Laurent Perrier Garden wins Best in Show

One of the high points a this year's Chelsea Flower Show was The Laurent Perrier Garden - not simply the sublime design. When I was photographing it at 6am in the morning, the sunlight came streaming through the trees and hit the yellow and while lupins transforming it from a cool mellow space into a veritible sea of floral fireworks.

Designed by Luciano Giubbilei,and incorporating an intriguing natural sculpture of roughly hewn cedar by Ursula von Rydingsvard, it truly hit the brief!

Cloudy Bay Sensory Garden - a treat for the senses

Possibly my favourite garden at this year's Chelsea Flower Show was the Cloudy Bay Sensory Garden.

Created by designers Andrew Wilson and Gavin McWilliam, the wooden structures and wonderful wistful planting tell the story of the sponsor's wine production. The colours and the textures all playing a part - from oak panels used to age the wine to the cream and yellows (for the white wine) and the crimsons and purples (for the red wine).

The design represents an urban garden - for me its a beautiful oasis to escape and relax form the bustle of life in town.

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Miss Saori’ wins Plant of the Year for 2014

Hillier Landscapes celebrated its 150th anniversary by scooping a 69th consecutive Gold medal and the prestigious Plant of the Year award for 2014 with Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Miss Saori’.  

Bred in Kyoto by Japanese plantsman Ryoji Irie and named after his fiancé who has since become his wife, this hydrangea has deep rose edges, which gradually fade into white centres, and unusual double-petalled flowers. The resultant lacy appearance makes it ideal as a cut flower. It will thrive in full sun or semi-shade and is suitable for borders or containers. The burgundy foliage adds extra interest in autumn.

Traditional beauty from David Austen Roses

Rosa 'Olivia Rose Austin'  (copyright David Austen Roses)














Amid the wacky and ostentatious in the main exhibitor marquee at the Chelsea Flower Show, David Austen Roses' stand is always a picture of tradition and tranquility. And the show will feature the perennial launch of their 2014 rose introductions.  

Rosa 'Olivia Rose Austin' (Ausmixture) has the shape of an 'old rose', with its double shallow-cupped rosettes, and was named after David Austin Junior' s daughter. Fully hardy, shiny Leander-type foliage, vigorous growth, repeat-flowering and highly disease-resistant, makes this an excellent rose to grown in any garden situation. But the winner for me are the perfectly-formed 3.5in blooms, which are a delicate shade of pink, and the strong fragrance which has tones of mixed fruits.

Rosa 'The Lady of the Lake' (Ausherbert) is a repeat-flowering, semi-double rambler come climber. Don;t be fooled though, this rose is reported to grow to a height of 10 or 12ft, but possibly more. Attractive flowers of blush pink with golden stamens are produced on long, slender, flexible stems.

Rosa 'The Lady of the Lake' (Ausherbert)   
(copyright David Austen Roses)

A 'Sailors' Valentine' from Barbados

One of my favourite perennial exhibits at Chelsea Flower Show is the wonderfully colourful Barbados Horticultural Society stand, which has been exhibiting at the show since 1988.


This year, they built an intriguing exhibit called “Sailors’ Valentine Garden". I visited the website that explains what this garden is all about and, instead of the shells that normally make up a 'sailor's valentine', they used plan flowers.

Here you can see all four 'valentines' which
were set in a tropical garden.

The society won a Gold medal for their display, which added to the haul of 15 Golds, 11 Silver-Gilts and 1 Silver medal.

Hosta named after tennis star Andy Murray 

 

Brookfield Plants is launching Hosta ‘Andy Murray’ at the Chelsea Flower Show in cooperation with the British Hosta & Hemerocallis Society.  Raised by Bob Solberg, the variegated leaves of this cultivar represent the colours of the Scottish Saltire – woven between the blue leaf centre and the wide white margin is a broken line of gold flashing, reminiscent of Andy’s Olympic Gold Medal.

Clematis ‘Maria Skłodowska Curie’ to be launched at the Chelsea Flower Show

This beautiful clematis is named after Marie Curie, the Polish-born  physicist  and  chemist,  considered  one  of  the most famous scientists of her time, and is available in the UK  from Thorncroft Clematis, who will be launching it at next month's Chelsea Flower Show.

The  plant  was  cultivated  by Szczepan  Marczyński, the well-known clematis breeder and propagator . The official naming ceremony took place at the opening of ‘Green is Life’ exhibition in Poland 2011, to mark the 100th  Anniversary of Marie Curie’s second Nobel Prize.

This cultivar has double or semi-double, spherical or semi-spherical white flowers, which are 12-15cm across and bloom on old and new growth. During cool weather, the petals gain a greenish colouring, especially at the base.

Golden anthers on creamy filaments brighten up the flowers, which bloom abundantly in June and July. Plant reaches 2m in height. Prefers sunny but not overly hot, wind-sheltered and well-drained conditions.

Thorncroft Clematis will be donating £1.50 from the sale of each plant sold in 2014 to Marie Curie Cancer Care.