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The Garden
July 2006

Chelsea rains supreme

Despite torrential downpours teamed, ironically, with water restrictions on site, this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, sponsored by Saga Insurance, was widely acknowledged as one of the best ever, both for gardens and plants on display

It had to happen: the worst drought in southeast Britain for years, and yet the week of the world’s most-famous flower show was marked by the heaviest rain for months. But grey skies could not dull Chelsea’s irresistible lustre this year.

Show Gardens were generally brave and often contemporary, using materials such as concrete and glass, the planting composed in subdued tones; purples and blues dominated, tempered by verdant foliage. Irises were popular, but the most ubiquitous plant was Stipa gigantea, its shimmering flowerheads gracing so many gardens. As ever, smaller Courtyard, Chic and City Gardens were filled with interest and ideas that could easily be applied by visitors in their own gardens; many designs displayed solutions for shade planting under tree or shrub canopies. In the Great Pavilion, displays of new and rare plants shone at the heart of the show.

BEST IN SHOW The coveted award for Best Show Garden went to ‘The Daily Telegraph Garden’. It combined effortless planting and a simple but effective modern design, while subtle use of water linked the different areas. Planting included various Iris, purple Allium, Stipa gigantea, dainty white cow-parsley relative Orlaya grandiflora and Viburnum rhytidophyllum with lifted canopies (design: Tom Stuart-Smith; sponsor: The Daily Telegraph; gold).

PAST to PRESENT Lovers of the traditional were drawn to ‘The Chris Beardshaw Wormcast Garden - “Growing for Life at Boveridge House’”, a Show Garden featuring a planting scheme adapted from Gertrude Jekyll plans (design: Chris Beardshaw; sponsor: The Wormcast Company; gold).
Chic Garden ‘Anna’s Sanctuary in the Shade’ featured a rainwater-collection system doubling as a sun shade (design: Mandy Buckland, Roger Smith, Ian Dexter and Richard York; sponsor: Thomas Sanderson; gold).

PLANTS IN DESIGN With its dramatic outdoor living space, incorporating cooking, living and dining areas, and low-maintenance yet exotic planting, ‘Fleming’s Nurseries Australian Garden presented by Trailfinders’ proved a popular Show Garden (design: Dean Herald; sponsor: Fleming’s Nurseries, Trailfinders; gold).
Drought-tolerant plants, including many herbs, softened contemporary hard landscaping in the ‘Saga Insurance Garden’. Old pollarded field maples provided a delightful shaded retreat and large concrete vessels collected rainwater (design: Cleve West; sponsor: Saga Insurance; gold).
One of the simplest yet most effective ideas seen in any Show Garden was using bamboo canes to form a boundary in ‘The Cancer Research UK Garden’. Lavish planting in this garden included acid-green Euphorbia, silvery Onopordum and more Iris and Stipa gigantea. It was arranged around a central swimming pool and pavilion, and demonstrated how exercise, a healthy diet and staying out of the sun can help reduce the risk of developing cancer (design: Andy Sturgeon; sponsor: private donor; gold).

GARDENS FOR EVERYONE Perhaps the most unusual range of plants could be seen in ‘The 100% Pure New Zealand Garden’. This garden contained more than 3,000 native New Zealand plants, including rare and endangered species, arranged within a striking design featuring glass and polished metal sculptures (design: Xanthe White; sponsors: Tourism New Zealand supported by Air New Zealand,Tourism Auckland, Tailor Made Travel, Titan HiTours; silver-gilt flora).
Although it was an exhibit rather than a garden, the judges felt that RHS Garden Rosemoor’s display, put together by many of the garden’s staff and depicting various parts of Rosemoor, was of gold medal-winning standard.
Most distinctive was ‘GardenAfrica’, depicting a township homestead garden. Amid recycled items were plants that can provide animal fodder, medicine and soil stabilisation (design: Alan Capper [Kent Design] in partnership with Ross Allan Designs; sponsor: UK-based charitable trusts; silver-gilt flora).
Best City Garden was awarded to ‘The Green Room’, which showed what is possible in a small, shaded space. A pergola was hung with baskets filled with ferns and hostas; much of the hard landscaping was made from reclaimed oak (design: Caspar Gabb; sponsors: Kumala, Hindsight Tax Partners; gold).
An impressive combination of hard landscaping, planting and use of water in ‘Walking Barefoot with Bradstone’ proved popular. Emerging from water, a stand of Equisetum echoed the ribbed concrete boundary wall behind (design: Sarah Eberle in collaboration with Andrew Herring; sponsors: Bradstone; gold).
Courtyard Garden ‘Sanctuary’ took inspiration from a churchyard. Flint walls and a simple seat enclosed a delightful, restful medley of native shrubs and wild flowers (design: Adam Woolcott and Jonathan Smith [AW Gardening Services]; sponsors: Bannold, Nolte Kitchens, Croudace Homes, Cox’s Architectural Salvage; gold).
The Best Courtyard Garden was ‘A Garden For Robin’, inspired by York Gate Garden in Leeds; its elegant design included a ‘floating’ seat and specimen Trochodendron aralioides (design: Diane Appleyard, Paul Ashton, Dawn Johnson, Simon Street and John Walker; sponsors: HBG Properties; gold).

Full coverage of the 2006 RHS Chelsea Flower Show and a selection of visitor comments

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