Garden opens: 34
days to go. Baby due: 47 days to go
Designers, I'm starting to believe, might
be as unpopular as estate agents and bankers. We can be a difficult
breed, turning up on site, cafe latte in hand, nit-picking at the
skilful craft of our builders.
I don't usually panic or make unreasonable demands - but last week
I found myself having a tantrum because my plants resembled twigs in
a pot with 5 weeks to go. My nursery tried to calm my nerves by
telling me that if I'd visited last week I'd have seen nothing but
bare earth – I'm not sure if this worked and I went home and had a
rethink.
My nursery are actually very good at
what they do. The problem is more that Chelsea is so early in the
gardening year which limits the plant selection available to the
exhibitors. I don't really want to create a show garden that forces
species into flower and creates unnatural plant combinations. This
act of illusion neither is helpful to the public seeking inspiration
or environmentally friendly due to the amount of artificial heat and
transportation expense required to defy nature.
I wanted to use Miscanthus in my garden
to provide a textural contrast to the Tellima and Astrantea but they
are clearly not going to be able to put on enough foliage. As much as
I would love to keep them in - there is too much at stake to behave
like a martyr – so instead I'll use Iris sibirica, which will
provide a bit of flower and still have the same vertical accent that
is required in this part of the garden.
NDG modern garden design