Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
25th May 2024
Chelsea Flower Show
So that’s another Chelsea Flower Show gone to seed and leaving lots to ponder. It is official, the ‘current’ (as in topical, not the fruit) colour is purple, the ‘mood’ is romantic – and I recognise fewer and fewer celebrities each year.
Despite people not ‘standing out’ for me this year, there were other ‘stand outs’ including the first garden to be designed by children called ‘No Adults Allowed’. I must be getting grumpier but all I can think of is, ‘Let the kids maintain it then …’
There continues to be a focus on ‘green issues’ and climate change, and lots of the gardens nodded toward sustainability. Designer Ann-Marie Powell’s show garden celebrated Octavia Hill, the should-be-better-known pioneering co-founder of the National Trust, who believed green spaces and gardens were vital in everyone’s life.
Ann-Marie said, “Our design approach is a showcase for sustainability and climate change resilience, with peat-free plants, reclaimed materials and low-carbon build techniques. And remind everyone that we all need to adapt the way we garden, with more unpredictable and extreme conditions in mind, and with plants that are resilient to changing weather patterns.”
Ironically she had to alter her design after the frost-free spring led to some plants flowering earlier in the year than usual. She explained, “This spring may have felt very cold to people, but it has been unseasonably warm from a horticultural point of view, because we haven’t had the frosts. The plants haven’t had that pause during freezing weather, so they’ve kept going and flowered earlier than in a ‘typical’ year.’
One thing I have noticed over the 10 years I have been visiting Chelsea Flower Show is that the celebrities are making more effort to wear something floral or ‘botanical.’ Maybe they have been inspired by my ‘infamous Chelsea Flower Show boots’ – the ones Ringo Starr and Joanna Lumley wanted to buy from me. Some things are just not for sale.
Plants on the Podium
Chelsea Flower Show’s ‘Plant of the Year’ is the tree-mendous Prunus ‘Starlight’, an ornamental cherry blossom tree with unique white star-shaped flowers – a bit like the star-magnolia. Its enthusiastic flowering habit begins in mid- late March and often extends well into April giving good value for money. And it is ‘a robust and healthy grower’ with good resistance to frost damage.
In second place this year is Cosmos atrosanguineus Cherry Chocolate (‘Vg001’), with large, cherry-coloured flowers, contrasting yellow pollen and a chocolate scent. I have always loved the chocolate Cosmos – and never fail to be impressed by the smell – or thrilled by people’s reactions when they first smell it. This plant is also loved by pollinators and is hard-working, blooming non-stop from the end of May to the first frosts.
I actually like the third choice too, although it’s a bit more unusual. The Agave ‘Praying Hands’ is a unique succulent that has an elegant tear-shaped artichoke-look with colourful foliage. It’s hardy to -5C and is extremely sun and drought-tolerant too which makes it a good choice for our ‘menopausal seasons’. It would make a fabulous feature on its own in a container or you could plant it with other succulents for more impact.
Over 180 expert judges reviewed a shortlist of 21 plants, and the process of judging the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Plant of the Year competition was noticeably different this year. Not only was the winner announced on the first public day of the show, but it’s also the first time that voters took part in an online to enable members of RHS Plant Committees and Trials Forums who are not able to attend the show to contribute their expertise.
Welsh Gold
Congratulations to the wonderful Welsh team who won Gold in the Best All About Plants category for their The Size of Wales Garden, designed by Dan Bristow from Bethesda in Gwynedd.
Dan’s show garden is thought to be the most bio-diverse entry in the flower show’s history with 313 plant species being used in the planting, to reflect the number of tree species that can occur in just one hectare of tropical forest.
Dan said, “The garden will live on and mature at Treborth Botanic Garden in North Wales where it will be expertly maintained and go on to inspire and engage the public for many years to come.”
And the ‘Best in Show’ garden was won by the ‘forest bathing’ garden, highlighting the Japanese practice of forest bathing, or ‘shinrin yoku’, which encourages people to focus on the sights and sounds of the woodland to help manage stress levels.
Ironically, I read this week that a recent study found, ‘Gardeners had a 42 per cent lower likelihood of having multiple sleep complaints, such as short sleep and daytime sleepiness, compared to non-exercisers.’ I think that’s probably because we are all exhausted!
Elementary My Dear Whitsun
The last Bank Holiday in May is perfectly timed for those wanting to turn their Chelsea Flower Show inspiration into action and I’m sure all the garden centres will be busy. The most important thing to remember is that your garden is as unique as you are – the soil, the aspect, the gradients, shade, shelter and so on, so whilst you may well be trying to replicate something you have seen at Chelsea Flower Show – or anywhere else – it may not work for you, or at least quite as well.
Whilst I love Chelsea Flower Show and all it’s ‘hoo ha’, I am also cheerfully accepting of the fact that as Monty and Joe discuss earnestly whether purple and orange flowers should be planted together, I am battling to keep paths cut though the ground elder, the brambles from strangling some of my shrubs and a rabble of rabbits from butchering my peas.
And although my brother insists I say it every year, I have never seen such enthusiastic and ‘mental’ growth in the gardens as there is now. It’s like a green, leafy and grassy tsunami.
Whether you are trying to tame what you have or creating something new, enjoy the time spent in your garden this Bank Holiday.
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