A day at RHS Chatsworth
I set off for the RHS flower show at Chatsworth on Saturday suitably dressed for a day in early June ….. waterproofs, fleece and wellies!
Since my last visit here two years ago, the new airport link road the A555 has been completed and I was entertained on the first part of the journey by the Satnav on my VW informing me that I was off road and should do a U-turn. There’s nothing like a bit of Saturday morning rebellion though, especially when it takes 20 minutes off the journey. The traffic was exceptionally light and there was no queue to get in the grounds; perhaps because of the weather forecast people without tickets decided to stay away.
The skies were dark but it wasn’t actually raining when I arrived so I headed past the fabulous Long Borders (more on those later) and made my way straight to the show gardens.
The first one that I came to was the Wedgwood garden, designed by Jamie Butterworth.
This was absolutely stunning and had won not only a gold medal but also Best in Show, Best Construction and People’s Choice. There is a lot more detail in this garden that I can’t show you because I could only glimpse from the perimeter, but the press photos confirm that everything from the hard landscaping and water feature to the planting is exquisite.
The beautiful Cornus takes centre stage in this shot and all my favourite colours are reflected in the planting.
………………………………………………………………………………………
My next stop was to listen to the entertainment on the Brewin Dolphin Artists’ garden designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes.
The garden was designed to reflect the life of artists and artisans and the details, from the corrugated tin shed to the beautiful planting, really told the story. It was well worth walking round the whole of the perimeter of the garden and I would have loved a peek at the planting in the hidden interior too.
A view of the planting at the front of the garden.
……………………………………………………………………………………….
All the Mindfulness Gardens were excellent but two really caught my eye. The first was The Thrive Reflective Mind Garden designed by Richard Rogers.
I loved the radial design with the circular water feature as the centrepiece. This works so well in a right angled corner and the fact that the garden is sunken gives a feeling of peace and privacy. The magnificent sculpture created by Simon Gudgeon is reflected in the water and a curved bench opposite works perfectly with the discrete symmetry of the design.
……………………………………………………………………………………….
The second Mindfulness garden that I really liked was the Space Within garden. This was designed by Rae Wilkinson and won a gold medal, Best Mindfulness Garden and the People’s Choice award in this category.
I loved the pebble seats by Ben Barrell which were as much an aesthetic feature as they were a place to sit. Not sure how comfortable they would be but they were certainly perfect for the garden! The same pale colour was reflected in the decking on which they were placed and also the gravel surrounding it. I thought the deep red of the astrantia provided a excellent contrast to the cool green and white of the rest of the planting.
You can see the moon gate on this second picture, which forms the entrance to the garden and is covered in scented Trachelospermum jasminoides.
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Wandering through the Floral Marquee is always a delight at any RHS show and I had to stop to admire the Gold Medal on the Bluebell Cottage Garden stand. A big congratulation to Sue Beesley on the excellent display.
A garden I almost missed because it was situated away from the others was the RHS garden for Wildlife:Wild Woven designed by Sharon Hockenhull. This was a delightful garden crammed with wildlife friendly planting and ideas that can work in any garden.
It was great to able to follow the path through this garden and see little gems up close. The planting around this water feature was gorgeous.
But now back to the Long Borders which were all a stunning feature of this years’ show. I had purposefully not taken any photos when I passed them on my way into the garden as they were very busy with visitors who had just arrived as I did when the gardens opened.
They were all delightful so here’s just a few of my favourites.
The Haddonstone Garden: A sense of Heritage
The Night Garden
Middleton Hall and Gardens: A Touch of Drama
And a very appropriate one to finish with is this border. A Sense of Place is inspired by the 250 schoolgirls who boarded at Chatsworth House during World War II. There are 7 Taxus Baccata in total to represent the 7 years they lived here and the planting is designed to reflect their journey from uncertainty to maturity by the end of the war.
………………………………………………………………………………………
I really enjoyed my visit despite the poor weather and actually the rain held off for the majority of the time I was there.
RHS Tatton will be the next show for me and hopefully the sun will be shining!
