Advice & Guides

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show


Have you ever wondered what it might be like to grow a large range of plants for a show garden at one of the world’s most prestigious horticultural shows? Well hopefully this article might give you some insight into what’s involved.

Growing for such events is a huge commitment. Our recent involvement with Carol Klein’s ‘Iconic Horticultural Hero’ garden at last year’s RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival, helped us to gain invaluable experience and paved the way for our wonderful collaboration with Emma O’Connell and John Warland, designers of a garden for the charity Freedom from Torture, sponsored by Project Giving Back, which will be appearing at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.

 

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Emily, Emma and Julia


Emma and John were looking for a nursery and team who would be capable of propagating and growing a range of drought tolerant plants naturally adapted to the environment they will be growing in, akin to our ethos of right plant, right place.

Show manager Emily, production assistant Miya and myself are leading the propagation and care of the plants for this project. In total we are growing in excess of 3,000 plants- by no means the entire total included within the design!

 

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Emily

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Jos

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Miya


As a garden of refuge and sanctuary, a number of plants are edimentals such as Nigella sativa. Emma’s choice of plants are derived from the eastern Mediterranean landscape which, given the topology of this area, are drought resilient plants such as atriplex, Salvia sclarea var. turkestanica and Thymus sp. ex Turkey.

Our work started back in August 2023, discussing the plant list, reviewing plants already in stock and setting up a propagation schedule for those we could grow on. Various visits, meetings and discussions ensued, vital in helping fully understand Emma and John’s ideas. Alongside this, selected plants were potted on to provide the size of plant you might find in a mature, natural landscape. Successional propagation from seeds, cuttings and divisions carried on over the autumn months, again to create the size and scope of plants that you would find in a naturalistic landscape. Plus, we do all of this without heat, light and peat.

 

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

 

We are thrilled to be working with Emma, John and Freedom from Torture, and we wish them the very best success!

 

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

The finished garden!

 

Beth Chatto Gardens plant list:

 

Perennials/annuals/sub-shrubs/grasses                   
Amaranthus caudatusHelianthemum 'The Bride'
Anthericum liliago 'Major'Hyssopus officinalis
Artemisia abrotanumIris pallida subsp. pallida
Atriplex halimusLavandula stoechas
Atriplex hortensis var. rubraLotus hirsutus

Ballota pseudodictamnus 

Marrubium libanoticum
Baptisia 'Pink Truffles'Nigella damascena
Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens'Origanum rotundifolium 'Kent Beauty'
Chard 'Rainbow'Origanum vulgare 'Compactum'
Cistus x laxus 'Snow White'Papaver somniferum
Cistus 'Peggy Sammons'Phuopsis stylosa
Cistus x argenteus 'Silver Pink'Salvia argentea
Cistus x hybridus Salvia officinalis 'Berggarten'
Cistus x purpureusSalvia rosmarinus
Cynara cardunculusSalvia sclarea var. turkestanica 'Vatican Pink'
Erodium 'County Park'Santolina chamaecyparissus
Erodium acauleSolanum melongena
Euphorbia epithymoidesStipa tenuissima
Euphorbia myrsinitesTeucrium ackermannii
Euphorbia seguerianaTeucrium x lucidrys
Foeniculum vulgareThymus ex. Turkey
Foeniculum vulgare 'Smoky'Thymus serpyllum var. albus
Frankenia thymifoliaTulbaghia 'Purple Eye'
Helianthemum 'Rodanthe Carneum'Verbascum bombyciferum

 
Bulbs 
Allium siculum 
Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus 
Tulipa 'Honky Tonk' 

 

 

 

Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Written by Horticultural Sales Executive Jos


 


Growing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show

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