Archives for May 2008
Our executive producer Owen Gay sums up our Chelsea experience;
"Well, it's nearly over...the best week of the year. A party atmosphere has descended on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ compound. With just one programme left to complete, many of the crew were scheduled a well-deserved day off, but they've all turned up today anyway. No one wants to miss the last day at Chelsea.
Everyone has had plenty to work on nevertheless. As usual the production team has created a dozen show gardens of their own behind the scenes in our compound. Alan, Joe and Andy judged them at lunchtime and the teams are eagerly awaiting the announcement later this evening of our 'Best in Show'.
The standard has just got better and better. Everyone writes their own brief...though some of the sentiments expressed in them are unrepeatable in this blog! One of my favourites is The Sound Engineers' Garden. MOSS (Moist Organic Seeping Station). It comes complete - appropriately enough - with the sound of birdsong. Modelled on "The Green Door" it has a moss-covered green wall and fountain. The original urban garden was Nicki's favourite small garden and its designer, Kazuyuki Ishihara entered his own garden - exempt from voting - in our backstage competition. "A Garden for Nicky" was delivered on a tea-tray.
Saturday is bitter-sweet too. The final two-minute music montage on tonight's show is a tear-jerker but sums up the sadness we're feeling too. Chelsea is an incomparable working week. We're exhausted but so privileged to have had a chance to put up temporary residence at the greatest flower show on Earth."
One of my favourite moments on the last day of the Chelsea Flower Show is when the People's Award for Best Small Show Garden is presented. Alan Titchmarsh leads the way through the crowds and - to the surprise of the visitors who happen to be in front of the winning garden at the time - presents a rather snazzy trophy to the delighted designers. It's a great way to give these talented people some of the recognition they so richly deserve.
This year the award went to the delightful Shetland Croft House Garden, one of the tiny courtyard gardens designed for the Motor Neurone Disease charity by Sue Hayward and Martin Anderson. Sue - who's never designed a show garden at Chelsea before - told me she was overwhelmed: "It almost means more than the gold medal," she said. "You almost forget that people are going to look at it in the end - the fact that we've had that reaction as well is brilliant."
The small gardens are little microcosms of what Chelsea is all about. There's tremendous camaraderie among designers, especially along the Serpentine Walk where the Courtyard Gardens are, a little removed from the hustle and bustle of Main Avenue. Sue told me the patch of turf lining a ditch was given to them by a neighbour after they arrived without any: they planted it up with cowslips and orchids and it looks as natural as any wild grassland.
The tiny size of these gardens means designers really have to pack in the detail. Sometimes it's so intricate you can overlook real gems: it took Sue to point out to me that what looks like quite a nice flower in a pot on the step of the croft is in fact Cerastium nigrescens, the Shetland Mouse-ear, which grows nowhere else in the world. I must have taken a good look at this garden half a dozen times this week: but not once did I give the rarest plant in the world so much as a glance. Just when you think you know Chelsea, it turns round and amazes you all over again.
Over the past week our home has been a small cabin on the edge of the showground, it may not sound that salubrious and it's certainly not very trendy, but it's as close as I'm ever going to get to a Chelsea riverside home and just look at the wonderful view of Chelsea Bridge from our door.
It's our last day at the show and I have to admit to feeling a bit sad this morning, as once the sell off is over we'll all be going our separate ways.
The wonderful thing about Chelsea team spirit, the way everyone rallies around each other during busy periods and crises (and we've had a few of those). Louise and I usually work on general gardening coverage, so the chance to work on an outside broadcast at Chelsea was something we jumped at. The excitement of working on an outside broadcast is like nothing I've experienced anywhere else in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ it's tremendous fun, the team are really supportive and their passion and commitment to the coverage, is a great inspiration.
The week has gone by so quickly it's unreal. I feel now as if I'm ready to get into the show. It always takes a couple of days for everyone manning the stand to get into the swing of things. The cool weather has really helped us and I think that the exhibit looks as good now as it did on day one.
There's been a fantastic reaction from the public and the compliments have been lovely. It's been great seeing the same people again at Chelsea, familiar faces that I have met on my garden tours, talks and from the garden, it's a big meeting place.
I'll be incredibly sad to leave so won't hang about today. I'm already thinking about next year's show...I'll be back one way or another!
was in the production area earlier today and I caught up with him to hear what he had to say about the small gardens at the show;
"The secret of Chelsea Show Gardens is to find the hidden gem which you can carry home to your own garden. It doesn't have to be big idea; just a couple of plants together. Look for a symphony of shape or a fandango of foliage.
For nuggets of inspiration smaller gardens should never be underestimated. Often the attention is drawn by larger than life show gardens while the stars slip beneath the radar.
I was a judge for the first time this year in the Urban Garden category and it was a real eye opener. As with all these things some were a bit iffy but there are some real corkers in there. In particular Tom Hoblyn's Tempest in a Teapot, tucked away in the top corner of the showground is a little slice of perfection. There are so many exquisite little corners that would fit in any garden. Perfect ferns, beautifully detailed construction and a fountain that is both enchanting and unusual.
A lot of gardening is based on larceny; we steal ideas from neighbours, from large public gardens, from books, from television and, of course, from shows. Chelsea is the biggest and best horticultural sweet shop in the world. "
Our pink jackets have been a tremendous success, everyone speaks to us where ever we go on the show ground, we've even been called the Barbie dolls!
The sniffer dog came back to see us with his tail between his legs and he apologised for walking all over our stand, at the time we weren't happy but he's actually a beautiful dog and we all wanted to take him home!
An extra bit of good news for NAFAS, the promotional exhibit in the Floral Design Marquee was judged andand awarded an RHS gold medal. This exhibit is promoting the NAFAS flower festival in May 2009.
I caught up with Carol while she was in make-up and asked her what she thought of the Great Pavilion:
"The thing that strikes me about the Great Pavilion is how many stands have attempted to show people where plants grow, the 'right plant, right place' idea.
