Saturday 30 May 2015

Chelsea and naturalism

Sorry for being a rubbish blogger...I have been looking for a new job, and after my brush with tv stardom last month I was hoping for at least my own show. However, I apparently have  a 'face for radio' so have taken a new job elsewhere ;)

This has also been a mega busy time for the garden and life in general...but last week I managed to do a stint at Chelsea before dashing home to bash out 14 schnitzels for our Eurovision soiree.

One of the great things about being a volunteer is that you can get to do things you wouldn't usually do, and last Saturday I spent the morning on the NGS stand at the Chelsea Flower Show. For 3 hours of my time I got entry and to be part of the most important horticultural event of the year.

It was interesting being part of the NGS as the people we spoke to were very mixed. There were people who knew what we were and simply wanted to buy a book or grab a county booklet and then others who didn't have any idea. The main stereotypes being that NGS gardens were those that were open all year round/or all just opened for one day. We also seemed to attract a lot of Canadians and Australians on garden tours wanting to know what we did, and being disappointed there weren't really any gardens they could visit in the day they had left in London. I don't know why we had do many, but wonder if the natives just skirted the edges, with an underlying British reserve desperate to avoid engagement!

Chelsea is a funny place...if you haven't been before the thing that strikes you first is how busy it is! there are soooo many people and you have to queue to actually get to look at the gardens. Some were good some were bad. My favourite by far was Dan Pearsons Chatsworth garden as the scale of it was really inspiring, he also gets naturalism just right.

In general I am a fan of naturalism, and I use a naturalistic approach in my own garden. However, I am not a fan of getting excited over someone replicating a bit of overgrown grass/scrub complete with nettles and weeds that have no beauty! There was a fair bit of this at Chelsea, but Dan Pearson gets it just right as he has a bit more of a horticultural approach to naturalism using plants with good garden merit piecing them together in inspiring ways.



 
Amazing to think all this had been created for the show.....it they could only have dropped off a few bits in Camberwell on their way back


I loved this woven hangout....can I have one for Christmas?




Such a beautiful Japanese garden

 
I loved to Mexican garden which was done with the National Dahlia collection.
 

 
Singaporean exotics


nice and simple


Exciting Brahea


Cloud pruned Olive

 
 
So overall lots of exciting things to look at, now I just need to do some actual gardening....