and pipes. Then there’s the need to allow visitors to see as much of the gardens as possible without creating bottlenecks or possible damage to the gardens.

Often there is a story behind a design. Sometimes this can be quite obvious, for instance Nigel Dunnett’s rooftop garden with the idea of showing how with increasing pressure on urban land we should be looking at the potential of our roof space for planting and creating new habitats. For me Jinny Blom’s garden was harder to ‘understand’. I loved elements of the planting but was left a bit cold by the areas of hard landscaping and the stone structure at the back. It was only later that evening when I saw her explaining a bit about the garden on TV that the design made more sense. Inspired by the landscape of Lesotho she had wanted to capture the rocky terrain and buildings that reminded her of the country. Unfortunately this rather passed me by on the day.

Jinny Blom’s Sentebale Garden

It didn’t take long on Monday for me to spot the theme of naturalistic planting which was a feature in so many designs. It has been popular at Chelsea for several years now and is the kind of planting that really appeals to me. I love grasses, poppies and umbel flowers and use that kind of planting in my own garden but you can have too much of a good thing. Just as Dianthus carthusianorum was everywhere last year at Hampton Court, it is the turn of cow parsley to be the ubiquitous plant of Chelsea 2013. This was probably one of the reasons why Robert Myers’ garden disappointed me, by the time I got to it I’d had my fill of wafty, floaty planting.

Another trend in recent years has been the use of greenery and minimalist planting. It was visible again this year although I’m not sure it was so intentional this time around with the weather playing its part. The concept of minimalist planting is an anathema to me. For me the dilemma is there are so many plants I want to grow and just not enough space. There is something a little strange about having a garden and then choosing to restrict the plants and colours in it.

Verbascum ‘Violetta’

One of the reasons for such differing opinions between judges, designers and the public is that we tend to want different things. Judges are looking for adherence to the brief, designers the opportunity to express themselves and the public simply want something they like to look at, something they would want in their own garden. This is perhaps why Chris Beardshaw’s garden and his vibrant planting proved so popular with those I spoke to on Monday.

In many ways, as visitors and viewers on TV, we need to suspend our disbelief and see the show gardens for what they are, a showcase. Big budget sponsors and top class designers are always going to want to create high-end gardens which most of us struggle to relate to but would we want to go to Chelsea and find something we could see in our own village or town? Probably not. Chelsea is about polished floors and walls made from copper, frame-less glass cubes and sunken seating areas. Every year there will be gardens that divide opinion and a garden that the public loves. But enough with the floaty planting, for one year at least.

A Chelsea Virgin

Tags

Chris Beardshaw, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013, Rich Landscapes, Robert Myers, Ulf Nordfjell, Un Garreg

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013

As a plant lover it might seem strange that I’ve never visited the RHS Chelsea Flower Show before. My lack of attendance has often been due to being away at the same time of year or down to a lack of organisation when it comes to ordering tickets. I’m always glued to the TV coverage every year though, kicking myself that I’m not there. But all that changed yesterday when at last I got a chance to see the show gardens and the great pavilion for myself.

I’m not sure why but my brain always conspires against me when I need sleep the most. For some reason knowing I need to get up early for something a little out of the ordinary say to catch a flight, or in this instance to get to Chelsea, means I spend the night tossing and turning trying desperately to sleep but failing miserably. I had that sinking feeling as I looked at the alarm clock and another hour had passed and I STILL wasn’t asleep. So I collected my press pass after having had about only two hours sleep and feeling more than a little bleary-eyed. I was worried I’d have to seek out somewhere for a surreptitious snooze but fortunately the excitement to be there kicked in.

Held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea it might not be the largest flower show in the world (that’s Hampton Court) but it is seen as the most prestigious. And, this year it was celebrating its 100th anniversary. On press day the gates open early. I was there just after 8am but it was already a hive of activity with photographers busy capturing the best shots, TV crews recording footage and RHS judges making their way around, marking the designs in preparation for the medal awards today. Seeing this whole aspect was fascinating in itself.

Strawberries in wellies

Of all the flower shows it’s Chelsea that is really about garden design. In preparation I had read about the individual gardens and the ideas behind them so I had been eagerly anticipating seeing them for real. Perhaps though there is a danger in putting out too much preview material because some of the gardens didn’t live up to the hype in my opinion. They weren’t bad just not as good as I had hoped they would be. I’m a huge fan of the Swedish designer Ulf Nordjfell but found his planting a bit of a let down. It’s fair to say that the growers and designers have had a dreadful year trying to get plants into leaf and flower after such a cold spring and I think it was quite visible in some gardens and Ulf’s was one of them. I had also had high hopes for the Brewin Dolphin sponsored garden by Robert Myers but sadly didn’t like it at all. The planting, although pretty just wasn’t different enough and I REALLY disliked the furniture that had been chosen.

Chris Beardshaw Garden RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013

I did however love Chris Beardshaw’s garden. The planting was truly stunning, vibrant, colourful and plenty of it. There was an added element to this garden for me. Chris designed the garden for the Arthritis Research UK charity as he had been diagnosed with a form of arthritis at the age of 19. For me the garden was an inspiration. The idea that he has forged such a successful career as a garden designer and plantsman whilst enduring the pain and difficulties that his condition must have caused gave this garden a depth that was lacking in the other designs.

Un Garreg Artisan Garden RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013

The artisan gardens are much smaller, between 20 and 35 square metres, budgets are less and, rather than spending a lot of money on hard landscaping, plants are always the main focus. Set away from the main avenue along a wooded avenue I loved the escape from the hustle and bustle and the fact that you could get up close to these gardens. The attention to detail was incredible. My favourite was Un Garreg which means ‘one stone’ in Welsh and was inspired by the landscape of the Brecon Beacons, the home to the young designers and brothers Henry and David Rich. I’ve spent quite a bit of time walking in this stunning part of Wales, not far from where I live, and loved the evocation of a piece of Welsh countryside in the heart of London. Details such as tiny ferns poking from the dry stone walls, the beautiful planting and keeping the carbon footprint to a minimum by using one boulder from a local quarry for the garden’s hard landscaping meant I was thrilled to see that they won a gold.

For a Chelsea virgin seeing the who’s who of the gardening world was fun. If I’d thought about it a little more I could have played celebrity gardener bingo but juggling my camera, notepad and pen, and the ever-increasing amount of paper about the gardens and nurseries I was collecting, as the day went on, meant I could have done with an extra pair of hands as it was.

Despite some misgivings about certain gardens, feeling ever so slightly ripped off by the price of food and drink available and the inordinate amount of time it took to order a cup of tea I really enjoyed my first visit to Chelsea. There was so much to like, there was a buzz in the air and a feeling that you were somewhere where people shared a common passion for plants. I liked the eccentricity of elements of it. The introduction of gnomes for one year only and the frog noises coming from the Australian ‘best in show’ winning garden. I’m not sure why some still feel the need to have young women in tiny outfits posing on their stand or for photos. I really felt for them huddled in coats trying to keep warm until the next reveal.

There was so much to see – the fresh gardens, the great pavilion and of course the plants that I can’t squeeze it all into one post so I’ll write more over the coming days.