The is one of these exhibits, they have four distinct areas and I think it knocks spots off any of their previous displays but then it is the North West group this year so maybe that explains it! Every single plant on the stand is desirable and it really teaches you in an aesthetic way what you can grow, I love stands like this that are truthful. It's one of the most fascinating exhibits I've seen at Chelsea and it's packed full of the most perfect plants.
The has managed to take us from exposed mountain slopes, through alpine woodland to bogs; it even has water on the stand planted with sarracenias and primulas. One of my favourite plants of all time makes an appearance too, Dysosma delavayi with its velvet leaves splodged with dark bronze, if you look under the leaves you'll find its vermillion, pendulous flowers. Beautiful!"
Today everyone's busy in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ compound as it's People's day on TV which means all the camera teams are out in response to your Ask Alan queries.
After a week of beautiful sunshine at the show, the weather finally looks like it might break today, with a grey and cloudy start. But this isn't going to dampen the spirits of the visitors who are already pouring in, in their thousands.
The Chelsea site seems to expand and contract according to the time of day. At its busiest, when all the main thoroughfares are filled with people it seems enormous, but last thing at night, (I was here until past midnight yesterday) it seems more like a very well-kept garden. That late at night it even comes with its very own, large and slightly scary dog that frightened the living daylights out of me, as I handed the keys to the security guard on my way out.
Today the gates were opened to the general public, and ice cream sales soared - it's been a lovely sunny day and every patch of green seemed to be occupied by exhausted people taking a break from all the excitement.
It's fascinating how ordinary people's opinions of the gardens differ from the conclusions drawn by the RHS judges. Tom Stuart-Smith's elegant garden for Laurent-Perrier, winner of a gold medal and best in show according to the judges, was getting some mixed reactions: everything from admiring gasps of "ooh - isn't that lovely" to a frown and "a bit sombre, isn't it? Not really my thing". The crowds around Trevor Tooth's garden for Lloyds TSB were being very positive - "wow, just look at that!" was one comment on the colourful mixed planting - yet the judges thought it worthy of only a bronze. Trevor, who is understandably disappointed, told me they'd marked him down on a slightly sparse willow and some tattered banana leaves. On such fine points are the fates of designers decided.
Still - that's what the
People's Award is all about. You can express your own opinion - for or against the judges' decisions - by putting in a vote for your favourites.
I'd like to thank all of the NAFAS members who have visited our stand, particularly the Kent members who have supported us and fundraised for us over the last 18 months. This exhibit would not have been possible without them. We love the comments on the blog - keep them coming!
Thankfully the weather is not too hot, we are situated near an entrance and a draught constantly comes through the open door. Cut flowers do not like draughts and some of our gloriosa lilies have been blown to the opposite side of the stand. Consequently it has been necessary to have two overnight deliveries and it's been my job to get up in the night to receive and condition them so that they are ready for the team to bring to the showground at 6am when we are allowed to replenish the stand.
I was involved with the
Marshalls Garden That Kids Really Want from way back at the beginning, running workshops with school kids who produced some fantastic work that's really come to life this week.
I've been running around doing TV all week and I feel like I know the show really well. As for the gardens, the bar just seems to keep rising, you've got to tip your hat to the RHS, the high standards are reflected in the
Show Gardens. They've taken a bit of stick for being so green but to me that's the most important colour in a garden, a plant might only flower for three weeks of the year...what about the other 49?
I like the contemporary, eastern touch this year with the cloud-pruned hornbeams in
Tom Stuart-Smith's garden and Arabella Lennox-Boyd's
Telegraph garden.
I've spent time in Japan and the biggest difference is that Western gardens are very hands-on whereas Eastern ones are all about contemplation. The Marshalls garden is all about kids getting stuck in and grazing their knees!
I'm very excited, pleased and relieved, that's four in a row and I'm going to take next year off.
So far I've beenÌývery busy,Ìýfilming non-stop, I quite like it though, it's a lot of fun. As well as work, you have to go out every night it's compulsory! It's just as well they have these special eye-drops in make-up to stop them looking red!
There's a great freshness about Chelsea this year after a really tricky spring. It seems to have even more energy than usual, there's a real buzz about the place and it's not just Joe Swift's socks!
The show is dazzling as ever but if there's one area of the show that's inspiring me to take a holiday it's the Grenada exhibit where not only do the plants have an amazing vibrancy and energy, the girls on the stand are the most welcoming of the show.
Well, a silver medal for Desert to Jungle which was a little disappointing and we didn't necessarily agree with the judges observations but it's our first Chelsea. Kelways was also a silver medal and in our opinion was a silver-gilt display. We were swamped with people all day which is what matters. The gasps, oohs and ahs over the peonies are lovely to hear.
Both Rob and I were in pain yesterday, standing in our smart shoes and suits was excruciating! In the future I think we'll stick to our uniform of camouflage gear...
The Queen visited the stand yesterday and we disrupted her schedule! She spent far too long here talking to us and even walked through the display, she was particularly interested in our links with Skandia Team GBR.
I feel relieved and very pleased today, especially for the team that worked on the exhibit. It's been great phoning them up to let them know, there's a real buzz around today. It's lovely to see the regular visitors head over to us to find out how we've done and congratulate us on our 63rd gold medal.
I think the show is brilliant this year; I'm impressed by the weather! It makes a massive difference to everyone.
The urban gardens are amazing, five golds out of 12, really well deserved. The show gardens are great, contemporary gardens are a staple of the show, there are no traditional gardens at Chelsea anymore, just good design applied to different styles of gardens.
I'm looking around for any tips for my
Gardeners' World allotment...
We are very pleased with the result, we'd have liked a gold medal obviously, but to be awarded a silver-gilt at a horticultural show is very good.
The public absolutely love it and are saying how lovely it is to see all the colours in the flesh. It makes all our hard work worth while to see their reactions.
For the second year running the sniffer-dogs took a fancy to our stand and ran all over it with muddy paws minutes before the judges where due to arrive yesterday, I could have done without that!
It's not easy to look after the stand and watering is particularly tricky. We have long hoses lances and are just grateful that it's sunny but not too hot!
The crowds are building fast now and by 9.00am they were already three deep around the most popular show gardens. It's the early bird that gets the best view at Chelsea.
