BBC | RHS Summer Flower Shows /> Hort Week blog here where Andy keeps you up to date with the build.

Perhaps it's just me being nosey or my secret hankering to one day build my own show garden (well, a girl can dream!) but I've enjoyed following Adam Frost, designer of The QVC Garden through his online journal, I love finding out what it's really like to design and build a show garden at Chelsea and how amazing that first beer feels after completion!

Sorry to have to mention the financial state of things but it's an interesting thought. Has the credit crunch hit gardening? And in particular the Chelsea Flower Show? This is a topic tackled by Matt Appleby, it'll be interesting to see the impact it has on the show, perhaps we'll be bagging bargains or picking up some money-saving hints for the garden, it all helps.

For other places to check out on-line Chelsea chat, have a look at the RHS blog, with comment from Show Manager Bob Sweet you'll be privy to the inside RHS news from the top, it also features guest bloggers in the form of designers Tony Smith, designer of The Quilted Velvet Garden, Luciano Giubbilei from the Laurent Perrier Garden and others .

I like the Eden blog, but then I would, loyalty to my Cornish home and all that but it's got a lovely mix of the logistical, horticultural and funny sides of creating a garden, have a read.

Keep your eyes peeled; it's a great way to get an insight into the greatest flower show on earth before the gates open, I'm addicted already!

What I couldn't leave behind

Louise Danks - Researcher — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:16:52 +0000
Hmm, I think a little flowerbed reshuffle is on the cards when I get home or possibly even flowerbed creation. I might have been suffering from the gardeners' affliction of my eyes being bigger than my garden. The car looked like a mobile greenhouse on the way back down the M6 but I bet we weren't the only car on the motorway adorned with foliage. Clematis x aromatica and C. flammula mysteriously found their way into my jute shopping bag, along with a really pretty Nepeta govaniana that I'll have to sneak into the back of a border. I find that yellow flowers divide gardeners in the same way as the variegated/non variegated debate but I can't resist yellow. I don't mind if it's a perfect sunshine yellow, wholesome and cheery or an acid greeny yellow, I'm quite happy with anything in between. The N. govaniana has delicate pale, lemony yellow flowers and is perfection in plant form. Lobelia tupa is a plant that I have been hankering after for a long time and now I am the proud owner of one. Carol Klein warned me about its hallucinogenic properties when she spied it my bag. Everyday's a school day at these shows... A tiny little blackcurrant sage completed my purchases, Salvia microphylla var. microphylla I couldn't resist its tiny little magenta pink flowers and scented foliage, I know that it'll thrive in my garden and it was a bargain, that's my excuse! One item I would have loved to have brought home with me was this chap. My soon-to-be-husband and I have a little Russian tortoise called Claude so I am very fond of these slightly grumpy shelled creatures. Even though Claude has an uncanny habit of homing in and munching on any plant that I have struggled to grow or is very rare or special, I don't know how he does it! On second thoughts perhaps a stone version is a brilliant idea...

Floral art

Louise Danks - Researcher — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:26:43 +0000
The Cheshire area of Nafas have created a gold medal winning display inside the Floral Design Marquee. It's inspired by Mondrian and Andy Goldsworthy. Pam Orton, one of the designers, explained "We decided to call our exhibit Sculpture Park in celebration of the Cheshire Year of the Garden and the Cheshire Artists' Network's - Art in the Garden. After we had decided on a title we were able to look further for our inspiration." Further sources of inspiration come from Mondrian and Andy Goldsworthy. The result is a lively, vibrant arrangement. Also in the marquee The Welsh College of horticulture have certainly caused a stir! A stunning, floor to ceiling wall of flowers and coloured wire fills their display, a beautiful kaleidoscopic ball completes the exhibit, which is proving a great talking point for visitors.

