Almost the last post from Chelsea...

The Horticultural Trade Association is reporting that Bank Holiday sales for some retailers were at an all-time high, with concern that good quality bedding plants are now in short supply.

So what's all this got to do with Chelsea Flower Show? Well it would appear that the blanket coverage it received from the BBC certainly fuelled the public's thirst for furniture, barbecues and plants, even if it wasn't the greatest telly.

Whether or not the weather played a part in the equation is subject to debate but a promotion around Chelsea Flower Show plants such as clematis and roses resulted in a 20 per cent increase in sales.

Follow me at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Sadly that's the last post from this Chelsea 2010 - a bit of a triumph for the organisers, show gardens and growers.

Follow my scribblings at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show...

Stately lupins

Some flowers really do have architectural qualities. Take this amazing display of lupins on the Westcountry Nurseries stand - what an impact they would have in any border. But if you look carefully, they resemble a well-known New York landmark.

Nice to think that maybe the humble lupin was the inspiration for the Empire State building.

Chameleon paeony

Believe it or not, this is the same paeony. "Coral Charm" from Kelways starts off flowering a deep rose pink and then tranforms through shades of pink, light apricot and yellowy cream.

Clever things some flowers...

Eye-catching iris

I can't let Chelsea Flower Show go without selecting my favourite iris on display - and boy what a selection there was to choose from - orange, brown, fawn, purple, burgundy, etc


Then I found it - tucked away on the Hardy Plant Society stand: Iris "Jane Phillips" - a beautiful understated pale blue that would lighten the dingiest corner of any garden.

Local interest

I always check out any local interest at Chelsea and it was good to see Capel Manor (in conjunction with John Woods Nurseries) doing one of the Generation gardens, which are tucked away in the Grand Pavilion.


Entitled "The Upwardly Mobile Garden", it has been designed for a professional couple in their first home and who have had a garden makeover to improve the value of the property.

The focal point is the six foot plus Cornus Venus which has a lovely contrast of creamy blooms against dark green foilage. The rest of the planting is a mix of flowering shrubs such as roses, hydrangeas and heathers, low growing foilage plants such as hostas and Coprosma repens, an occasional ornamental grass and a generous smattering of flowers such as diascias and lavender.

Great North Run tribute

A really clever concept can be found on the Gatsehead Council stand in the Great Pavilion.

The designers have reproduced that iconic image of the start of the Great North Run by erecting a scale model of Newcastle's Tyne Bridge.

The clever bit is that they have planted a host of pansies to represent the runners.


Don't they just look convincing...

Top rose

Choosing a favourite rose at Chelsea is like trying to narrow down your all-time favourite footballer - a tough ask because there are so many to choose from.

For me, the one that caught my eye this year was a new introduction from Peter Beales Roses. Rosa 'Notre Dame De Calais' is a stunning creamy white variety that can be used as a small climbing rose or scrambler.

The blooms are semi-double and scented. Watch the thorns though - it inherits these from parent 'Maigold' - so is ideal to use as an intruder deterrent in less secure parts of the garden.

The rose is destined to adorn the grounds of its namesake, the recently refurbished Church Of The Notre Dame, in Calais.

Small flower - big name!

Prize for the plant with the longest name at Chelsea must go to sinocalycalycanthus raulstonii 'Hartage Wine', a new introduction from Hillier Nurseries.

It was developed by Richard Hartage, head gardener at the JC Raulston Arboretum in North California by crossing sinocalycanthus chinensis and calycanthus floridus.

The deciduous shrub has glossy green foilage and lightly-scented, semi-double burgundy blooms that resemble certain varieties of clematis. It flowers from May to September and the leaves turn butter-yellow in the autumn.

Nice one Hilliers...

Vote now!

Place your vote in the Chelsea Flower Show People's Choice Award, where you the viewing public get the chance to say which show garden you thought was top at this year's show.


My vote will be for the Roger Platts designed M&G Garden - a picturesque, traditionally British affair that has clever planting which enables the garden to look interesting in all light and weather.

The wooden structures and the circular pool provide a perfect backdrop for the flowers, shrubs and hedging.

Two of my colleagues have called me a "traditionalist" and a "plant hippie". That's not so - in the Small Garden category, my vote goes to A Joy forever, a contemporary sunken garden which has been designed for entertaining.


Let's face it - we would all like either of these in our back gardens!

Right heat for Chelsea

Weather is always a key ingredient at Chelsea, especially after the Winter/Spring that we have experienced.

Exhibitors were expecting the worst when the record temperatures hit us at the start of the week - nets were being draped over gardens to protect the plants from the fierce sun.


