Plant Perfection, Celebs and Booze

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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.

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Something a little bit different

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A Taste of the Unexpected, Lippia dulcis, Mark Diacono, Otter Farm, RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, River Cottage, Yacon

Mark Diacono’s Hampton Court Stand

One of the highlights of my visit to Hampton Court last week was the chance to visit Mark Diacono’s forest garden stand. Mark has a smallholding in Devon called Otter Farm, where he grows the more unusual and a few forgotten plants. Experimenting to see what he can get to grow in the British climate, he has a vineyard, orchards planted with quince, almonds and apricots and a variety of plants most of us have never heard of, let alone contemplated eating.

He has written several books for the River Cottage Handbook series and in 2011 A Taste of the Unexpected won the Guild of Food Writers Food Book of the Year award. I can vouch for all the books being great reads but it is the latter that I found the most fascinating, challenging my ideas about what I should grow on my own plot. Mark believes that it makes more sense to grow the exotic and unusual, the food that tastes great but is expensive to buy and that is often transported half way around the world to reach our kitchens rather than the staples of our diet like onions and potatoes that are so cheaply and readily available from the supermarket. As a result the fields of Otter Farm are filled with mulberry trees, Asian pears and white cherries, Szechuan pepper trees and Egyptian walking onions.

One area has been established as a forest garden with plantings of mirabelle plums, dwarf peaches, mints and bladdernuts. No, I hadn’t heard of them either. Forest gardens are a form of permaculture which mimicks nature and the upper, mid and lower storeys of vegetation in a forest but uses edible crops instead.

Mark used his stand and his talent for cocktail making at Hampton Court to educate his audience a little to his ideas. Was it his cunning plan to get his audience tipsy and then get them to buy plants? Well I came away with 2 plants, a yacon and a Lippia, so it wasn’t a bad plan.

Lippia dulcis

Lippia dulcis or Aztec sweet herb from the verbena family is a tender perennial from Central America. It’s a low growing and spreading plant, with pretty foliage and small white flowers on stalks. It’s not for its looks that you grow it but for its incredibly sweet leaves which can be used as a natural sweetner. Mark used it, and the yacon, to sweeten his strawberry and thyme syrup cocktails.

My yacon waiting to be moved to the plot

Yacon originates from South America and its name ‘water root’ in Inca, alludes to the juiciness of the tubers which, according to Mark, resemble a jacket potato when dug up but taste more like a pear. A tender perennial, it produces large tubers which should be ready to harvest in late autumn and smaller tuberous roots which you can lift and store for planting next year, just as you would with dahlias. The sugars in yacon are indigestible to humans and, as a result, they have attracted the attention of scientists, particularly in America where they are increasingly being grown to provide natural sweetners for diabetics. For more information about yacon take a look at this fascinating article Mark wrote for The Guardian.

Well, it was dry enough this morning for me to get out and plant up the Lippia in my herb planter and take the Yacon up to the allotment where I managed to find a home for it. Growing your own means many things to many people. Some, like the plot holders next to me, simply grow potatoes, carrots, cabbages and leeks wanting to be self-sufficient in the crops they eat the most. I prefer a mix, with some staples that I know will have been produced organically, with a variety of the more unusual such as purple mangetout, yellow french beans and tayberries. I might not be ready to give up on growing new potatoes, peas and broad beans but I do like Mark’s ideas. As humans we tend to be very conservative in what eat, preferring to stick to a quite narrow selection of crops. Who knows how climate change will actually affect the weather and crop production in the future but we will probably need to be more open to new ideas about what we grow and eat. Bananas, for instance, the world’s fourth most important food crop, are at risk from extinction due to their narrow gene pool and vulnerability to pests and diseases.

A Szechuan pepper tree on Mark’s stand

Mark’s ideas about growing Asian pears, Chilean guava and blue honeysuckle may seem a bit out there but most of us think nothing of adding a few blueberries to our cereal or a fruit salad and they were only introduced to the UK in the 1940s. As a child of the seventies and eighties I don’t think I ate an aubergine or peppers until my late teens and yet now I can’t imagine not using them in cooking. And, although we are more adventurous with our food, trying different cuisines when we eat out, many of us have yet to take the leap to growing the more unusual on our plot. But I’m determined to be a bit braver on my own plot. With recent purchases of myrtle, lemon verbena and French tarragon for the herb planter and plans to add a dwarf quince to the plot this autumn, I just need to dig out the recipe books for some inspiration now.

To find out more about Mark Diacono and Otter Farm go to otterfarm.co.uk where you can sign up to his blog, which I can highly recommend for posts as varied as, the opening of his own wine, to close encounters with Kylie’s bottom.

An Unexpected Treat – RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

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Franchi Seeds, Mark Diacono, Monty Don, Otter Farm, RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Hampton Court Palace (copyright Ian Curley)

Of all the RHS flowers shows Hampton Court Palace is the one I’ve wanted to visit the most. Held in the grounds of the historic royal palace, once home to Henry VIII, it is the world’s largest flower show and known for its relaxed, friendly feeling. So far I hadn’t got round to going, that is until yesterday. It was all rather unexpected though. A friend had been given some tickets but wasn’t bothered about going so he asked us if we’d like them. Free tickets to Hampton Court, I couldn’t quite believe it. So here’s a bit of a round-up of our day.

