TheStars of the Chelsea Flower Show 2012

Thymus ‘Jekka’, Artemisia absinthium, Wormwood,Mentha longifolia subsp schimperi Eastern Mint, Atriplex hortensis var. rubra Red Orach, Papaver rhoeas Field Poppy.

I always find it truly amazing that, however worried I get before Chelsea  and whatever the vagaries of the weather, the plants seem to know that it is ‘Show Time’ and simply shine on the day.  Who would have thought it would have been possible to have the Poppy in flower especially as, one week before the show, they were still buds.

Papaver rhoeas, Poppy  and Linum perenne, Flax.

We grew them for 2 show gardens, the Arthritis Research Garden and the  L’Occitane Immortelle Garden, and used the surplus stock in our own display.  The simple splash of red draws you eye to see even more detail within the garden.

Istatis tinctoria, Woad looked stunning in the L’Occitane Immortelle Garden  and also the Renault garden in the new Fresh garden section of the show.

Istatis tinctoria, Woad, with Silybum marianum, Milk Thistle in front

This is a traditional dye plant which produces a blue/grey dye from the mature leaves. As a dye plant it has now been nearly superseded by indigo.

Isatis tinctoria, Woad, in full yellow flower under planted with Allium schoenoprasum, Chives,and Nepeta x faassenii, Catmint.

We also battled with the cornflowers for the RBC Blue Water garden and even they sprung into flower just in time.

Centaurea cyanus, Cornflower

But the star of this year, as in many previous years,was Angelica. It looked architecturally splendid on the M&G garden.

Angelica archangelica, Angelica

It also attracted the honey bees which were being constantly photographed on our stand.

The question of the show was about Alkanet and Borage as many seemed confused as to which was which .

To make it quite clear. Alkanet, like its first cousin Comfrey, is a herbaceous perennial reappearing each year in the same place.  It is not edible,  the roots produce a red dye which was traditional used to colour rouge.  Borage, on the other hand, is an annual herb which will happily self seed itself all round your garden.  The leaves and flowers are edible and medicinal. The flowers are synonymous with the drink  Pimm’s.

As we close on this years Chelsea we are already in full preparation for 2013, the 100th Chelsea Flower Show, which will, I am sure, be as spectacular as this year has been.

Thymus ‘Jekka’

IT’S SHOW TIME

For the past twelve months we have been preparing for this years Chelsea Flower show.  We have been growing herbs for three show gardens,  the Arthritis Research UK garden designed by Tom Hoblyn,  the L’Occitane immortelle garden designed by Peter Dowle and the RCB Blue Water garden designed by  Nigel Dunnett and the Landscape agency. To say that it has been a difficult growing year would be an understatement.  The weather has been so unpredictable. So much so that, today , as I sit here writing this Blog, I have heard it is snowing in the north of England and we are forecast to have a frost tonight.

Here is my photographic diary of the key points of the final 5 months.

JANUARY

Germination of all the annuals in January was extremely good due to the excellent light levels.

FEBRUARY

everything was on schedule however  we had had very little rain.

MARCH

Horticultural fleece not only acts like a duvet to the young plants it also is a very good barrier for pests like carrot fly and flea beetle.

At the end of the month  we did the first ‘Chelsea chop’ of the nasturtium flowers, this was repeated weekly to prohibit them from setting seed which would stop them flowering.

APRIL

It rained, and rained and rained .  The low light levels inhibited growth, the flower bud which formed in March stood still and everyone felt miserable including Hampton.

However there were some high points at the end of the month.

These Melanoselinum were looking fantastic and, due to the cold weather,  I knew they would just hang on for the big event.

The red orach, sown in January, is spot on despite the weather and

this thyme was spot on with  flower and would be a show stopper.

MAY

The pressure is really on, we spend hours tidying the plants prior to delivery and  hoping that the key plants pop into flower.  The one giving me the most worry were the poppies, they have had lovely buds since the end of March but no flower, then a week before they were due to leave the flowers started to appear.

The week before the show opens we start delivering all the plants that we have grown to the respective gardens.

The weather was not kind, this was a very painful downpour of hail.

44 trolleys were loaded

3 long journeys to London expertly driven by Jim accompanied by Carol, and they were all safely delivered to the designers.

Today I start preparing for our stand at the show. We have been given a very prestigious site SW1, which fronts onto the Main avenue. The story of which will follow in the next Blog.

After a major tidy up of the herb farm we will start our preparations for Chelsea 2013 which will be the 100th Chelsea Flower show.  This I am sure will be another amazing epic in the history of the best flower show in the world.