Today, of course, was medals day, so most of the designers are looking a little dazed and overcome. Those who feel more disappointed are making themselves scarce - this is the hardest cut of all, when you've spent every ounce of strength on creating the perfect garden, only to have the judges give it a lesser medal than you'd hoped for.
For the moment, though, it's the turn of the winners to celebrate - and they are celebrating, everywhere. The Aussies are in the middle of a full-blown party on their meticulously crafted Flemings & Trailfinders Garden, which won a well-deserved gold. I couldn't help noticing that one of them was sitting with a glass of champagne and his feet up on the table they were polishing so carefully on Sunday.
Adam Frost, another gold medal winner who also won Best Small Garden, told me he had to take himself off around the showground on a walk this morning to convince himself he wasn't dreaming - if he came back and his medal was still there, he would know it was true.
He invited me on to his exquisite little garden to take a closer look - a real privilege for us reporters, as you get to see the garden from an entirely different angle and notice all those extra details you'd otherwise miss. I got the chance to do the same thing with Tom Stuart-Smith on his subtle garden for Laurent-Perrier: it's one of those gardens where you see more, the more you look, and he gave me a master class on the use of foliage in design just by talking me through what he'd put in a single corner. I'd spotted him earlier taking snaps of his own garden, spotting invisible imperfections to put right later - in a show like this, such meticulous attention to detail at all times is what separates the outstanding from the merely very good indeed.
The main topic of conversation today is medals. Yesterday it was all 'Have you seen (insert green-fingered celebrity)', today it's virtually impossible to go anywhere without someone asking 'What did so-and-so get?' and, as it should be, all about the gardens.
I'm always more than a little in awe walking around the showground this morning. I love catching the reactions of the designers and teams involved in creating these masterpieces as they approach their gardens to find out what medal they've been awarded. It's such a huge achievement, the months of preparation, the weeks of building, the judging... I can't begin to imagine!
I was getting cabin fever in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ compound so welcomed the chance to join the melee. I've heard people talk about the 'Chelsea buzz' and today the showground has been positively humming!
But amongst the glamour and celebrity that is Press Day, the gardening gods of design and horticulture have swooped in to cast their critical eye over this year's efforts.
Apart from spotting Nigel Slater, Michael Palin, Jools Holland (my food, travel and music heroes) I caught up with garden designer
James Alexander-Sinclair to see what he thought of Chelsea so far....
James was clearly enjoying the show and for some garden designers simply visiting Chelsea I suspect it's a welcome relief to enjoy the show without the pressure of building a garden or being judged. One past exhibitor, Dan Pearson, had come to the showground at 8am to beat the crowds....
Read the rest of this entry
The champagne has been flowing, the cameras have been flashing - it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. Glamour and Chelsea go hand in hand: today we had everything from racing driver Damon Hill driving George Harrison's red mini through the showground to launch 'A Garden for George', to actors Felicity Kendal and Patricia Routledge having their pictures taken in the Great Pavilion.
Amid all the razzmatazz, a solemn group of be-hatted gentlemen clutching clipboards could be seen standing in the gardens, pointing things out to each other and talking animatedly. These were the judges, and their progress around the showground was watched as intently as that of any celebrity.
I collared one judge after the decisions were made to find out how it had gone: "some very lengthy discussions" was his verdict, so the decision has clearly not been straightforward this year. Well - we'll find out what conclusion they came to tomorrow at 8am, when medals and the top prize of Best in Show are awarded.
Now we all have to leave the showground ahead of Her Majesty the Queen's private visit. This is an old tradition in Chelsea week - but nonetheless nerve-wracking for the designers, some of whom will meet the Queen and maybe exchange a few words with her. Overheard near the small Courtyard gardens was an anxious discussion:
"I've been told it's Ma'am, as in 'ham' - not Ma'am as in 'harm'."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, that's what I've been told..."
The trials of being a Chelsea designer don't just stop at the garden gate, it seems.
We were bagging up seed at midnight last night, we've been judged and Carol Klein has interviewed us for the interactive coverage. Rob's been chasing a pair of fornicating blackbirds away from the stand and we've had to have a word with the judges to let them know what we've had to deal with!
We're so pleased with everything, the Desert to Jungle stand looks great and we couldn't be happier with the peonies and irises, we'll have to wait and see what the judges think...
It's very exciting because today, the first five of our show garden films will go live to air behind the red button and as such we've kicked off the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ RHS Peoples' Award 2008. You can vote online at
www.bbc.co.uk/chelsea from 9pm on Tuesday.
That's also when all of our films are live, it's a culmination of lots of hard work over the last six weeks and more recently an intense final push by a dedicated team of directors, editors and runners.
This is it! Today is the day the finished gardens are unveiled for the first time to an audience of the world's media, invited guests and later on, Her Majesty the Queen. And, of course, the RHS judges, who will be inspecting every show garden, large and small, as well as every exhibitor's stand in the Great Pavilion and awarding those all-important medals.
The press tent is mayhem this morning - over a thousand journalists, photographers and cameraman from all over the world descend on Chelsea on this day alone, so by 7.30am nearly all seats are taken. On press day the old hands resort to all sorts of undignified tactics, turning up super-early to snaffle a much-prized locker or cornering an electrical socket before the photographers, who seem to have so much equipment they could start a small shop. By lunchtime it'll be standing room only, and I'll avoid coming in here unless I absolutely have to.
There are plenty of excuses to get out, after all: this is the day Chelsea is 'the' place to be, glittering with celebrities and simply oozing glamour. The Great Pavilion is right at the heart of the action: new plants will be launched by TV stars, and this year the entire British yachting team will be gracing the stand at Hilliers, who are aiming for their 63rd gold in a row this year.
I'll be making a beeline for my favourite exhibitor's stands, as today they'll reveal their treasures for the first time. Top of the list is Avon Bulbs - I've never yet come away without a new must-have plant to add to my list. I'll also stop by Knoll Gardens to see their new Pennisetum, and the vividly tropical displays from the City of Durban, Grenada and the Cayman Islands.
My family often accuse me of being grumpy in the mornings, and arriving here at 6am today was no exception. But today any bad moods were soon forgotten.
