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Unearth a crop of horticultural surprises
Do you know what medicines are derived from fungi? Or which fruit and vegetables can help reduce the risk of certain diseases? Have you heard of botanical DNA fingerprinting and how it is tracing plant parentage back as far as 2,000 years ago? If the answers to these questions is no, and you want to know more about these and many other horticultural wonders, head along to Lifelong Learning.
Thank Fungus For That!, a British Mycological Society exhibit, illustrates nature’s biodiversity and show how we depend on fungi for many everyday items, including penicillin, fruit and vegetables and meat produce. Visitors to this display can discover that a number of drugs are derived from fungi and learn how plants need fungal associates to grow and farm animals use fungi to digest grass.
The Royal College of Pathologists’ exhibit highlights plants that are linked to preventing and treating certain diseases, such as fresh vegetables, which can reduce the risk of cancer. Plants growing in an 'allotment' show the diversity of produce and how readily available good nutrition can be.
The Historic Roses Group demonstrates how botanical DNA fingerprinting is providing conclusive evidence of the parentage of some very early rose hybrids. This display explores the hybridisation of damasks, which occurred more than 2,000 years ago. A key plant is Rosa fedtschenkoana, the species discovered by the Russian botanist, Olga Fedtschenko in the 1860s - the surprise pollen parent involved in the damasks.
World in one show
This year the world is coming to Chelsea; French, American, Japanese, Lebanese, African and Antipodean gardens are set to make the show a global gardening extravaganza. Within the Great Pavilion leading exhibitors from around the world will add to the international feel of the show.
The Laurent-Perrier Garden will bring a taste of the French region of Champagne to Chelsea; GardenAfrica is set to highlight the principles of natural African farming; and Tourism New Zealand will illustrate the unique culture and landscape of the west coast of Auckland, NZ. The United Kingdom will also be represented with quintessential English gardens and Catherine Jago and Sue Bradbury’s A Highland Retreat garden will showcase the natural beauty of the Scottish highlands.
Two small gardens, The Sunday Mirror’s Sleeping Treasures Garden, designed by David Domoney and Saveurs de France, have also looked across the channel for inspiration.
The tour of France continues in the Great Pavilion where Cayeux Iris will create a display that is reminiscent of banks of irises lining French roadsides. Another French nursery, Vacherot & Lecoufle, will be exhibiting orchids to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the firm.
A number of show and small gardens will embrace the English countryside. The Jurassic Coast Garden, a show garden designed by Nick Williams-Ellis, will aim to raise awareness of the dramatic Jurassic Coast - England’s first world heritage site and one small garden, A Cornish Oasis, will use innovative planting and hard landscaping to convey native Cornish scenery. Moving northwards, A Highland Retreat will feature Scottish native plants grown on the Black Isle near Inverness.
In contrast to the European gardens The Gorilla’s Jungle Garden will create the illusion of a West African forest. This garden will feature a bai, which is a gathering place where gorillas meet and interact.
A little piece of America is being brought to the show by the Ravine Garden: Gift of the Glacier. This modern garden has been inspired by the natural ravine and landscapes of the Chicago area of the US. The garden will evoke the upland forest of the lush and varied Lake Michigan ravine ecosystem by using native North American flora throughout.
For the first time there will be a Lebanese garden at Chelsea. After living in the UK for 17 years, garden designer, Nada Habet, returned to Lebanon and became fascinated by the traditional village houses and their small gardens and courtyards. Nada says that terraces of pomegranate and olive trees, entrance archways clad with jasmine, balconies lined with tin pots of basil and thyme and rooftop pergolas covered with vine leaves were the inspiration behind her small garden, the Lebanese Courtyard.
Within the Great Pavilion more than 100 displays from across the UK and around the world will once again provide the finest examples of horticultural excellence in the world. Some floral displays will feature plants that have travelled all the way from Mauritius and Grenada. Leading UK exhibitors, who are set to showcase British plants at their very best, include David Austin Roses, Blackmore & Langdon, Notcutts and Blooms. Borneo Exotics, from Sri Lanka, the Trinidad and Tobago Horticultural Society and the Barbados Horticultural Society are a just a selection of exhibitors from around the world who will help provide a taste of the exotic and an international gardening experience.