OUTDOORLIVING
Chelsea provided Gold for the county ’ s top nurseries and saw a garden head for Kent
The Chelsea Flower Show 2016 proved to be a golden year for Kent with a show garden relocating to the county and top RHS medals heading back to the Garden of England courtesy of a lavender supremo and an iris specialist . WORDS AND IMAGES BY VIKKI RIMMER
A lavender bed to lay your head
Tonbridge-based Dr Simon Charlesworth of Downderry Nursery has done more than most in the horticultural world to help transform the humble lavender plant and make it a chic garden choice . Simon started his nursery in 1991 and was awarded Plant Heritage ‘ scientific status ’ in 2009 for the development and research that he pioneered .
The gold medal awarded this year for Downderry ’ s innovative stand was well deserved . With a pretty white iron bedstead planted literally among the lavender , the stand at Chelsea showcased not just the beautiful diversity of the plant colouring but also the team ’ s commitment to promoting it .
Gold medal winning irises
If you want to know about irises then there is no better woman to speak to than Sue Marshall . Sue owns Iris of Sissinghurst in Marden and has been displaying irises to much acclaim for the last nine years at the Chelsea Flower Show .
It ’ s no mean feat to get a hundred irises to flower at the same time , but this is something that Sue manages to do year on year . Sue has provided irises in the past for stands by leading designers as well as donating to the Hardy Plant Society ’ s Kent Group who exhibited at Chelsea last year .
As in many previous years , 2016 saw Sue tending and bringing her plants to flower for the Cayeux stand in the grand Pavillion at Chelsea . Sue says : “ Richard Cayeux sends his plants over in August and we grow them and then put the display together . This year we were looking for something impactful and for a sea of colour .” Sue ’ s hard work paid off the stand received a gold medal from the judges .
Sue was aided in the building of the stand by Steve Edney , head gardener at The Secret Gardens in Sandwich , and also by a group of RHS students assembled by BBC Radio Kent ’ s gardening superstar Andy Garland .
Chelsea gold medal winning garden heading for Kent
The gold medal winning Chelsea Barracks Garden , created by garden designer Jo Thompson for the world ’ s most famous flower show will be relocated to the Royal British Legion Village in Aylesford after the show .
Jo Thompson , who is based in Wadhurst , East Sussex , started her garden design business in Cranbook . In her eighth year at the Chelsea Flower Show , Jo ’ s design for the Chelsea Barracks Garden presented a traditional rose garden reimagined for the 21st century .
The garden featured roses with perennial planting between , including some show-stopping geums , and there was a quiet serenity about the design which invited the visitor to stay and relax a while .
The garden design itself was inspired by the heritage of the Chelsea Barracks site and also took cues from the architecture of the new development which neighbours the Royal Hospital where the Chelsea Flower Show has been held since 1913 .
A bronze sculpture in the garden paid tribute to the Barracks ’ former residents and the sculpted stone tidal rill was a reference to the lost river Westbourne which once ran under the Chelsea Barracks site .
Bronze uprights formed part of the boundary of the garden , beyond which the backdrop to the Royal Hospital could be seen .
On the lawn of the Royal Hospital itself , a much talked about highlight of Chelsea 2016 were the 300,000 handmade crocheted poppies covering a 2,000-squaremetre area . These poppies , a tribute to those who served in the war , sited just beyond Jo Thompson ’ s garden , added meaning to the fact that the structure and plants will travel to Aylesford . It ’ s a fitting tribute to the show this year that the garden will live on and form the centrepiece of the new village which will provide permanent homes for injured , sick or wounded veterans .
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