BrandAlley

Our BrandAlley Garden designer, Paul Hervey Brookes has just been in touch with his latest update. So, here it is, exclusively here on our blog and hot off the press…

With less than three weeks until Chelsea Flower Show opens and only days before the start of our BrandAlley Garden build on 8^th May, stress levels have been steadily rising. Will plants flower on time? And will the weather be kind long enough to bring the best out in our trees?

So to find out, I’ve just made a final dash around the nursery to check on our plants and to see whether the recent warm weather has thrown up any extra, interesting choices.

Last time I visited the nursery, the plants were just brown discs of optimism in a sea of black pots. But while I was going pink in the sun, I have to admit being seriously worried that our Chelsea plants might still in the depths of a long cold winter and early spring.

So, it was with some trepidation that I inspected the plants at the nursery on Tuesday. And what a surprise – alliums in full bloom and irises looking stunning, all in brilliant sunshine!  Faith was almost restored in our very British weather, but not all of my concerns have disappeared. Although there’s lots of fresh growth and promise, I sense that, depending on a few crucial days of sunshine, we may still face the annual Chelsea shuffle as some plants don’t perform and others come from the wings to centre stage.

 Plants and Chelsea are relentlessly difficult and split designers equally.  Some choose to bring in Italian-grown and Dutch-grown stock, nurtured in heated greenhouses. These plants can look stunning, but a cold London night will soon have them looking burnt and limp.

Personally, I’ve always used a couple of English nurseries, specialising in well-grown plants that are in bloom at the right time of year for Chelsea. They’re also grown hard – which means out of doors with no assistance.  It’s a gamble, but I prefer Chelsea visitors to know that our plants are UK grown and naturally flower in May.

As a final little tease, I have to say that there will be some surprises at Chelsea this year. Thanks to a decidedly odd spring, some plants we’d expect to be looking good are stubbornly refusing to burst into growth. And others we’d expect to blossom a little later are now looking as if they will be in their prime for Chelsea. So, right across the showground, I think we are in for very exciting and unexpected plant selections from all the designers!

Watch this space…

As you can imagine, with less than three weeks to go until Medal Day,  there’s lots going on behind the scenes.  We’ll be posting updates on our blog as Paul Hervey-Brookes builds the garden in the Royal Hospital grounds.  Plus, there’ll be news during Show Week itself (21^st-25th May) both on our blog and on our Facebook page to keep you in touch with all the gossip.  So, there’s plenty to look forward to!

Jo x

Next time: interview with Fiona Haines, designer of the ‘Flow’ water textile installation.

Picture credits: All images – © Paul Hervey-Brookes Associates.