Going for a first look round the Great Pavilion, with no one else except the plants for company is a very special and privileged experience. At this time in the morning as the dawn light just peeks through the gaps in the Pavilion roof, there's nothing quite like the wonderful scent of different plants and flowers drifting on the moisture-laden air.
Yesterday,
Owen Gay our executive producer described the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Chelsea team as like big family, and I completely agree. Especially as while I'm doing my first walk around the ground, mum (in this case the catering van) has got the kettle on and the breakfast cooking ready for my return.
We're close to finishing and I'm delighted at how the stand is looking. Brenda Jackson is our team-leader; she is in charge of the design and the team. "I'm feeling great, the display has really come together today, I'm very proud of the team and how hard they're working. The plant material has come to life today."
It is NAFAS' golden anniversary next year and to celebrate, Harkness Roses are launching a new rose at the Chelsea Flower Show called 'Golden Fanfare'. It's a beautiful, traditional country rose with lots of petals and is described as 'a good mixer'. It lasts for ages as a cut flower which is more than a happy coincidence!
The peonies arrived last night, they are sensational - we've got twice as many as we need. You never know what the plants are going to be like until they arrive. As it stands now, we're virtually finished - the earliest we've ever finished.
We've just got a bit of scissor work to do on the Jungle stand, trimming off anything that looks unsightly...We have a slight problem with a territorial blackbird that keeps pulling worms out of the wet ground and then going to sit on our tetrapanax to eat them, we have to keep cleaning it!
We've had a look around the rest of the show today, the
I Dream, I Seek My Garden, which we supplied the peonies for, is looking amazing, I really thought it wouldn't work but the drop in temperature has been a gift from heaven, we're delighted that they're delighted.
Best-in-show for us is either
The Laurent-Perrier Garden,
The Cancer Research Garden or
I Dream I Seek My Garden and we supplied plants for all three!
Arriving at the Chelsea showground, less than 24 hours before its official opening, it's hardly possible to believe that all those crates of plants, teetering piles of compost, beeping tipper trucks and lines of people painstakingly trimming tulips in the Great Pavilion will have magically vanished by this time tomorrow.
Down Main Avenue, where most of the show gardens are, it feels like the day before exams. Some lucky designers have pretty much done all they can do and are starting to slope off for a chat with their mates (and a sneak peek at the opposition) -
Cleve West is going around looking remarkably chipper, and I noticed Tom Stuart Smith smiling serenely, looking supremely calm and in control (mind you, I don't think anyone's seen him otherwise).
Others are in flat-out panic mode.
The Flemings Trailfinders Australian Garden is frantic - with lots of intricately-planned hard landscaping, this year capturing the spirit of Australia in burnt ochre, it was always going to go up to the wire. You know you're at Chelsea, though, when you find yourself watching a muscle-bound Australian bloke, complete with wraparound shades, polishing a table to mirror-like perfection with a chamois leather.
The finished gardens are emerging now, though, and everyone's trying to second-guess which are in line for medals - and of course Best-in-Show. Word is that this year will be a clash of the Titans, between
Arabella Lennox-Boyd's understated masterpiece for the Daily Telegraph, and
Tom Stuart Smith's assured performance next door.
I cannot believe its Sunday already. I also find it even harder to believe that we have finished the exhibit apart from a few final touches. The team really cracked on yesterday; plants moving into their final situations at a rate of knots. We even got the turf laid and the boards around the exhibit lifted and moved out of the Great Pavilion by the end of the day. The cool weather has been great for those creating the display and for the plants and neither party looks quite as exhausted as they have on occasions.
I am particularly pleased with the planting in front of the beach huts. The red white and blue scheme is a welcome relief from our usual more subdued and tasteful tones. Our new floribunda rose 'Star of Britain' is even better than I expected. The flowers are shining scarlet with velvety petals and it promises to be free-flowering, healthy and vigorous. The
Callistemon citrinus 'Splendens' are just wonderful compact mounds of flowers. If only people would prune them straight after flowering, cutting back to just behind the seedheads, this is what they would look like in gardens. The
Choisya 'Aztec Pearl' look better than ever. The dark green divided leaves are such a great background for the sparkling white flowers. It really is one of the best plants we have ever launched at Chelsea. That must be 19 years ago as it made its debut at the first Chelsea I was involved in staging.
The most exciting moment of yesterday was when our magnificent glass sail was lifted into place. At three metres high it is a terrific weight and took a lot of muscle and manpower to handle it gently and accurately. In sapphire blue, with abstract silver fish it makes a bold focal point rising out of the bronze, silver and gold planting surrounding the medals.
Well that's it now - the staging team depart today. That's always a sad moment when the team breaks up. This lot deserve a medal - hope it's the right colour!
Arriving on site at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show yesterday morning it felt as though the intervening 51 weeks since last year's show had simply disappeared. Chelsea is always like a grand family reunion. This is the eighth year in a row I've been in charge of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Chelsea coverage, and there are many more of us - from the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and the RHS - who wouldn't miss this one week in May for world.
I hope we're still learning - even after eight years - about how we can improve the TV shows we make...And this year we'll be featuring more of the plants in the Great Pavilion than ever before. In fact the whole of our Wednesday coverage will be devoted entirely to plants.
What's for sure is that each year brings its surprises. My first came within seconds of entering the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ compound. Even before we were on air we were a presenter down. This year Rachel de Thame has designed one of the Urban Gardens, and as of lunch time on Saturday not a single plant had been planted. Which means our hopes of having her on camera at seven o'clock on Sunday morning just weren't going to happen. Chris Beardshaw has gamely agreed to come into London a day early to help out.
It's Andy Sturgeon - who's presenting some of our daytime coverage - who's usually amongst the last to finish; but his garden for Cancer Research looks - to my untrained eye - pretty much complete.
Technically Chelsea is the most complex TV coverage I've ever done. Unlike the FA Cup - which was playing in the Production Office as I write - you can't just set up the cameras and wait for the match to happen. You really do have to go out there and find your stories. My "Worst Job at Chelsea" medal would have to go to our scheduler, Raewyn Dixon. Her task is to make sure every presenter and every film crew, down to the very last minute, is in exactly the right place.
