I went down to Chelsea Flower Show as part of the BBC Radio Oxford coverage on the last build up day before press and queen visit day. Some of the gardens were finished and the workers and and designers were looking comfortable and just putting the final polish on things while others still had a way to go and were a bit more frantic. Even by mid afternoon the atmosphere was still one of a building site with cranes, tele-hoists, and huge delivery lorries clattering about the site. The BBC Local Radio studio - for studio read tent- was just around the corner from the the eventual winner of the Best in Show award, the Australian garden. And it was by far the most impressive garden and had taken full advantage of the most sought after pitch, the Rock Bank
I could have filled a dozen blogs with images of the show but here are just a selection of things that caught my eye,There is a lot of good stuff that wasn't quite finished or where the exhibitors were so busy finishing off that there were more people than plants on the stand and it did not make for good pictures. Any way, here is a flavour.
P.S. Don't forget new blog posts are announced on twitter @pwhorticulture
P.S. Don't forget new blog posts are announced on twitter @pwhorticulture
Oztralia
The Australian garden was overlooked by this huge viewing structure which the designer told me that when you were looking out from inside such was the alignment that you could not see the 'petals'
Huge rocks, torrents of water and an all Australian flora.
The planting was solid and mighty impressive. There were one or two recognisable plants among the low growers that I have seen among the bedding plants now on sale in the garden centres including Scaevola, Brachycome ( or Brachyscome depending on which book you read.) and Helipterum.
The other mighty impressive display was that of Hillier's. It took pride of place in the big Pavilion on the Monument site and was a triumph of plant exuberance and flamboyance but what else would you expect from Andy McIndoe, Hillier's larger than life head man. The stand had its showy centrepieces but also a huge bank of trees and shrubs which as Andy said were readily available and could be grown by anyone. He explained that they leave the specialist plants to the specialist growers but produce a very large range of the best varieties of trees and shrubs that will thrive in almost any garden.
Pretty in Pink.
Anon.
In complete contrast to the colour and razzmatazz is this garden. I don't know who sponsored it or what the theme was but the simplicity of the shapes was satisfying. A stone wall , wicker work shapes and clipped Yew on a bed of Barley. Simple
Sorry I can't remember whose garden this was..
Brewin Dolphin
Men at Work.
Cleaning up with shoes off and working out backwards to get the site absolutely pristine and ready for the judges.
Arthritis Research.
Man at Work.
Do you think their wives or girlfriends know how meticulous they are at cleaning and tidying?
Sentabale
This was the B & Q Sentabale Forget Me Not charity garden with which the young, ginger haired royal was involved. He is a founder of the charity that helps vulnerable children in Lesotho many of who have HIV.
This was a garden you could enjoy without having the 'Theme' explained to you.
Many of the gardens were themed and some of the sponsors and designers go to great lengths to explain the theme. I wonder for whose benefit the theme is. If it is for the Chelsea visitors then it is a waste of time. I am not sure they will be looking any garden and thinking oh yes I can see the passage of time and the struggles of life in this garden. Many will be thinking yeah, the colours are good and I like the shapes and features and how on earth would you clip that box with all those flowers around it , but only a rare few will be looking for and I think struggling to find any sort of deeper meaning. It is a bit like art, if it has to be explained it is missing the mark. First let it impress then give it greater depth with an explanation if you really feel you must. I am pretty sure the theme is just to give the designer something on which to hang a design and of course to create a bit of publicity which is no bad thing.
Birmingham City Council were celebrating the forthcoming opening of their new library. There was spectacular colour themes, some glass like sheets of water and though it was explained to me that they were all old books from the old library and of no use it still made me uneasy seeing books stacked on damp ground and so close to all those flowers which are going to have to be watered before the show is over.
Everyone one seems to have something of a claim on J R R Tolkien. Oxford obviously but Warwickshire and Worcestershire also claim a bit of him,however Birmingham has a more substantial claim than most because Tolkien lived in Moseley as young boy and it is Moseley Bog and its dank woodlands that are said to have inspired him when writing Lord of the Rings. The representation of the Ents and the Ring itself being cast into the fiery abyss at Mount Doom was well done
Thailand
Oh what confection!
It was hard not to be impressed by the detail and sheer elaboration of the Thai exhibit. Swags and dangles of orchids added to the exotic enchantment.
I wonder if there is any marzipan under there?
BrandAlley
After the Australian garden this was my favourite and it was done on a far more modest budget. It worked in so many ways; the balance and proportions were right, the colours were harmonious without being innocuous, the ceramic sculptures were ideally proportioned and their colour kept the feeling light. There was a sunken level for sitting out and you really did want to go down and sit in it away fro the hurly burly of the show. There was an original and curious water feature (for want of a better description) set into spaces, alcoves, in the wall . You can see them in orange right at the back in this picture. They were light and bubbly and just downright novel. I am so glad these guys and gals were awarded a Gold. Well done! Designer. Paul Hervey- Brookes
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The one thing I enjoy about Chelsea is that you meet old friends be they photographers, writers, gardeners or designers and this year it was great to meet up with a very dear gardener friend Beverley Hilkopp. We bumped into each other just in front of this garden. We both looked at the garden then she looked at me and I looked at her and she came out with one of her usual deadpan comments 'Maybe if it was upside down' . Well here it is upside down and it is just as tedious.
Me? A Philistine?
I am not really a gladiolus fan but I could not help but be impressed by this display. I stood watching as the nurseryman selected the perfect stem, just enough open and unopened buds, from the great bundles packed in large buckets of water and fed each one into the heart of each display until he had built the perfect star-burst of stems.
