She’s back, on Main Avenue with bells on, and the odd dead tree. The award winning garden designer and all round good egg, Jo Thompson is preparing for her return to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 with a ground breaking show garden, in partnership with the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera). Thompson brought Chelsea its first Caravan in 2012, and this year her arsenal includes an avenue of [...]
The secret is all in the dough and the tomato sauce, he says. Pineapple is prohibited, but he assures me that Nutella and banana really does make a delicious pizza pud. Adorned with an olympic haul of RHS’s finest gold medals, the garden designer, Adam Frost, is preparing for his anticipated return to the magic that is, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Unfortunately for us, without his snazzy pizza oven. [...]
‘Paradise haunts gardens’ writes Derek Jarman, ‘and it haunts mine’. In the gardeners ceaseless pursuit of horticultural perfection, one can become blind to the beauty of the garden, detecting nothing but its faults or maddeningly triumphant weeds. Taking stock should mean more than simply registering the new list of tasks that need to be taken care of. Never did I anticipate that the presence of canvas, paint and brushes could [...]
‘Do you know how good milk is with bay?’, queries the herb guru, Jekka McVicar. The sad truth is, no. Having known McVicar for quite a few years, read her books, heard her speak, seen her on television and visited her herb farm, she must be disappointed in my herb deficient cuisine. The garden is brimming with perennial herbs, but never has the Anise Hyssop been made into a sorbet, [...]
Where gardens are ephemeral, kitchen gardens remain steeped in outdated conventions and seemingly have yet to enjoy true botanical democracy. Gone are the days, where kitchen gardens were the sole domain of the gardener and cook, yet in most gardens, including ours, the kitchen garden is still strictly segregated from the ornamental garden. The benefits of poly- and permaculture are widely known, yet we still prefer to grow produce in [...]
Plucky or preposterous, but I find myself incredulously in disagreement with the infinitely eminent Piet Oudolf. According to my garden guru, colour in the garden is only an added extra1. Quite remarkable, as his designs with their distinctively striking streams of colour are legendary. According to Oudolf, colour sets the mood in the garden, but remains a secondary dimension where good planting should be able to look interesting in a [...]
Renowned, award winning garden designer & plantsman, Roger Platts, explains that the real secret to growing award winning RHS Chelsea Flower Show plants, is the collaborative relationship between nurseryman and designer. In this, the fifth article in the RHS Chelsea 2012 series, Platts shares his experience in growing show garden plants for Jo Thompson, and The Caravan Club’s, ‘A Celebration of Caravanning’ RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden. Team Thompson is [...]
Without their autographed covenant, the aspiration of an RHS Chelsea Show Garden will remain just that; an aspiration. Eligibility for designing an RHS Chelsea Flower Show requires not just exceptional design, salient designer qualifications, previous show experience, generous sponsor, but above all, cooperation with a dexterous and experienced contractor. Leading on from ‘Chelsea Flower Show: The 2012 Thompson Design‘, the fourth article in this Chelsea series, highlights the role of [...]
From drama teacher to ‘garden designer tipped to watch’, in just seven short years is quite remarkable. Garden designer, Jo Thompson, is in the midst of her preparations for that most famous of horticultural marathons, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012. Leading on from ‘Competition for Space: RHS Chelsea from Sketch to Show Garden‘, this is the second post in the Chelsea series; an interview with Jo Thompson, highlighting her [...]
On hearing him say ‘When it comes to strawberries, I like the bit just below the skin’, one could be forgiven for thinking Toby Buckland, a blue-sky sort of man. However, just forty minutes of conversation revealed an erudite, practical gardener, whose knowledge is far more profound than ever divulged on television. From widespread press coverage, it’s clear that the Buckland PR drive has been rather successful, as most will [...]
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