Alan arrived on site at seven o'clock this morning, and apart from a couple of texts, I hadn't heard from him since last year; but he really is as charming and funny off camera as he is on-screen. Added to that, he is absolutely one of the most professional presenters I have every worked with. Ask him to wrap up the show in 23 seconds and he'll do it in precisely that time and make it pertinent and poetic to boot. When he arrived through the Bullring Entrance it felt like the final family member had come home. And what a place to spend the whole of next week!
The Kent Team of NAFAS has finally arrived at Chelsea and everything has started to take shape. Firstly the stand had to be checked to ensure it was level and as firm as possible to take the heavy metal structure. This is sometimes difficult as for ten months of the year the Chelsea showground is a football pitch but, alas, not quite up to Stamford Bridge standards.
Then came the carpet underlay, the Hessian fabric and finally the polythene for protection whilst working on the stand. Scaffolding was erected so that the team could start arranging the high placements on Friday.
The first delivery of blooms arrived early on Friday morning and the delphiniums virtually disappeared up into the roof of the Great Pavilion. Once this area is completed and the scaffolding removed, it is impossible to access these blooms again until the end of the show - pretty worrying at any time but when, as last week, temperatures were reaching 80 degrees, it was more than worrying, it was terrifying! We are all very pleased that it is now much cooler.
Next it's off to check the plant list and make sure that everything ordered has arrived and is in perfect condition so that the printing of out leaflet may be completed.
We're a bit behind with the pool, the granite that was delivered wasn't quite the right size which means we can't pave or plant around it. We're still to fill and test them too, it's a bit of a worry.
Some good news is that I've just noticed the reflections of the aluminium 'Thought Wall' in what little water there is in the pool and it looks great, that's even before they are
ÌýÌýfull and the water is dyed!
It's now Saturday, we have been here since Wednesday night. We finished the Desert to Jungle display on Thursday and we are very proud of it actually, it's the best display we've ever done. The biggest problem was holding back and not planting too densely. The stand has a good three days to settle down before judging. We try to achieve a multi-layered effect to mimic the rainforest with a canopy, mid-layer and under planting.
Our 2 displays are side-by-side which is very convenient! We had a major panic with the Kelways stand yesterday, 2 trolleys of Irises crashed at the nursery and we lost around 200 plants. We are in the process of giving the Irises that arrived in one piece the final once-over. It's a very painstaking task, really really slow and detailed but the end result is stunning. We have to trim every leaf and un-wrap each separate flower then we water each plant before they are placed on the stand.
Tonight the peonies are coming...
After weeks of waiting we're finally here down at the showground and the online cabin is up and running. It's great to be down here working alongside the exhibitors and designers because their enthusiasm is infectious.
Many of the larger show gardens are now really taking shape with whole sections of planting in place and the first rounds of intensive 'tweaking' starting to take place. All around the showground dedicated plantsmen and women are making sure that every plant is looking its best.
The transformation is most noticeable in the Great Pavilion, which is now a colourful sea of plants and exhibitors and the air is heavy with scent of hundreds of delicate blooms.
Progress seems to have been rather slow today: a few hold ups and three lorries to unload. We still have some construction work to do and I am also very keen to clear debris as we go, and remove anything from site that we are not going to use.
My main focus today has been getting the rest of the trees, and some of the large shrubs in place. As the central theme is 'Coastal', the placing of the plants is a little more complicated. I have tried to keep seaside through the middle, and woodland on the outside.
Life is never simple: the Pavilion is much lower on the outside of the exhibit and we have some very tall birches which touch the roof if they are in the wrong place - this is always exactly where you want to place them! We also have a lot of very good, large acers. I just hope we have enough space for these as I am trying to keep the birch stems well exposed. I also want to keep the centre of the exhibit very open and light to preserve the feeling it has now, I think this already has a very coastal atmosphere about it.
The small eucalyptus look just as good at Chelsea as they did in the glasshouse. The foliage is intense silver blue and shows up surprisingly well in low light. We have quite a few cordylines, palms, olives and loquats. All seem to fit the bill, even the oleanders with our changing climate and ability to grow more tender subjects.
As I was leaving the showground a national paper called for comment on topiary. A well-known authority has pointed out that topiary is the big buzz fashion at Chelsea 2008. Have I seen more topiary this year and do I agree? Although I have not had a chance to look around the show I expect there will be lots of topiary - there always is. For me sustainable planting is the order of the day. I want "good doers" in my own garden - plants with a long season of interest that withstand whatever nature throws at them. Plants that resist pests and diseases and that do not need summer watering. This can seem like a tall order, but believe me there are plenty.
There's a certain air of anticipation in the office today, Tom's off to the showground and I'll be there tomorrow just in time for the showers! Typical isn't it, wall-to-wall sunshine for days and then the minute I step out of the office the rain arrives...Ah well, I'm sure I'll have plenty to do to distract me from the weather.
I'm quite excited to see how the web side of the production works, this is my first year with the team and although the flower show is familiar to me, the week itself will be a little different for me this year and I can't wait!
Check out the before you visit - that way you won't miss anything.
Director Anja returned from filming foxgloves at The Botanic Nursery in Wiltshire today, see how summery it looks!
Director Sophie was inspired yesterday, she was filming with Beth, a 12 year old flower arranger from Epsom. Sophie was impressed by Beth's creativity and passion for her hobby. Beth will be visiting the Chelsea flower show this year to gather ideas for her contemporary designs.
Fingers crossed I'll be blogging from the showground tomorrow, I'll have my camera with me too so watch this space...
A lot happened on site yesterday. The team made good progress over the weekend despite being held up by the arrival of the big trees on Saturday morning. All are in place but not without a struggle. Those huge Hippophae rhamnoides standards were obviously very heavy. I was warned that one had been damaged on loading but they are so tall I can't see the scars so I am quite sure the public will not. The multi-stemmed Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. debeuzvillei are superb, especially their bark. I know these will be a talking point.
