UK Gardening News
Sandy Felton takes a look at some of this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show highlights.
There is a lovely relaxed feel to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year which seems to have returned to its 'roots' of English urban gardening while at the same time still being able to lure us with the contemporary and the exotic.
Another great garden from designer Cleve West has once again won Best in Show and a Gold Medal at the 2012 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. (pictured left)
His delightful garden for sponsors Brewin Dolphin demonstrates the continuing popularity of topiary but as always with Cleve West there was just a twist of the contemporary to produce a 'formal and timeless garden, contemporary yet traditional.'
Hillier has chosen the spectacular Olympic sport of fencing as its theme for their RHS Chelsea 2012 garden. Hillier’s garden is always one of the highlights at Chelsea and 2012 will be no exception. Their exhibit ‘Duel and the Crown’, sponsored by Beazley British Fencing, will see the sport of fencing return to the grounds of the Royal Chelsea Hospital for the first time since 1939 and will be a tribute to HM the Queen, the Patron of British Fencing, in her Diamond Jubilee Year.
Celebrating its 5th anniversary in 2012, the Cottesbrooke Gardeners' Fair, which takes place in the stunning grounds of Cottesbrooke Hall in Northamptonshire, will once again open its doors to welcome passionate gardeners a choice of over 70 hand-picked exhibitors.
Formerly known as the 'Cottesbrooke Hall Plant Finders Fair' the event has been renamed as Cottesbrooke Gardeners’ Fair to reflect the wider range of gardening inspiration the event now provides. Visitors are offered a real alternative to the larger shows allowing them to enjoy both time and space to meet and talk directly to the exhibiting ‘hero’ growers and makers, and to select from a huge variety and array of beautifully grown plants and products.
Read more: Cottesbrooke Gardeners’ Fair – for passionate gardeners
Spending a holiday in an usual or historic building can add a different dimension to a break away from home.
You become immersed in the history and sense of the place and can find yourself enjoying buildings that normally you would never be able to visit let alone stay in.
Thanks to The Landmark Trust, founded in 1965 by the late Sir John Smith and Lady Smith, such a holiday is now a reality. Landmark is a charity that rescues historic buildings, restores them and saves them from neglect and then lets them for holidays. Since its foundation, the charity has saved and restored 190 Landmarks, not only bringing them to new life through restoration and preservation but at the same time providing a unique holiday experience so that others can enjoy them also.
Read more: The Landmark Trust - add a different dimension to your holiday
Sandy Felton takes an overview of some of the gardens set to inspire at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012.We are at that period pre-Chelsea where the frisson of anticipation starts to get stronger and the video clips of the build-ups of various gardens go online. The press start paying a little more attention to gardening than they seem to do the rest of the year and we are treated to snippets of what this or that garden will look like.
There is usually a crop of 'trends' from those in the know and that word 'sustainable' seems to find its way into the vocabulary more than usual. However, one thing is constant – for the gardening public RHS Chelsea is the world’s greatest flower show and the annual event is awaited like no other.
Hillier Garden Centres in the South of England are set to host a unique form of community involvement this month. Several branches are linking up with sportsmen and women from their local fencing clubs to stage live displays of the dramatic Olympic sport among the summer bedding.The events are taking place to celebrate Hillier's Garden Exhibit 'Duel and the Crown' at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012 in partnership with Beazley, sponsor of the British Fencing Team. There will be lunging and parrying on impromptu pistes in planterias at Hillier Bath, Braishfield, Eastbourne, Horsham, Newbury, Sunningdale and Winchester. There will also be have-a-go sessions for Hillier customers as well as displays by the experts.
Design duo, John Warland and Sim Flemons, of FlemonsWarlandDesign are no strangers to RHS Hampton Court where they have previously won four gold medals. Now the award winning duo are set to test their mettle and impress at the world’s most prestigious flower show, RHS Chelsea Flower Show.They have teamed up with International children's charity, World Vision, who are also sponsoring their first garden at RHS Chelsea. Inspiration for the design came from a recent trip to Bolivia to see World Vision's work. The charity is one of the world’s leading aid agencies, dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice in almost 100 countries worldwide.
Two new heritage courses have been announced by the National Trust marking the charity’s most significant development in horticultural training for 209 years. The new courses, which are co-funded by the National Gardens Scheme, offer budding gardeners the opportunity to study for qualifications in heritage gardening and replace the Trust’s Careership training scheme which was launched in 1991.
The one year Foundation Certificate is aimed at those new to heritage gardening and will enable the development of essential practical skills needed to look after and nurture heritage gardens. It is aligned with the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) Level 2 in Horticulture.
Read more: New heritage gardening courses launched by National Trust
Following the success of the L'Occitane Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2010, the sponsors return for 2012 with a garden which promises the sights and scents of the Corsican Maquis.
Designed by award winning designer Peter Dowle, the garden will be modelled around Dowle's first-hand experiences in Corsica, bringing together the key plant species and the breathtaking Corsican landscape.
No stranger to Chelsea, Dowle has been awarded 8 coveted Gold Medals at the Show over the past 14 years and his gardens are always a firm favourite with the public. In the L'Occitane Garden, Peter will feature plants that grow naturally in Corsica such as myrtle, lavender, daisies and verbena which form key ingredients in L'Occitane’s best-selling collections.
Read more: L’Occitane garden brings a sense of Corsica to Chelsea
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