Back to back gardens

Louise Danks - Researcher — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:09:57 +0000
The back to back gardens are a unique feature of the flower show at Tatton Park and they are arranged in groups of four all over the showground, what I like about this is that as I walk around the show I stumble across a square of gardens and keep seeing ones I haven't seen before, also you can get a really good look at them because they're nicely spread out. Out of 27 back to back gardens at the show, five were awarded the coveted gold medal, best in show went to Reaseheath Alumni with '5 a day with hidden play' a garden dedicated to growing and eating plenty of fruit and veg. 'A garden for bees' (Gold) designed by Ness Botanic Gardens highlights the importance of our buzzy little friends. It's beautiful too and more than dispells the myth that wildlife gardening has to be wild and woolly. 'Butterfly Journey' (Silver-gilt) is another wildlife friendly garden at the show. It's packed with the sort of plants we could all try to grow more of, to attract native butterfly species into our gardens. I noticed a fair amount of black in the back to back gardens, 'The back to basics garden' uses black to dramatic effect as a backdrop and in the planting with two stunning Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' and a generous sprinkling of Cosmos astrosanguineus, another garden which features this plant heavily is 'Urban retreat' (Silver) which also uses black as a backdrop but mixes acid greens through the dark flowers and foliage, a great combo. 'Reflection' (Silver) uses colour but it's much more gentle here. The decking and fencing is stained a soft grey and is set off by touches of galvanised metal used as edging and in the form of poles used throughout the garden as a suggestion of a boundary. These double up as plant supports too, this is an idea I might well take away with me... A garden that addresses a very common problem is 'The scented walled garden' (Silver) and it speaks volumes that I had a good long look at the garden, admired it, made notes, took a photograph and still had not realised that it had been designed with wheelchair users in mind, it proves the point that a garden when well designed can fit a specific brief and be gorgeous too.

More news from the floral marquee

Louise Danks - Researcher — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:35:05 +0000
Best in show was awarded to Matthew Soper of Hampshire Carnivorous Plants and he was delighted. "This is a very special year, not only because of this award at Tatton Park but it means we have won ten consecutive golds at Chelsea, ten at Hampton Court, ten at BBC Gardeners' World Live and now ten at Tatton Park and best in show. I couldn't be more pleased, it's fantastic!" Well done to Matthew. I couldn't mention the floral marquee again without letting you know how Medwyn Williams got on. Well, his gold medal record is as unblemished as his prize winning vegetables; another gold for Medwyn and an unbroken record. And to top it off the sun is shining! I'm really not used to this at a flower show, I might have to go and have a lie down. In the sun. With an ice cream perhaps...

The floral marquee

Louise Danks - Researcher — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:51:50 +0000
One of the occupational hazards if you like of working at flower shows is that you tend to be on-site before the show's open and you're still around after it's closed. It's these times that I love. Take this morning for example, I got the chance to have a proper look around the floral marquee, I almost had it completely to myself, now I don't mean to show off but how many of you can say that? Not only a bit of peace and quiet but also, the medals had been awarded so I was able to peruse at my own leisure...heaven! I'm a bit of a sucker for perennials and there's no shortage of herbaceous nurseries in the floral marquee. I couldn't resist having a closer look at Hardy's cottage garden plants (silver-gilt), there were a couple of new plants on the stand, a sturdy looking, low-growing campanula (Campanula 'Jenny) with white, open, bell shaped flowers that have the most delicate touch of blue at the throat. A vibrant ornamental and edible pea, Lablab purpurescens 'Ruby Moon' will be a real talking point throughout the show I'm sure. I also spotted a couple of my favourites, Lobelia 'Hadspen Purple' and the ethereal Thalictrum delavayi 'Album' on the stand, I always feel a little bit smug when I spot something on an exhibit that I have in my own garden, it's not quite show standard, more a work in progress lets say! Enjoying my gentle nose around the marquee, my eyes were drawn to what I can only describe as a horticultural sweet shop, Philip Tivey and sons (Silver-gilt) grow alstroemeria and this stand is sure to be a real crowd pleaser, the colours are amazing and with over 900 stems on the table it's impressive to say the least. Chris Tivey explained "Alstroemeria make great cut-flowers, they are very long lasting, so much so, the leaves will fade before the blooms!" Onwards to my botany lesson for the day, a one-to-one with Howard and Sally Wills of Ferndown nursery (Gold) who grow sempervivums or house leeks. Their display is crammed full of information and it's well worth stopping to have a good look. It's divided up into four really useful sections, interesting garden sempervivums, species sempervivums, plants related to sempervivums and plants that are commonly confused with sempervivums. There is something pretty special on the stand, Howard has never even seen it shown before, it's Sempervivum pittonii, Howard told me a bit about it "It's very rare in the wild and tricky in cultivation, we are very pleased to have this in flower because yellow flowers are very unusual. It grows on serpentine rock in the wild so we've put a little piece in the pot with it, that piece is from Kynance Cove in Cornwall." I was very impressed that a tiny piece of my homeland had made it to Tatton and was helping such a special little plant to grow. I've got several house leeks in my garden and not surprisingly they look nothing like Howard and Sally's so while I had their attention I thought I'd pick their brains, Sally gave me a few cultivation tips "We give our succulents fresh compost every year, they have full sun, good drainage and there's no need to worry about watering them if they're outside, they won't need any watering at all." Right, after my succulent masterclass I know where I've been going wrong so there's no excuse. After being reminded of home with the mention of Kynance Cove, what should I spot but a stand of agapanthus, more Cornish associations! Lady Skelmersdale of Broadleigh Bulbs (Silver-gilt) kindly had a few minutes to talk to me while she was watering, "With milder winters, more and more agapanthus are proving hardy for the open garden, there is a huge range from the smaller flowering ones like Agapanthus 'Profusion' which give you masses and masses of flowers to the larger plants that'll give you fewer more stately blooms." Right, top tip alert "Grow them at the front of a border, you'll have the low dome of glossy leaves throughout the summer and then six weeks of flowering, it is lovely to veiw a border through the flowers of an agapanthus and of course they make wonderful pot plants."