The path looks great and feels wide and spacious - the effect I was looking for. The glass is not yet in the central channel; perhaps today. The beach huts are erected and deck constructed. This area already has a lot of charm and I think it will be a favourite with the public. I took Rachel de Thame onto the exhibit yesterday afternoon and the sight of the brightly painted timber made her smile. I want this part of the garden to have cheery seaside nostalgia, to conjure up images of sunny days and childhood holidays.
The big event of the day was the raising of the mast and hoisting of the sails. I think this feature looks fantastic and it has immediately become part of the structure of the exhibit. It looks as if the monument means it to be there and the two towering structures become one. All I can say, better than expected. The team have done a great job - minimum amount of discussion, plenty of action!
Today sees the arrival of the rest of the trees. The exhibit will start to get more cluttered and I have to remind myself that the priority is now to stay organised. Get rid of what you do not want and will not use. Items that are kept, just in case they are needed simply get in the way.
By Wednesday life will become more manic: enjoy the calm before the storm!
On the third day of our trip to Chile we started at dawn and hiked the right way up a mountain carrying all our camera gear. The views were breathtaking and we repeated our mutterings of the previous day. "Aren't we lucky etc etc". We laughed most of the day but I think that was largely due to lack of sleep. That night we gave Graham the room on his own so that everyone could get some rest.
On the final day we awoke to find that all the pipes were frozen so we couldn't wash or flush the toilet and we all began to really miss our hotel. Oh the glamour. It was freezing and we still had a few pieces to camera to record down by the lake. For continuity I had to wear the same thin shirt I'd been wearing in the sunshine the day before. It was freezing but when the sun rose over the mountains and bathed everything in sunshine it seemed worthwhile again and we were all ready for another 30 hours on planes.
Today seems to have been a fairly relaxed one on site. Outside gardens are progressing well because of the good weather, and the showground seems tidier and less chaotic than it has on occasions. My team were in and unloaded by the time I arrived. The black polythene had been rolled out to cover the site, and the smell of marker spray paint was already on the air as the plan moved from paper onto the ground. Years of experience have taught them to remember everything: especially the white plastic picnic chairs for tea breaks.
During the day we decide on the various details of construction and the position of the largest trees which arrive on site in the morning. Ricky calls to say that one of the big Hippophae rhamnoides has been damaged in loading - we need to take this into consideration when positioning it. I know the show visitors wont notice, but the judges might.
I always worry that the paths, buildings, pools, paving and decking are taking up too much space, and there is not enough room for the plants. It always seems like that at this stage. I also know that the exhibit will seem to fill up quickly when the large shrubs and the rest of the trees move in next Wednesday and I will worry about where we are going to put the next few lorry loads of smaller material. These will then disappear as the exhibit eats its way through around 3,500 plants.
The paving looks great. Only one minor hitch; somehow I drew the plan 2 metres short so we need to improvise slightly to have enough slabs. The medals are still packed but the surface of the silver one has given us a glimpse of the sparkling effect they will create.
One of the main topics of conversation of the day has been the question of the height of the monument. I am so used to working alongside this great big chunk of granite I always assume that it is bigger than anything else: it always seems to tower well above whatever we create. However the lads have measured the distance between the names on the stone, and thereby estimated its height. It looks as if my mast will reach nearly to the top: scary. I expect this means another sleepless night worrying as to whether it will fit or not? What if it doesn't? What am I going to do with an 11 metre mast and silver sails? Do not answer that one - please!
With only a week to go before the Chelsea Flower Show, the 'Secret Stand' of the Kent Area of NAFAS was dismantled at its hideaway in rural Kent, packed up with loving care and prepared for its journey on Thursday to the Chelsea Flower Show site.
Meanwhile, hundreds of blooms will be arriving at the wholesaler in Ashford, where a 'Conditioning Team' of hand-picked ladies will be conditioning and preparing the flowers ready to be transported to Chelsea on Friday and Saturday and even Sunday if necessary.
On Thursday afternoon the team will be arriving at Chelsea when work gets underway in the Great Pavilion (site no. GPC/6) to prepare the stand. Firstly the twenty foot square stand has to be covered with carpet underlay, followed by Hessian and finally polythene sheeting. When all this is in place, scaffolding is erected and three well trained husbands will assemble the structure.
The scaffolding is left in position so on Friday morning the team can start working on the highest sections of the structure and the first delivery of flowers will be arriving. Once these sections are completed, which will be Friday afternoon, the scaffolding must be removed so the team can get to the middle sections which will be reached from step ladders.
On Saturday morning the second delivery of flowers will arrive and 'Nature's Kaleidoscope' (the exhibit title) will really start to take shape. After almost two years of planning, designing, experimenting, and even sleepless nights, the team will see their creation coming together into a wonderful exhibit which will grace the Great Pavilion and show off flower arranging and designing at its very best.
Another exhausting day, lorry number three out of 11 now loaded with the next lot of tree ferns for Andy Sturgeon.
Good moment this afternoon when the Daily Telegraph team phoned to say that they were totally delighted with the Gunneras which had arrived in one piece, with no torn leaves!
Loading the tree ferns today was quite sad in a way. You become quite attached to them, especially when they are more than 100 years old...you want them to be looked after, bit like a treasured antique.
Getting ready now for Monday's deliveries which will be for the Flemings' Australian garden. They have bulrushes amongst other things. The experts said there's no way we would get them in flower for May...well we have!!!
Managed an hour today to prepare for the Desert to Jungle exhibit which is bottom of the list at the moment. I can't believe we're off to Chelsea on Wednesday and have had no time to select any plants for the show yet...it'll be ok!
Worked till dark last night loading the first of 11 trucks going to Chelsea. This lorry had just 10 big tree ferns on it for Andy Sturgeon. It was exhausting loading them so that they don't move on the long 150 mile journey. Brian the driver has promised not to do too many handbrake turns!
It's much cooler today, which is a relief. It was so sunny and windy that everything was flopping in the heat. Today we have to get the first load of Gunneras loaded for Arabella Lennox-Boyd. It was too hot yesterday to get them out of their shady tunnel. Today we have to get as many as 15 on the truck, not touching at all, which will be a nightmare as they are like horticultural velcro. Quite how it will go we don't know yet.
