Exhibitors
Chic gardens
New Hall, University of Cambridge
The Transit of Venus
Designer: Sue Goss
Sponsors: New Hall, A C Architects (Cambridge), Bluestone, Mills & Reeve, Cheviot Asset Management
Contractor: The Green Room Consultancy
Architect: A C Architects (Cambridge)
Click on the image to view a hi-res version
The shape, plants, colours and objects in The Transit of Venus relate to the themes of astronomy, light and science. A curved polished concrete wall sweeps through like the path of Venus, and the Earth’s fragile atmosphere is symbolised by a glass globe filled with growing plants, which contrasts with a dry, cracked globe at the front of the garden.
The garden has strong sculptural presence, reflecting New Hall’s modernist white architecture and art collection. Three vertical panels provide the central feature and are vehicles for reflections, silhouettes and shadows. Surrounding walls show off colourful planting.
Vibrantly coloured planting on the left follows the sequence of the colours of light seen through a prism; hot colours look nearby and fiery, like stars viewed through a radio telescope. The glass globe in the far right looks more distant and is held in a steel tripod, reminiscent of a science lab. Where the floor is visible, it is mulched thickly with crushed shells, traditionally associated with the Goddess Venus.
The main planting in the garden represents a prism, with the colours of the rainbow - graduating from red at the back, through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and finally to violet. There is liberal use of irises in reference to the Greek Goddess Iris. Other plants that tie into the garden’s theme include Venus’ looking glass (Legousia speculum-veneris) and the honey locust tree (Gleditsia triacanthos ‘Sunburst’).
To create interesting shadows and reflections on the mirrors, plants have been selected for their architectural and statuesque qualities; Allium schubertii, Fritillaria persica “Adiyaman” and Verbascum “Gainsborough”. Plants selections for The Transit of Venus link this garden to those at New Hall, where selections such as Eremurus and Oriental poppies are also found. Most of the plants in this garden are drought tolerant and sun loving.
This is the garden designer Sue Goss’ fifth time at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show; her previous designs, undertaken with garden design students from Aylesbury College doing their final project, were all small gardens.
The Transit of Venus is a rare event, occurring when Venus passes between the Sun and the Earth. It is important because it enabled astronomers to calculate the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and eventually the size of our Solar System. The mathematical key to the calculations was parallax - the apparent difference in position of an object caused by a change of viewpoint. This can also happen in gardens, but in this garden visitors specifically see the mirrored reflection of a black disk, moving across a bright yellow background.