Awesome veggies

Louise Danks - Researcher — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:31:36 +0000
After a very early start this morning, we arrived at Tatton (pleasingly ahead of schedule and after encountering no traffic jams...No doubt we'll pay for it on the way home at the end of the week!) and set off for a bit of an explore. Map in one hand and camera in the other. My first thought was that the floral marquee is huge! It stretches out for miles, a real visual feast. I couldn't walk past Medwyn Williams' incredible vegetables without having a chat. "It's our first time at Tatton and we've never had anything less than a gold medal anywhere we've exhibited, we had 10 in a row at Chelsea so we're hoping for the best." I asked Medwyn to point out any new varieties and to be honest I lost count! There are so many unusual and interesting vegetables on his stand that I couldn't write them down fast enough! From the tiny little cucumber (Cucumber 'Cucino'), ideal for childrens' lunchboxes, to an unusual red aubergine and practically everything inbetween. "I like the long carrots the best, it's important to know that although these are exhibition standard veg they are perfectly good to eat, we eat them and get our five a day from veg alone!" It's a beautiful setting and I can't wait to get back out there and have another look, there's so much happening and it's still only press day.

True team spirit

Louise Danks - Researcher — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:02:12 +0000
Kris Hulewicz, show manager, is on site preparing for the big event next week. He says, "Adrenaline is running high during the lead up to the show as there is so much to accomplish in such a short amount of time. Designers are working around the clock putting the finishing touches to their gardens while the operations team are making sure the showground is ready for the hoards of visitors. There's a great atmosphere here and whatever people's specific roles on site, everyone lends a hand to each other in true team spirit."

A first time for Tatton

Louise Danks - Researcher — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:03:50 +0000
Here comes Tatton, another flower show and this time one I've not visited before so that'll be exciting. Tom and I are off up to Cheshire on Tuesday and hope to arrive by lunchtime. I'll have to learn my way around and then we'll get cracking on bringing you the best bits from the show. I've heard a lot about the back to back gardens and am interested in seeing what the designers do with two sides, I have lots of vertical surfaces in my own garden and am always looking for inspiration. Now, I'll be honest, I'm not sure that carpet bedding is one of my favourite horticultural disciplines but Tom assures me it's the best of the best at Tatton and I'll completely change my mind when I see it done properly, so I'm off to the show with my best 'open mind' hat on. Secretly I'm looking forward to it but it's fun listening to Tom trying to convince me that I'll like it! The county of Cheshire is celebrating The Cheshire year of the Garden 2008 and rightly so, you literally can't move for beautiful gardens, all of which you'll have heard of whether it's from magazines, gardening programmes or visits (if you're lucky). I've never been to Cheshire, having read about the stunning gardens in the area I'm wish I had time to stay a bit longer to visit a couple...