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The two pictures above look like they are the wrong way up. It is because they are vertical plantings and the foliage is hanging down and not upright as you would expect.
They were interesting mosaics of foliage but whether this trend towards greening of vertical spaces is a a green as is being made out, or is it even successful,without expensive maintenance, is hard to gauge. It may be that this is a display for the show rather than a display of what would be a successful,permanent display. They were still being planted while I watched and it was interesting to see the rock wool hole they were being planted into. The top picture looks to have Heucheras, Heucherallas and Acorus in it and below is Saxifraga stolonifera or something similar along with some small ferns
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A display of Heucheras and Tiarellas. Fantastic foliage.
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Here was a display suggesting alternatives to the lawn. The square to the left showed a perfect piece of lawn with nothing but grass. Opposite it on the right was a piece of lawn that looks more like yours and mine with a few (few?)weeds here and there. In the middle is a 'lawn' of low growing plants. Some are natives and others not so native. There was no one to ask but I am guessing they are trying to encourage us to offer something for the bees and other insects. It is not going to replace a lawn that the kids and dog are going to play on but if your lawn does not get a lot of wear then this flower rich low growing relatively low maintenance ' meadow ' might be something to think about.
Chelsea. The Prequel.
If you have been to Chelsea Flower Show you will know it is like entering a small bustling town so I thought you might like to see how it looks before work starts and during the first few days of its life.
My neighbour's son Tom is a lorry driver. He was one of the first on site and he sent me these pictures.
If you need to get your bearings take the monument on the right in the picture below as a marker. It will be in the centre of the great Pavilion when all the tentage is erected. At this stage all is relatively calm.
Day 1. The site is s marked out and the metal roads start to go in.
Day 2
Things start to get busy as the structure is laid out. Makes IKEA flat pack look a doddle.
By week two the Pavilion roof is assembled and a three hour operation is started to lift it into place above the Monument in the centre of the picture. .
The covering comes in large aluminium containers ready to roll out. Have you got this bit campers?
And finally Tom's lorry in Belgium. It is just one load of forty eight that will carry all the aluminium structure and covering for the Great Pavilion from Holland and Belgium ( and a bit from Brackley) to Chelsea. The show ran for five days from 20th May after which it was all broken down and carted back across to mainland Europe.
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We have left Chelsea and are now back in the real world.
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I was asked to plant these 'plants by post' seedlings. Not sure what to make of them. They were well grown and when the plastic was flexed they popped out neatly and ready to plant. Quite a bit of plastic involved when a few packets of seed and a bit of savvy would have produced the same results but still a pretty good way of getting started if you don't have the necessary savvy. 72 hardy plants. I have no idea what they cost.
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'You need some timber edging around this new border' I told some friends as we went round their garden. A few weeks later ......, well they sure did put some timber around them.
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Brick frogs - that's not a frog made of brick but the hole in the bottom of a brick that keys in the cement.
I was sorting out these pavers which were smooth on the top face but had these lovely and quite detailed patterns underneath.
This one had tree motif which it seemed a shame was on the underside.
This star of David emblem was very distinctive. Are there any brickophiles out there who might know whether you can trace the source of the brick by the frog pattern? Get in touch.
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You've got a gall.
This a nail gall on a sycamore leaf . This is caused by a mite which lays its eggs and causes the leaf to make these nail like (Some gat 3millimetres or so long) growths which hide the young mites underneath in a tube or hollow caused by the abnormal growth. That is a gross simplification but it it is none the less incredible how an insect can produce the necessary chemical to change the growth pattern of plant cells. Some cause very distinct abnormal growth such as the oak apple. I will look out for other examples and post them when they show up. Feel free to let me know about your favourite galls.
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It's a massive cliché but I could not resist this picture of bluebells in a wood. I had tagged along with some bat enthusiasts and we were checking to see if the boxes we had installed a few weeks ago had been used by the Barbastelle bats we were particularly interested in. Only one of some twenty or so were occupied and unfortunate it was not a Barbastelle bat. But the bluebells were great.
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Actinidia kolomikta, a bit fuzzy because the wind was blowing heavens hard. The white in these leaves will eventually go pink . Does anyone know why? A very distinctive and easy climbing plant.
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I was guiding a group around Batsford Arboretum Arboretum, 5 minutes away, Bourton House, 5 minutes away, and here for Cotswold Walks. I felt sorry for the group of eight Californian ladies who were undoubtedly intrepid and up for it as they say but no one could be expected to put up with cold blasting wind and driving rain that confronted them at every turn and least of all when you have come from the warmth that is Southern California.
Viewed from the lower water garden the house stands very proud
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Catch the buz.
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| Several of these bees were buzzing around when I was trying to cut the grass. I had the feeling they were ground nesting bees and I had disturbed their peace though as much as they hovered back and forth around the same spot none of them went into a hole of any sort. Bee experts, is it Andrena cineraria? |
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| Tulipa Rajka. Not to everyone's taste but I like it. It adds a bit of razzmatazz. |
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Snails doing a demolition job on a defenceless Crown Imperial, Frittilaria imperialis.I should have been angry but it just made me smile.
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How about these beauties?
I went to collect a mower from the repair workshop and outside were these two old machines, both still running and being used but just in for a bit of TLC. The blue mower dates back to the 1970s.
This elegant looking petite green machine has to be a she and the name Hayterette surely defines its sex.
Okay all you Formula One fans eat your heart out and look at the sweep of that ducting and the quick change height adjuster. Superb!
Note the complete lack of any safety device on this Landmaster Stoic. It was built for an age when common sense was in abundance.
The Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen said to me rather sheepishly 'See, you have to be careful how you use super-glue'
"Armadillo"
"Good, the country needs Dillos"
