There's nothing like watching other people work
Post categories: Lila Das Gupta
| 17:56 UK time, Monday, 11 May 2009
I had the chance to wander round the Chelsea showground on my own for a couple of hours last week. Standing in awe, as a crane gently winched a huge tree into one garden, my eye was caught by a tray of tiny Iris sibirica with protective paper napkins carefully tied to their heads like turbans. Whatever the size, God is in the detail...
There was much talk at lunch, because the Eden Project had brought all their plants to the site way before anyone else, raising concerns that their greenery could soon become clogged-up with building dust. Not a bit of it. Trolley upon trolley of glorious vegetables and flowers was waiting to go in. Most of these have been grown by prisoners and in homeless hostels around the country. The final effect may turn out to be a little less manicured than what we are used to on Main Avenue, but the public is going to love the mixture of flowers and 'grow your own'. I'm sure that somewhere on their clipboards, RHS show judges must have a box marked 'Heart and Soul'. This garden scores high marks on both counts.
At the other end of Main Avenue, is designer Tom Hoblyn, who says he likes to show the relationship between gardens and the natural world. I spied him from a distance, putting the finishing touches to the wavy slabs of giant redwood tree that feature at the back of his garden. The boggy part at the front is yet to be filled and will include a selection of carnivorous plants. Normally, these plants are shown in a museum-like state of perfection on stalls inside the pavilion, but many carnivorous plants, like the sarracenias (pitcher plants) Tom is going to use, are actually hardy. Hopefully, his example will make us all think about trying some in our own gardens.
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At 11th May 2009, KristinaBrooker wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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At 23rd May 2009, sanuk9 wrote:Tom Hoblyn's garden was amazing and by far the best in show for me. That beautiful redwood worked so well with the black water and yellow pitcher plants, interspersed with Blue. Will pitcher plants really grow outside in an English climate ? I would love to have been allowed to sit there sipping champagne as the sun went down it is a perfect place.
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