Tempting purchases

Louise Danks - Researcher — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:55:48 +0000
My wallet really didn't take too much of a battering this year, my head was turned by a very sexy indoor/outdoor beanbag but after much deliberation I managed to tear myself away. I'm not a naturally nosey person but watching hundreds of people tugging little trolleys around the showground - each with a different selection of plants peeking over the sides, it's difficult not to look! There'll be a warm nod of appreciation when someone has a selection of beautiful perennials (my personal weakness) nestled together 'ah yes, a lovely combination you've got there', there's a cheeky little bi-coloured salvia I've seen time and again, Salvia 'Hot Lips' seems to have been a best seller. A madly floriferous red and white flowered perennial, that'll bring a bit of fun to any garden. Sometimes I'll have a peek in a trolley and wonder how on earth a particular mix of plants will ever work together in a garden but hey-ho, each to their own! Then there's the trolleys themselves, when I've not quick enough to side-step, I've be rewarded with a swift knock to the ankle, word of warning there! Echinacea 'Art's Pride is Hampton stalwart, a warm rusty orange flowering perennial from the daisy family, looks fab at this time of year, very tempting. Penstemons in every shade of red, pink and purple are not normally one of my favourites but they look almost edible at the show and are everywhere, I know I've got true Hampton fever when I start finding plants irresistible that I'd usually not give a second thought. Take heucheras for example, I found myself admiring an entire display of them in the floral marquee, the range of foliage colours is astounding and every year there seem to be more to drool over. You see what's happening? I've never admired heucheras before, just not to my taste, but maybe that's the point of shows like these, to make you think outside of your own horticultural box...it's working for me!

Water gardens

Louise Danks - Researcher — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:53:48 +0000
There are two water gardens at Hampton Court this year and they're always something I look forward to as this category is unique to Hampton. This year they are slightly different in that they both have large raised ponds within a garden setting. The Dorset Water Lily Company garden, Romantic Charm (Silver) is a real corner of the Mediterranean, I had a good look at it on my way across the showground and with the early morning sunshine on it (yes the sun has made an appearance!) I felt as if I could have been in Tuscany! The lavender, thyme and santolinas are really shown-off by the crushed stone mulch, the ancient olives and Italian cypress add a true sense of classical drama. The raised pool, planted simply with water lilies, adds to the calming atmosphere of this convincing Mediterranean style garden. The World of Water Garden (Silver) also sports raised ponds but this time they surround a sunken patio area which you have to walk through to reach the timber shelter, the perfect spot to view the garden. This garden has a distinctly traditional lay-out that is cleverly is relaxed by the pretty mixed perennial and shrub planting around the raised pools, I think you'd have to invest in a pair of waders to maintain this one but it'd be well worth it. The Anglian Green, Black and White garden (Silver-gilt) is a show garden but has water as part of its design, this time it is formal but works well in this modern setting. Discovery garden by Libra school (Silver) even brought us a canal complete with authentic narrowboat, quite an achievement. The Burgbad Sanctuary's (Silver) watery element is not what you might expect but it just goes to show there's something for all tastes, it's a bath! On a glorious sunny evening I can't think of anything nicer than an alfresco dip in the tub, don't know what the neighbours would think though!

The festival of roses

Louise Danks - Researcher — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:41:12 +0000
Walking into the rose marquee this year you can't fail to be impressed. There's the beautiful fragrances vying for your attention and the stunning blooms, from old English, cabbagey favourites right through to the more delicate single flowers, there are roses everywhere! And even if they're not top of your shopping list I challenge you to walk around and not spot a stunner that you'll mentally place somewhere in your garden... I caught up with a very busy Marilyn Stevens who is the project manager for Roses UK and ultimately in charge of the Festival of Roses. "The marquee this year has a new look, it's Romanesque and every single one of the exhibitors has entered into the spirit of the theme. It's been lovely to develop a theme in the marquee and it's a real departure for us, I think it's been a real success. We have nine new roses on display and everyday we hold talks and demonstrations with rose experts. The rose of the year Rosa 'Lucky!' is on display and it more than lives up to the hype, it's a very unusual lilac-pink, really healthy and has a lovely fragrance. We have a display of 300 of them and it looks stunning!" The rose of the year this year not only looks beautiful but it sounds like a reliable, no-trouble plant, it's a floribunda so will be just as at home in a mixed border or bedding display and it boasts disease resistance too, what more are you looking for? If a hybrid tea rose is more your style have a look at R. 'Isn't She Lovely' another new launch at the show this year, creamy, pointed buds open into that classic rose shape that last and last. Something for the patio? Don't feel left out, R. 'Lavender Ice' will do just fine in a border or container, it's lilac blooms are clustered together and are weather resistant, just as well with the summer we're having! The rose marquee looks gorgeous this year and having a theme obviously suits it. It keeps the displays fresh and inspiring which is no mean feat when working with such a traditional group of plants. I wonder what next year's theme will be...

