Raymond Evison
Clematis expert
Raymond Evison OBE VMH developed his passion for plants as a young lad and his first involvement with Chelsea was when he was just 16. He set up The Guernsey Clematis Nursery 25 years ago.
Royal Horticultural Society What kind of garden do you have at home?
Raymond Evison An old style Guernsey farmhouse garden so there is only a small amount of so-called garden as we have to garden within the curtilage (the fields surrounding the house that cannot be converted into garden areas and must remain as fields). We have a 75ft lean-to greenhouse rebuilt in typical Guernsey style with 12” wide glass, which is called “round and hollow”.
Within the greenhouse, we have my wife Sarah’s collection of South African bulbs, various houseplants and her collection of Lachenalia. We have several old varieties of grapes and peaches, apricots and greengages. On the north wall of the glasshouse, I am training young pear trees, gooseberries and red currants and our vegetable garden means that we are mostly self-sufficient during the summer months.
We have altogether about 14 acres of fields and scrubland, including wet meadows and I spend a lot of my time cultivating the wild flowers on the hedge banks and hedgerows, which will include over 50 varieties of old daffodils, masses of primroses, violets and wild strawberries.
RHS What’s your favourite plant or planting combination?
RE Although we are not gardening properly at home at present because we only recently bought the house, my obvious favourite planting combination has to be growing clematis over low growing perennials and particularly clematis with grey foliage plants.
RHS What do you enjoy most about Chelsea?
RE The relief in completing the staging of our exhibit after six days of hard work and to be satisfied that the plants and the exhibit look good and hopefully will be the best exhibit that we have ever staged.
RHS Best Chelsea experience?
RE This has to be hearing the show visitors enjoying our exhibit and appreciating the work that has gone into the cultivation of the clematis, the design and the staging itself.
RHS Your top tip for surviving Chelsea?
RE Wear good, comfortable shoes.
RHS What do you do once Chelsea week is over?
RE Return to Guernsey for the annual NCCPG plant sale, which is huge, and catch up with two weeks of office work that has built up while we have been staging and manning the exhibit. It is also a great time to enjoy the island when the wild flowers are perhaps at their best, particularly the cliff paths and the terrestrial orchid fields.
RHS Chelsea in five words
RE Thrilling, exciting, stimulating and exhausting.