From May 22-26, 157000 visitors descended upon Chelsea as 11 acres of ground was transformed by 500 exhibitors, 16 show gardens, and the Great Pavilion. Yes, the Queen popped by for a visit and the photographers from Vogue ventured into the arena… but our interest was in the plants on display. Here are a few highlights from our visit:
- The Great Pavilion was somewhere to escape the blinding sun and have a peek at the RHS Plant of the Year 2012: Digitalis ‘Illumination Pink’. This exotic looking foxglove was achieved by the clever chaps at Thompson & Morgan who crossed Digitalis canariensis with Digitalis purpurea.
- Next on our list was Hillier Nurseries with their record 67th consecutive gold medal win. Their Diamond Jubilee tribute ‘Duel and the Crown’ featured a fencing display, as well as a debut of Choisya ‘Aztec Gold’.
- Moving on to the show gardens, we stopped by Nigel Dunnett’s silver gilt RBC Blue Water Garden and admired the Orlaya grandiflora, Deschampsia cespitosa ’Garnet Schist’, Melanoselinum decipiens, Lilium martagon, Penstemon ‘Heavenly Blue’, and Thalictrum ‘Elin’.
- Battling our way through a throng of wide-brimmed hats nursing Pimm’s, we discovered the beautiful L’Occitane Immortelle Garden. Designed by Peter Dowle, this gold medal garden recreated the wild Corsican Maquis. Helichrysum italicum was the star player of this scene.
- Finally, the much-hyped silver gilt Westland Magical Garden by Diarmuid Gavin deserves a mention simply because it contained a slide within its enormous pyramid-shaped structure. Multi-level planting boxes linked the seven platforms together.
To round off our round up, we are extending our Chelsea Flower Show discount to our email list. For 20% off all Timber Press books, use the code SHOW2012 at checkout.
