LAST week's RHS Chelsea Flower Show was much better than I expected. The emphasis was upon plants and how to grow them. You may think that growing plants is what the RHS is all about, but far too much attention has been paid in recent years to overdesigned gardens from which we learn little or nothing. Of course, every show garden should have something to tell us-something we can copy (or avoid) for ourselves but, until this year, I would have said that most of these showpieces-those advertisements for sponsors and designers are not only wickedly expensive to make, but also perfectly hideous.
Not now. This year's show gardens had a minimum of hard structure and a maximum of plants softly coloured herbaceous plants, British natives (me weeds, but nicely worked in), and countryside trees (hawthorns, willows and hornbeams), and shapely ferns and grasses. Journalists like to speculate about which garden will be judged Best in Show. I fancied the chances of a spectacular tourde-force designed by Sarah Eberle fed by very high waterfalls and embellished by amazing sculptures and dense, bold-but-green plantings. Yet my ability to spot a winner is no better with gardens than with horses and Mrs Eberle's masterpiece was beaten by a jumble of rewilding and beaver dams. I am not alone in thinking that the judges got it wrong.
Denne historien er fra June 01, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 01, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