Must put some attention today to our own exhibit, it's Jurassic themed. We must mark out the exhibit on the ground and start to select some plants. It's only 6 days till we stage it. Perhaps we've left it a little late!
I didn't know they made aeroplane seats from shiny plastic and I also thought that all aeroplane seats reclined. Three long flights over 30 hours and I arrived rather tired in Temuco, south of Santiago the capital of Chile.
The director Sophie and cameraman Ed had travelled out the day before for a recce so when they met me at the airport they had sort of recovered. I also met our 'fixer' Graham who I was slightly surprised to discover claimed he 'couldn't really' speak Spanish.
We'd come to make 2 short films. The first was about Monkey puzzle trees which are endangered in the wild and the second was about Nothofagus antarctica, the Southern Beech which I'm using in my garden at Chelsea. The clever researcher back at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in London had found somewhere that they grow side by side so they were able to make the trip economically worthwhile.
Day 1 and we drove for about 2 hours to a region near the coast to meet a conservationist who is replanting monkey puzzles. It was fascinating for me as a gardener and there were lots of familiar garden plants like Eryngium, Podocarpus and Desfontainia growing in the wild. But today I also learned something I didn't know I needed to know: In Chile the radio frequencies are unregulated which means that radio mics don't work properly. The cameraman was having to double up as a soundman so that meant every take took about three times as long as it should do because of hisses and crackles on the tape. This is when we first started to fall behind schedule.
Tonight we returned to our hotel which was basic but adequate. An early start and we were off to the Conguillio National Park which has its own active Volcano called Llaima. Driving through the countryside into the foothills of the Andes the scenery seems somewhat European, almost alpine with Lombardy poplars turning bright yellow with the onset of autumn. The weather which started grey and overcast is now like an English summer.
And when the park proper started we were driving over colossal lava flows long since cooled with patches of green beginning to colonise them. As we climbed higher to about 900 metres we were into a forest of deep green monkey puzzle trees with an understorey of bright red Nothofagus in their autumn colours. It was spectacular and all of us wandered around muttering to ourselves how amazing it was and how lucky we were to be there. On one of our journeys we took the opportunity to see if they had any for sale...
Everything was going well until our 'fixer' told the park guides we didn't need them anymore. He said it was okay as he'd got directions from them and then took us for a 2 hour hike in completely the wrong direction. Humping cameras and tripods we eventually came out into a clearing which turned out to be a car park so we could have driven there. For some reason we all found this extremely funny. We were now at least a day behind so that night we stayed in the park to avoid 6 hours travelling each day.
The wooden hut in the forest, despite the large hole in the bathroom floor, was idyllic but it made our basic hotel look positively luxurious. We stayed up late writing scripts for the following day and drinking Chilean wine. I had my own room but all the others shared. The fixer snored all night and kept the others awake. Somehow everyone found that funny too, but not until much later.
Thought I'd let you know what some of the directors are up to. It's hard keeping track, their schedules are very full, preparing, filming, editing and then starting all over again!
Director Ginny is off to Liverpool with roving reporter Wesley Kerr to make a film about William Roscoe which is the inspiration behind the Liverpool City Council exhibit at the show. Director Anya has been following Shao Fan's progress down at the showground, his garden,
I Dream, I Seek my Garden is his first ever show garden, and as if that wasn't enough it's the biggest in Chelsea's history! Anya was there on day one to witness a Buddhist Abbess blessing the site before construction began. That's certainly a film to look out for. Another director, Anja (confusing!) has been editing her film about Rubus, she went to visit collection holder Barry Clarke in Hampshire to find out all about his love of unconventionally beautiful plants, brambles essentially!
Earlier this month Anja visited Japan with Wesley (well travelled is our Wesley!), find out about their journey to meet Haruko Seki, designer of
Garden in the Silver Moonlight.
Oh my goodness. It is suddenly baking hot. Been watering all day, and everything's suddenly suffering in the heat. The giant Gunnera we moved out of the tunnel last week are looking great but are drinking water at an alarming rate. However the ones still in the tunnel flopped today, so we were much relieved we had moved the others out when we did. Also moved Andy Sturgeon's tree ferns from their winter tunnel out into the sunshine. It was midday and very bright and windy, so we were really worried that the fronds would collapse as soon as they went out. However they were ok...phew.
Had meeting this morning with our drivers to prepare for the big move of plants from Somerset to London. Looks like 11 truck loads in all. This is for 2 marquee exhibits and plants for 6 different show gardens. We dread to think how much fuel this is going to cost.
Strange to think that in 19days it will all be over, when mayhem is currently all around us! We need some sun now to finish conditioning all the plants ready for the show, but searing heat we do not.
Tried on suits last night, and they still fit, so at least no shopping needed before Chelsea.
Where do we start? We are presenting 2 exhibits in the floral marquee, and also supplying plants for no less than 6 show gardens. It all seemed so straight forward back in September when we took it on, but as Chelsea approaches the stress and worry is increasing daily!
Of most concern is the 35 huge Gunnera we are growing for the Daily Telegraph Garden. They are growing at a phenomenal speed, leaves unfurling each day. Some of the plants are now more than 2m tall and 3.5m across in 100L pots. Quite how we get them to London, we do not know...yet!!
Its such a late year this year, all of our signature exotics such as Bananas and Colocasia and Canna are refusing to grow much, and we're not sure at the moment what sort of impact they might have on the exhibit. Still there are always plenty of tree ferns to choose from. They are looking amazing. Some of the biggest are more than 5m tall now, thanks to a lovely warm very tall polytunnel. And gallons and gallons of water.
Still to be sorted are order forms, plant lists and business cards. And we really ought to think about getting our suits dry cleaned. Think I still have mud on my suit from last time I wore it at Chelsea last year!
dave and rob
What a change in the weather! Today, as temperatures soared, the plants got really thirsty, and the foliage canopy in the glasshouse changed from fresh, sparking, peridot and rose to early summer emerald and burgundy.
