RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2008: Show HighlightsRHS Website

H W Hyde

One unique, and exclusive, new lily will be capturing visitors as H W Hyde and Son goes for its fourth consecutive Gold Medal.

'Kushi Maya' is a hybrid between Lilium nepalense and an Oriental hybrid. Its huge flared flower is pale green, shading to white at the edge of each petal, with a bold blood red centre. It also has a lovely perfume.

Oriental hybrid lilies and L. nepalense are so distantly related that, when crossed together, no fertile seed is usually produced. However, modern laboratory techniques have made it possible for the embryos from immature seeds to be grown on in test tubes and the result is this unique hybrid.

Graham Rice

Notcutts Nurseries

Cercis canadensis Lavender Twist (‘Covey’) is the first weeping Cercis.

It has something to offer throughout the year. In late spring clusters of large lavender pink flowers light up the bare branches before the heart-shape leaves appear. Winter interest is maintained by the gently twisted weeping branches. Its tight, compact weeping habit makes Lavender Twist ideal for a small garden or somewhere where space is limited.

Peter Beales Roses

Classic roses specialist Peter Beales Roses has two new roses raised at its Norfolk nursery.

The gorgeous single blooms of ‘Keith Maughan’ are apricot to buff with light rosy overtones and have just five broad, slightly ruffled petals, with a distinctive scarlet ring around the centre of each flower. They are borne on a repeat-flowering, widely spreading, thorny plant up to 3m (10ft) high - or it can be trained as a climber. Named for a much-loved Norfolk drama teacher, 10 percent from the sale of this rose will be donated to the BIG C cancer charity.

‘Child of my Heart’ is a traditional hybrid tea reaching about 90cm (3ft) in height with classic, double, strongly scented, peach-coloured blooms and plentiful quality leathery foliage. It is good in large containers, borders or as low hedge. The East Anglian Childrens' Hospices will benefit from sales of the rose, 10 percent of sales revenue will go to the charity.

Graham Rice

Raymond Evison Clematis

Raymond Evison Clematis has an impressive newcomer this year. Rebecca™ (‘Evipo016’) is an outstanding red clematis that makes an extremely strong growing plant, though only reaching about 2m (6.5ft) in height, and flowering from May to September. The large scarlet-red flowers are carried down the stem, not just at the top, and they look good in a container, or growing through a golden-leaved shrub at the back of the border. Unlike most clematis in this colour range, Rebecca™ is especially good for a hot, sunny location, where its very deep red flower colour will become even darker.

The stand also features Raymond Evison’s new book, Clematis for Small Spaces, which is launched at the show.

Graham Rice

Thompson & Morgan

Relatively few vegetables are introduced at Chelsea, but this year Thompson & Morgan has four new introductions on the Gill Oliver Garden Design garden.

Following the success of ‘Mayan Gold, the first of an entirely new type of potato, ‘Mayan Twilight’ is on display this year. With its distinctive red and white patchy skin, this maincrop salad potato has been bred from potatoes grown in Peru for many thousands of years. The Scottish Crops Research Institute and commercial potato supplier Greenvale AP sourced thousands of plants in Peru, looking for flavour, 'cookability', yield and the ability to grow well in our climate. The result is an attractive potato with deep yellow flesh and a flavour both sweet and moreish. It has excellent common scab resistance, is also resistant to blackleg and yields well.

The seed-raised ‘Banana Shallot’ will also be seen for the first time at Chelsea. Shaped like mini-bananas, it develops reddish-brown skin. The moderately strong flavour is similar to that of French shallots, while their shape makes them far quicker to prepare than traditional shallots. They also store for longer than traditional shallots and are less prone to diseases.

‘Bright 'n' Spicy’ is a new salad leaf mix chosen for its vibrant colours and for adding spice to salads and stir fries. It contains pak choy ‘Golden Yellow’, choy sum, mizuna, Greek cress and mustard ‘Red Frills’. The pak choy and mustard add the brightness and Greek cress and mustard the spicier taste to complement the other milder flavours.

Finally a new red amaranth, Amaranthus ‘Red Army’, will also be on display. ‘Red Army’ is currently the best red amaranth for its brighter red colour either as a salad leaf ingredient or as a microgreen. It adds colour, texture and flavour to mixes of salad leaves and is excellent as a microgreen, grown and cut when still seedlings like mustard-and-cress. Seen last year at Chelsea as a tall and elegant annual, this year see it as a seedling crop.

Graham Rice

Westcountry Nurseries

Lupins always stand out at Chelsea and Westcountry Nurseries, holders of the National Plant Collection® of lupins, has an impressive new introduction this year. ‘Beefeater’ is a rich pure red with a tiny fiery yellowish-orange spark in the eye of each broad floret. Coming into flower earlier than many lupins, the flowers are carried in tall, well-formed spikes.

Graham Rice

Whetman Pinks

Whetman Pinks is launching a new series of double-flowered pinks. The Early Birds are bred to flower early, very early, but then to continue flowering for many months. Opening their first flowers at the end of February or early March, with regular deadheading to help prolong the display, they should keep flowering well into the autumn.

Fizzy is a very frilly lavender with a deep maroon eye and a heavy perfume. Frilly is vibrant pink, but more neatly frilled, with a superb perfume, especially in warm weather. Rosebud is a less dense double, with rich reddish-pink flowers just like rosebuds over rather greenish foliage. Sherbet is an intense magenta-pink while Starburst, which looked excellent in last year’s Wisley trial, has frilly flowers in soft salmon pink.

Whetman Pinks is also showing two new additions to its Scent First Series. These are pinks that are naturally very compact, about 20-30cm (8-12in), so are ideal for window boxes or tubs. All have an intense and powerful fragrance and are also consistently long flowering. Passion has beautifully rounded, rich velvety red flowers with a strong perfume over many many months, while Sugar Plum has neatly frilled flowers in maroon, each petal edged in white and, of course, a lovely fragrance.

Finally, Whetman Pinks is also re-introducing an old cultivar, ‘Bailey’s Celebration’, which at 45cm (18in) is taller than most garden pinks. The flowers are white with a raspberry-coloured eye and flashes of the same colour throughout the flower – a real raspberry ice cream effect – and with a superb fragrance.

All these plants, except ‘Bailey’s Celebration’, are trade designations not cultivars. Unfortunately, the cultivar names are not available.

Graham Rice

More new plants