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Three Quilted Velvet show gardens in one summer! It did seem like a tall order back in the autumn of 2008 and believe me it has been extremely hard work. I have only had two days off since March and it’s starting to show! However, despite the stress it’s been a fantastic experience made all the better...
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We received our Gold medal for the Quilted Velvet Garden at Hampton Court Palace last Monday evening and started building the third Quilted Velvet Garden at Tatton Park at 8am the next morning! No time to bask in the glory and enjoy the garden. This was the strangest feeling of the whole campaign - never...
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Visitors to this year’s Hampton Court Show are going to be afforded the delight of receiving a complimentary Daily Telegraph. Now we are used to having newspapers at Hampton Court Show but the weekend version of the Daily Telegraph causes us some logistical problems. The paper has all those glorious...
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The last two and a half weeks at Hampton Court have been spent erecting green oak structures and planting thousands of oak seedlings, as well as over a thousand purple heather plants. All of this and more in order to create the second Quilted Velvet garden of the summer. This garden is much easier to...
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Well, rather a lot of the former and a small glimmer of the latter. Just after posting my last blog, rashly entitled Turning the Corner, my neck and shoulder seized up; a consequence of a minor cordyline-induced injury and a considerable amount of tension. Can’t think what came over me, after all it...
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With this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show now packed away for another year, is it time to take stock of the highlights and lowlights of this world famous show? What will be your overriding memory of Chelsea 2009. Will it be the People's Favourite - The Cancer Research Garden promoting the work...
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It seems to me that a few things slipped under the radar at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show. One exhibit was celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of the very first Presidents of the London Horticultural Society. This is the very same Society that was given the Royal warrant by...
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As gardeners we are all aware of the vital role that bees play in nature. We are also very well placed to do alot to support the ailing bee population. The jury is still officially out on what is the real problem affecting our honey bees, but it is clear that bee disease and pollution are playing their...
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Chelsea flower show was awash with ideas and inspiration across the showground. But most of the creativity was in the show gardens. In the Great Pavilion were plenty of other creative ideas if you took a little time to search them out. On the David Austin Roses exhibit, visitors could see hundreds of...
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Can you imagine what a huge job it must be actually organising, orchestrating and co-ordinating the world's best flower show?? In the current economic climate I'm sure that the organisers really didn't know who was really exhibiting until they actually arrived at the show ground. One exhibitor...
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The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the launch pad for many things over the week. This year one major lawnmower company and exhibitor (Countax) invited environmentalist David Bellamy to the show to publicise their sponsorship of a new Butterfly conservation project; Butterfly World. "We've been working...
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You never quite know what opinions you'll get on the gardens and exhibits at Chelsea flower show. It can be a daunting experience, especially when talking to flambouyant characters such as presenter and garden designer James Alexander-Sinclair. I stopped him on main avenue at Chelsea with garden...
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Three different personality threads were drawn together at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Botanist and environmentalist Sir David Bellamy, garden designer Cleve West and Neil Lucas from Knoll Gardens have joined forces to promote the importance of natural planting and biodiversity. I chatted to Cleve at...
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One thing that's clear from this years RHS Chelsea Flower Show is that visitors are gleaning much more than information on plants that inspire them. It's a tough year for everyone and the garden designers have been working with reduced budgets to very tight briefs. There are a variety of ideas...
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Isn't it lovely when everyone has such positive things to say about something. Normally the news is full of doom and gloom but just about everybody I spoke to at Chelsea this week had only positive things to say about it. Even if it had been raining, too windy or if they were suffering from the pollen...
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