Last year was my first trip to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, it changed my world. This year, it didn’t have the same gobsmacking impact, but I could appreciate what I was seeing much better. The gardens I enjoyed more – the ones I liked the most had a story, like a fantasy world set piece, which is what I think a garden should be. Because… why not!
1) A garden impossible to believe it had just been constructed
Dan Pearson’s Chatsworth Garden included 400 tonnes of stoneRheums and a stream – Dan Pearson’s Chatsworth Garden
2) Dark Matter = a video game scene in real life
Dark Matter Garden
3) Stylish dwarf conifers
The Sculptor’s Picnic’s dwarf pines and firs were stunning and contemporary
4) Plants under your feet
The Brewin Dolphin’s garden slate pathways were really eye catching, and a bit too much in parts, but this walkway above plants and over a stream was lustworthyPlants beneath a raised parth in the Dark Matter Chelsea Garden
5) The Cloudy Bay Garden’s wispy planting
Probably the most delicate plant design in Cloudy Bay Garden
6) A hideaway you could imagine hiding away in (despite the crowds)
The Retreat at sunset
7) When the hidden bit is best
The back of the Homebase garden was my fave bit
8) The garden everyone wanted
The Time In Between gardenProteas – the flower everyone was oohing at, but can’t actually grow outdoors, in The Time In Between garden
9) The ultimate upside down bouquet
And thats just one corridor
10) The moment everyone loved Lupin Masterpiece again
Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities Garden
11) … And when they presented Dahlias flowering months earlier than they should
The Pillars of Mexico by the National Dahlia Society was preeeetty incredible – and made me feel slightly less bonkers as we have many of the same plants
12) Japan
Bonsai, Acers, mosses – what’s not to love (spot the cat)
13) A giant wicker thing
Forget the wicker, check out the shady border
14) The shed we all want
The Trug Workshop
15) Smelling the South of France
The Perfumer’s Garden looked and smelt like the South of France.
