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Highlights of the Great Pavilion
A rose named after Alan Titchmarsh, a flower to commemorate a journalist killed in Iraq and a ‘living fossil’ are just some of the horticultural highlights which will be unveiled for the first time inside the Great Pavilion at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.
The fascinating Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis) will be shown for the first time in public in the UK, on a display by the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. This ‘living fossil’ was discovered in 1994 in a remote area of the Blue Mountains in Australia. The tree, which is from the monkey-puzzle family, will be made available to the public later this year.
In memory of Terry Lloyd, the ITN reporter who was killed on the road to Basra in 2003 while reporting on the war in Iraq, a new perennial variety, Helenium ‘Chelsey’ will be launched at the show. The plant was bred in Holland by Darwin Plants and will appear on the Rougham Hall Nurseries stand. A donation from each plant sold will be made to The British Red Cross International Disaster Fund.
David Austin Roses will unveil a new rose - Rosa ‘Alan Titchmarsh’, named after Britain’s favourite gardener. According to Michael Marriott from the company, this launch ‘recognises the tremendous hard work Alan has done in getting people in to gardening.’
Chelsea first-timer, Borneo Exotics, a carnivorous plant specialist from Sri Lanka will be displaying the widest range of Nepenthes (pitcher plants) ever seen. They made their RHS show debut at the Great Autumn Show in September 2004, where they impressed the judges and were awarded a Gold Medal.
Veteran show exhibitor Hillier Nurseries will be going for their 60th consecutive RHS Gold Medal. Their display will occupy the central site around the Monument, as they have done in generations past. They will launch their new book The Hillier Gardener's Guides at the show.
Chef Raymond Blanc has joined forces with Stephen Hendry of Newington Nurseries in Oxfordshire to create a display of ‘exotic edibles’ primarily from Malaysia, as well as China and Japan. The Asian Garden, presented by Malaysia Airlines, will feature unusual varieties including a bright red Reishi mushroom which grows in the boughs of a plum tree.
It will be the final Chelsea for vegetable expert Medwyn Williams of Angelsey. Grow your own has been making a resurgence recently, and other vegetable exhibitors at the show are Robinson’s from Lancashire and Three Countries Potatoes sponsored by Thompson & Morgan.
There will be around 14 new exhibitors in the Great Pavilion, including Cayeux Irises from France and Fernwood Nurseries.