For some garden designers, it all got a bit much and Mark Gregory, in particular, sought sanctuary in his water feature - a handy-sized plunge pool in the Children's Society Garden.


Thankfully, things have cooled down a bit and the gardens and exhibits look an absolute picture with the majority of the flowers none the worse for wear.

Saves everyone's modesty...

Best show garden

Winner of the Best Garden In Show for the second year in a row was The Daily Telegraph Garden, designed by Andy Sturgeon.

His contemporary gravel garden echoes the Fynbos of the southern Cape, the Maquis shrub land of the Mediterranean, the Chaparral of California and Mexico, and the Matorral of central Chile, with its exotic planting, defined spaces, open clearings of sparsely planted gravel and rear courtyard, which houses a shady cork oak.

Rectangles of rusted iron provide a themed structure throughout the garden. His planting includes purple salvia, brown irises, yellow verbascum and sun-tolerant architectural grasses.

Tree of knowledge

One of the more unusual exhibits is the RHS Tree Of Knowledge which is in the Continuous Learning section in the Grand Pavilion.

The 5-metre tall tree was designed by Tom Hare and is woven in willow. It was created to mark the 2010 United Nations' International Year of Biodiversity.

With the countryside and open spaces in urban areas under increasing pressure from planners and developers, a wider understanding of the importance of maintaining biodiversity will help reduce the impact of decreasing green space in gardens. An interactive RHS display allows visitors to learn more about biodiversity.

Among the other exhibits in this section:

The Capel Manor stand demonstrates how greening urban areas can reduce crime rates.

The Centrepoint garden introduces the production of 'Superfoods' - plants that can be grown in an urban environment with medical, healing and very high nutritional value.

Indoor Garden Design has created a 'Living Office', which demonstrates the importance of indoor plants in an office environment.

The UK Climate Impacts Programme exhibit shows how plants can be used to help create a better environment within our changing climate.

Thai takeaway

Seems there was just time for a takeaway on the Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden exhibit, which features elements of a Thai temple amid bamboo, orchids and other indigenous species.

Still, the team deserved a break as they have had to contend with problems shipping plants, etc, caused by the political troubles in Thailand - and the Icelandic ash cloud.

Rain forest in sunny SW10

How do you bring the Cameroonian rain forest to Chelsea?

Well that's the conundrum that my pal Jane Owen and her partner in crime, Anne Marie Powell, spent eight months planning and deliberating. Sponsored by Green & Black's, they wanted to raise awareness of the threat to the rain forest in Cameroon and to the local population there.

The result was a most unusual courtyard garden complete with indigenous plants such as Ficus lyrata (the fiddle leaved fig tree) and cultivated banana palms. The AK47 was a nice touch on the side of the stand. All that hard work earned the girls a Gold medal.

In the picture, Cameroonian women build the traditional Mongulu leaf house which forms the centrepiece to the garden.

A funny thing happened on the way home...

Funny story of the week so far involved a former colleague of mine, Peter Seabrook.

The Sun's long-time gardening correspondent had a photographer here taking picture of Chelsea. When it was time to pack up last night, Peter was not to be found so the snapper left the pictures by his car.

Peter drove all the way home to Chelmsford unaware of this. At some point later, his wife noticed something on his windscreen and asked him if he had been given a parking ticket.

Upon inspection, Peter found the missing picture CDs still lodged under his windscreen wipers.

Lucky escape...

Borneo Bill

One of my favourite pictures from the photocalls I attended at this year's Chelsea Flower Show was the one with Bill Bailey.

Here we see the 'part troll' holding a new breed of nepenthes from Borneo Exotics, named after him. Let's be honest, how would you feel immortalised by a... scrotum-like object - there I said it!

Not only that, but in the press melee that ensued, poor old Bill got his shorts well and truly soaked after being urged to sit on the wet moss that makes up much of the stand.

You're a trouper, sir!

Streptocarpus wins top award

Well done to Lynne Dibley, whose unusual dolly mixture shaded Streptocarpus ‘Harlequin Blue’ was named as the 2010 Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Plant Of The Year.

I tipped this plant to top the voting at the inaugural Plantsman Conference - and it polled a massive 29 votes from specialist growers.

Streptocarpus are one of those plants that gardeners either love or hate but they are surprisingly easy to grow and maintain. This one is bound to encourage converts!

It's Chelsea 2010

Chelsea Flower Show 2010 is now live and the crowds are pouring in - read regular reports here throughout the week!

Alternatively, check all things green at julianinthegarden