Chelsea Flower Show part 2

Last week I wrote about my first experience of the Chelsea Flower Show and everything that inspired me in the categories of water, pergolas and trees. We’re in the process of slowly designing our own garden, so it was an incredible place to visit to gather creative energy and ideas. I want to add height in the form of a pergola (maybe two), interest and natural beauty in the form of multi-stemmed trees, and a water feature for calming atmosphere and to encourage wildlife. If you’re interested in this newsletter, you can catch up with it here:

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May 31

It’s been a week now since my first visit to the Chelsea Flower Show and I can say for definite I will be back. I’ve been watching Gardeners’ World on the BBC since I was a child, initially because my mum would watch it on a Friday night, and latterly for my own enjoyment and relaxation. It gives me a strong sense of nostalgia. The Chelsea coverage has …

This week I’m talking about borders and all the miscellaneous bitties that caught my eye. This is another scrapbook-style newsletter, with lots of photos and my thoughts underneath.

I love how this border s planted right up to the base of the tree, with lots of lush green foliage, accented with pops of colour.

Those geums and lupins - love this combination

This was Frances Tophill’s garden (The RHS and King’s Foundation Curious Garden). I loved the mix of edible plants with country cottage species. The cow parsley was particularly lovely.

I loved the edging here, using common 3 x 3 posts, cut lengthways in various heights to create an interesting raised bed and merging into a pathway.

These peach coloured verbascum were everywhere at Chelsea. They were so pretty, especially offset against the dark purple.

There were geums in every colour. This delicate peach pink was particularly pretty.

I loved the straight lines here, with the two types of edging, coupled with the soft grasses and the silver green foliage.

I think this was a Siberian bugloss. The leaves were so striking, it would be perfect for my woodland border.

More geums - this time Mrs Bradshaw

A brook thistle - I love the dark pink colour. The bees were all over this one.

Mattress vine - another one that would be good for my shady woodland border

I loved this insect hotel built into a whole wall, made from gabian baskets and breeze blocks

I have always wanted lupins in my garden, they used to grow in the thousands by the side of the motorway on my way to work in a previous job. I have 3 very healthy plants currently flowering, but I absolutely love this display. Imagine having this by your front door! Maybe it’s not too late to make this happen for this year…

I loved this stand, filled with antique and reclaimed planters made from stone troughs. I see these pop up every so often on marketplace, so I might try to snag one in the future. I love the lichens, we have a good climate for lichens up here.

It feels appropriate to finish this newsletter with a dump of all my rose photos, from the David Austen and Peter Beales stands. These were so beautiful, I definitely want to invest in some roses at some point, once we have the main design elements in place.

Until next year Chelsea. You were amazing and magical and I can’t wait to go back!