The weather – Left home in Monmouthshire on Wednesday at 7.30am, rain, rain and more rain. Arrived at Hampton Court to dull skies and drizzle and stepped out of the car into what felt like a sauna, the humidity was so high. By lunchtime the sky was blue and the sun was shining but the humidity kept on rising.

Hazards of the day – Firstly, the mud. It was squelchy and slippery in places and I narrowly missed an embarrassing slip. Fortunately, I didn’t have to spend the day with a muddy backside. Secondly, there were a couple of ladies stood behind us at one stand who were a little overexcited at the prospect of meeting Monty Don, I hope he survived the experience.

Trifolium ochroleucon (copyright Ian Curley)

Most Popular Plant of the Show – It had to be Trifolium ochroleucon or giant clover as it became known on the day. It was everywhere, used in the show gardens, on the nursery stands and in trolleys and bags all over the showground.

Mark Diacono about to make cocktails (copyright Ian Curley)

Purchases of the Day – With so much to choose from and an empty car boot I think I was very restrained, or maybe reality has finally set in that my garden cannot take any more plants. I did bring home a Tanacetum ‘Flore pleno’ or the double flowered feverfew. I’ve been looking for this plant for several years now but hadn’t come across it until here. There were some Franchi seeds of an Italian broccoli and several packets of seeds from a great stall in the ‘Growing For Taste’ marquee. I’ve never come across the organic seed company Beans and Herbs before but they had a great selection. And finally, I succumbed to the charms of Mark Diacono at his ‘edible forest garden’ stand. Mark has become known, in recent years, as an exponent of growing more unusual edible plants at his nursery Otter Farm. To show us the taste sensations of some of the plants he grows, he was making and serving cocktails from his stand. We timed our visit perfectly to experience a thyme syrup and lemon verbena cocktail which used some unusual plants to add the sweetness and flavour and then as we were leaving we were passing his stand again, just as his second session was starting. It was a coincidence, unless it was Wellyman’s cunning plan. So we stuck around for his strawberry cocktail, well it would have been rude not to. The cocktails were gorgeous and I fell for the idea of giving something a little unusual a go and came a way with a yacon plant and an Aztec sweet herb (Lippia dulcis). I’ll post in more detail about these plants another day. All I can say is, it’s just as well he’d sold out of the Szechuan pepper trees.

The Casablanca Steps (copyright Ian Curley)

Summery Moment – We haven’t had much of a summer so far, so when these moments happen it’s all the more memorable. I just loved the 1920s/1930s band Casablanca Steps, dressed like they had just stepped out of a Jeeves and Wooster book, they played in the bandstand, whilst we ate lunch in the sunshine. Perfect.

The ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ Show Garden (copyright Ian Curley)

Favourite Show Garden – Bridge Over Troubled Water. I just loved the planting on this show garden. The use of grasses and plants mingling in between, made me think of a hedgerow but with a cultivated, contemporary look. This is where I spotted my favourite plant of the show, Dianthus carthusianorum.

The ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’ Conceptual Garden (copyright Ian Curley)

Favourite Conceptual Garden – Light at the End of the Tunnel. This garden was designed by Matthew Childs who was injured in the July 7th bombing of Edgware Road Station in London in 2005. Inspired by his experiences on that day and subsequently, I thought it felt like a garden with real substance. You entered the garden through a hole in a large stone wall where a path took you through a dark, claustrophobic feeling tunnel but as you walked down the path the tunnel gradually became more open to the sky until you were once again in daylight. It was a simple but clever way of expressing the impact his experience had on him. The planting was beautiful with shade loving plants alongside the path in the tunnel and soft forms and flowers as you left.

The colour of the show – orange (Copyright Ian Curley)

Colour of the Show – This had to be orange. Achillea ‘Walter Funke’, Heleniums, Pilosella otherwise known as ‘fox and cubs’, Eremurus ‘Cleopatra’  were all a stunning shot of colour which came to life as the sun came out.

Favourite Plant – This was the Dianthus carthusianorum used in the Bridge Over Troubled Water garden. The brilliant shot of pink from the flowers worked so well planted with grasses. With flowers similar to sweet williams but with fewer flowers on a stem, they looked quite ethereal, similar to verbena bonariensis although much shorter in height. This is definitely a plant that will go on my wish list.

The herbaceous borders at Hampton Court Palace (copyright Ian Curley)

Surprise of the Day – The stunning herbaceous borders of the palace itself. We’d only visited Hampton Court once before, about 13 years ago in January, to look around the palace. We had no idea that the gardens themselves would be so beautiful.

We left tired, with sore feet but having had a great day. Can’t wait to explain my yacon plant to the guys on the allotment.