I seem to have spent most of the weekend on aspects of Chelsea. On Monday Ricky called to express his concerns about the grasses. Normally that wouldn't worry me but as I have written, and talked extensively about these waves off bronze, silver and gold grasses it is more of a problem. Certainly the gold carex have a distinct tinge of brown and some are dying off. A closer inspection reveals a distinct lack of roots; the cold spring weather has hindered their establishment and they simply won't make it. We discuss various substitutes and settle on Phormium 'Yellow Wave'. A totally different effect: wider leaves higher and wavier; simply rougher seas I fear. I also decide to use a drift of Astelia 'Westland'; maybe with the bronze carex or blue festucas. This will make the planting stronger and better prepared for a warmer Chelsea - that is if the weather lasts.
Yesterday was a tree day - for our exhibit and what seems like most others in the show. The trees have really moved in the past couple of days and those that looked as if they had no chance of making it are now on the short list.
The nursery and garden centres are suddenly busy so that presents another problem: pressure on transport. The lorries start to roll into the show on Friday and typically every garden centre customer will also be screaming for stock.
Today we start getting the materials and kit together for loading tomorrow to start construction: cement mixer, wheelbarrows, shovels, tools and a host of building materials. At one time we took everything from here. Now I get as much as possible delivered directly into the into the show site. Some of the items I've never even seen: beach huts and sails for example. The company making the sail and mast structure emailed a picture this morning - suddenly I'm excited...
I'm getting itchy feet now what with our o.b. (outside broadcast) director John coming back with photos of Chelsea build-up action, the show just around the corner and the sun coming out; sitting in front of a computer screen doesn't hold a lot of appeal! Tom and I are hoping to head down to the showground next week to find our bearings before the show opens.
Thought you might like a behind the scenes peek at Main Avenue, by the time many of you visit or catch the
coverage on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One and Two, it certainly won't look like this!
Down at the showground it's a hive of activity, we may be busy in the office, but it's certainly just as busy in the ground of the Royal Hospital.
I've had a chat with one of our OB directors John Smith who's come back from site after two hectic days of site 'recces' down at the showground.
"It's still a giant building site down there at the moment, some of the gardens are starting to take shape and some of the larger plants are going in. There's a lot happening but the sun is shining and everyone's in good spirits."
Looking at this picture of
Clare Agnew's Reflective garden (so far), you can see what he means.
One thing that is certain about the run up to Chelsea is that the weather is never right. This year is no exception.
The warmer weather in February meant an early start for shrubs like Ceanothus, meaning a long stint in cold store to slow them down. This is never our favourite option. The cold weather that followed during March and April has had a hard hitting effect on plants and the garden industry. Sales have been slow, and so have trees and shrubs growing outdoors.
Our exhibit always uses a large proportion of plants from the nursery beds, and at this stage these look doubtful as far as Chelsea is concerned. However, this week's warm sunshine could change everything. Rick (Ricky Dorlay is responsible for the preparation of all the plant material for the show) and I comfort each other with this thought. Neither of us believe that the new red floribunda roses we have publicised so much will ever make it for the show. 'Star of Britain' named in honour of the British Sailing team might be out in time for the Olympics, but this year's Chelsea - forget it!
I am always taken by surprise by how quickly the time goes in the final run up to Chelsea. Regardless of when Easter falls, as soon as it's over the show approaches all too quickly. Suddenly those decisions that have been postponed until 'nearer the show' have to be made.
Increasing interest from the press and media needs attention and the question on everyone's lips seems to be "are you all ready for Chelsea?" The answer, of course, is no! I haven't even drawn up a final working plan and I still have construction details to resolve - It's all very well having an idea but you still have to decide how to build it.
The members of the staging crew and the manning team are confirmed - hotel accommodation is booked and passes and uniform organised.
I have just bought the beer and wine to keep the troops happy - it's all a matter of getting your priorities right after all!
It's all go in the Chelsea office, as you'd expect, with only two weeks to go. Directors from the linear team are dashing off here, there and everywhere, the interactive team are busy bees editing their designer interviews and Tom, me and the rest of the web gang are trying our hardest to bring you these beautiful pages!
I'm the horticultural researcher and my main job is to do whatever Tom tells me to, making cups of tea, collecting his fried breakfast, you know the sort of thing... only joking Tom!
Actually up until this point I have spent a lot of my time liaising with designers to make sure that we have information to share with you. I've been getting quite excited looking at the designs on paper and imagining the finished gardens. Not long now...
There's just a couple of weeks to go before the start of the Chelsea Flower Show!
An intrepid team of nine dedicated lady flower arrangers from the Kent Area of NAFAS are well under way with their exhibit which will be displayed in the Great Pavilion. At a 'secret' location in the heart of Kent, the team is finalising its design which will be 20 feet square and over 18 feet high! The last time that Kent as an area participated at the Chelsea Show was way back in 1984.
A final look by the National Chairman of NAFAS has just taken place, but the Kent Team is still not revealing the final design details to any of its 1,300 members in the Kent Area.
The team, led by Brenda Jackson, a floral art teacher from Meopham, near Gravesend, along with arrangers from all corners of the County of Kent, has been working hard creating this wonderful floral design over the last eighteen months.
Meetings have been held with the floral wholesaler from Ashford, who will be supplying the fabulous and unusual flowers for this magical exhibit.
We will keep you in touch with their progress over the next few hectic days until 'Judging time' on 19 May!
With just a few weeks to go now until the show, everything in the Chelsea office is in full swing. Lots of articles are being written for the site and the feeling of excitement grows as each one comes into the office.
This is a stressful time for everyone involved with the flower show, both production staff and garden designers alike. We all want to get the best for the visitors and viewers and trying to get early pictures and detailed planting information ahead of the show can be a tricky business.
The deadlines for plant delivery and filming schedules seem to change by the hour at the moment. It's a complicated juggling act for all of us, as we try to get films and pictures ready for the show while the designers and exhibitors are still working their horticultural magic.
As if the stress of launching the
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Chelsea Flower Show site wasn't enough, I also moved house last weekend and have spent the week desperately trying to sort out my new garden.
Fingers crossed this weather will hold for show week!
| 14:48 UK time, Saturday, 24 May 2008