Small but colourful

Louise Danks - Researcher — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:04:27 +0000
The main thought that struck me walking around the showground was about the small gardens and the fact that they seem to be much more modern this year, there's more colour in the hard landscaping, some very brave choices. Andrea Fawcett-Philippart, a first-time designer at Hampton has created a Luis Barragan inspired space, A Touch of Barragan (Silver-gilt), it's impossible to ignore the neon-pink wall, which, very cleverly doesn't overpower the small garden. The planting is subtle but still manages to pick up the colour of the walls. "It's been a very steep learning curve, this is my first ever garden at a flower show, I graduated last year and it's a wonderful opportunity. I'm so excited to have received a silver-gilt on my first go!" Andrea's rusted, mild-steel water feature runs from front to back through the garden and gently overflows, there's something mesmerising about water when it's used in this way. I caught up with Helen Williams, the designer of The Sadolin Four Seasons Garden (Gold); "I'm very pleased, an awful lot of work has gone into this garden, the construction team have worked particularly hard. It's surprised me how big the space looks, it's only 6m x 6m but somehow it looks much bigger, I think this is to do with the three different levels." Helen has managed to create a beautiful garden with a restricted colour palette that is calming but not subdued, it's so inviting, one of those gardens that makes you wish you had a book and a glass of wine and that you weren't here to work! Another small garden not afraid of colour is The Spirits' Garden (Bronze). It's rendered boundary wall is a vibrant orange, not for the faint-hearted! The herbaceous planting is a veritable rainbow, delphiniums, kniphophia, hemerocallis and monarda seem to be all talking at once, I think it works because of the curved hornbeam hedge, it surrounds the planting, provides that little bit of green breathing space. Mike Roberts, the design lecturer at Warwickshire College was impressed with the small gardens this year, "The small gardens this year are fantastic quality, I think that the plants and the workmanship is better than in some show gardens to be honest. The small gardens are where people come to get ideas and this year there are many ideas that visitors can take away rather than the big statements from the show gardens." Warwickshire college brought a modern roof garden to the small garden category, Living on the Ceiling (Silver) has a futuristic yet practical feel to it. Steel poles form a light-weight framework with planters attached, but the blinds are what did it for me (yes really!) they are made up of narrow strips which can be altered depending on where the sun is at anytime of the day. While we're talking colour, I have to mention Shade Loving (Bronze) designed by Jonathan Walton with it's amazing coloured floor, blocks of eye-catching yellow, blue and green stretch like a large scale mosaic across the garden, a real statement!

Tell us what you think?

Louise Danks - Researcher — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:36:28 +0000
We'd like to know what you think of this year's Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Everyone has an opinion at the show, whether you're eavesdropping (yes we all do it) in the press marquee or bumping into old friends around the showground, there's only one topic of conversation, but there are numerous contenders for best in show. We're always interested to hear what you at home think of the show, what your favourite exhibits are and what you'd like to see more of. If you have a favourite exhibit tell us why by leaving your comments on the blog.

At the show

Louise Danks - Researcher — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:43:40 +0000
Tom and I went down to site yesterday to get our bearings, check out a few technical things and basically have a look around. The Hampton build up is well underway, as you'd expect. Through the sea of fluorescent vests there are some great planting combinations emerging and the hint of something beautiful where finished corners of the gardens are revealed. I caught up with Nigel Boardman of Boardman Gelly and Co who are creating a show garden called Hope - The Way Forward. It's a highly symbolic garden inspired by the work of a charity called Combat Stress (The Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society). Every detail of this garden tells a story and earns its place. Nigel said "It's coming together quite well now, it's nice to see it planted so early so that the plants have a chance to turn around and settle in. After so many years building show gardens, we try to use the last week of the build up for planting, you have more time to consider without stuffing, you get that chocolate box effect and everything is a little more polished."