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Chelsea Flower Show Redux

British Heart Foundation Garden Detail / Photo © Alice Joyce

So much to see and photograph this past Spring at RHS Chelsea. Inevitably, more than a few gardens and horticultural high points slipped through the Chelsea Show features published here on AGTB. Thus, one final post to help sum up my tour of the world’s top flower .. show circa 2011.

: Homebase Cornish Memories Pavilion Photo © Alice Joyce

Thomas Hoblyn’s design of the Cornish Memories garden for Homebase; awarded a Silver Gilt Medal. Hoblyn called up images of his childhood in Cornwall – of rock pools and coastal flora that inspired a garden highlighted by lush plantings and the sinuous movement of water.

: Cornish Memories Garden Photo © Alice Joyce

Of the plantings, a Cornus boasted blooms composed of soft-lemon-hued bracts.

: Cornish Memories Garden Pavilion Photo © Alice Joyce

Below: Trailfinders Australian Garden designed by Ian Barker and presented by Fleming’s Nurseries. The inspiration for the Silver-Gilt Award design called upon the voyage of The Endeavor, and renowned plant explorer Sir Joseph Banks. The richly planted landscape reflects flora Banks would have collected while traveling from England through the Southern Hemisphere; the pavilion design representing the ship’s sails.

: Photo © Alice Joyce

Kinetic Sculpture amid melding of Gunnera, peonies, heuchera, iris and astilbe Photos © Alice Joyce

: British Heart Foundation Photo © Alice Joyce

Circular red stepping stones of translucent resin, steel arches, and a buoyant seating area are enhanced by plantings that include edibles in the Mending Broken Hearts Appeal Garden created by Ann-Marie Powell; sponsored by Brewin Dolphin.

Photo © Alice Joyce

Wood Yew Waste: Presented by the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies – NW Area. Below: Best Urban Garden Award to Winds of Change designed by Jamie Dunstan / Stockton Drilling Ltd.

Winds of Change Photo © Alice Joyce

Wind turbines, repurposed scrap materials, and a green roof came together in an outstanding garden with an edge to the design.

Contemporary Garden Design .. Amazon.com

Going Elemental: David Harber’s living wall employs undulating narrow sheets of steel surrounded by the bright blooms of Bacopa. Rushing water plays over the reflective steel in a sculptural composition by Harber, working with VertiGarden.

Surviving – Cancer Research UK Garden – Robert Myers, Designer / Photos © Alice Joyce

Yet another romantically picturesque show garden design from Laurent-Perrier for Chelsea 2011: The Gold Medal Award presented to the Champagne winery for a garden designed by Luciano Giubbilei, with an architectural pavilion designed by Kengo Kuma and sculptor Peter Randall-Page. The theme – handcrafting from nature – resulted in a serene yet mesmerizing environment where plantings were ebullient, yet with a delicate presence.

Bloomsbury Murals: Sussex

In the breathtaking Sussex countryside of the South Downs, Berwick Church is a must-see destination for all travelers who are interested in the artists and writers associated with the Bloomsbury Group. On my most recent journey to England, I continued the pilgrimage that began in May of 2010.

South Downs Photo © Alice Joyce

South Downs: Berwick Church in the distance.

: Berwick Church Interior – Photo © Alice Joyce

The clear glass windows of Berwick Church replaced the Victorian windows destroyed by bombs during World War II. Verdant floral arrangements are installed throughout the church during Springtime’s Light of Light Flower Festival.

: Pulpit: Duncan Grant ‘62 Photo © Alice Joyce

A forward-thinking Bishop with an appreciation for the Arts chose to commission the 20th century murals that adorn the church, hiring British artist Duncan Grant, together with Vanessa Bell (Virginia Woolf’s sister), and her son, Quentin Bell. Below: The original pulpit panels painted by Vanessa Bell were vandalized in 1962. Daughter Angelica Bell designed the replacement artwork.

Panel Mural by Angelica Bell Photo © Alice Joyce

Berwick Church Mural: Annunciation by Vanessa Bell, with Angelica Bell as the model for Mary. The garden of Charleston Farmhouse inspired the walled garden depicted in the mural.

: Berwick Church Photo © Alice Joyce

The 12th century Berwick Church is sited near an ancient landscape mound.

“Renaissance Circular Windows” painted by Grant and Bell in the so-called Italianisation of the church.

Chancel Murals by D. Grant Photo © Alice Joyce

‘Day and Night’ murals call upon images of the pond at Charleston Farmhouse, home to Grant and Bell.

: Climbing Rose (Photo © Alice Joyce)

More BLOOMSBURY in Sussex: Virginia Woolf’s Gardens at Monk’s House

Charleston Farmhouse – Home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant

RHS Chelsea 2011

Horticulture, History & Design : RHS Chelsea 2011

The Himalayan blue poppy repeated a soft hue to benefit the show garden created by The Royal Bank of Canada. A green roof upholstered the top of a cottage building repurposed from a shipping container, while the ground plane featured clean-lined pools to capture rainwater collected from the living roof. After traveling down to the pools for storage, the water would then be released into the garden.

: RBC New Wild Garden Pool (photo: Alice Joyce)

Taking inspiration from the Arts & Crafts movement, the design incorporated dry-stone wall elements planted up with arrays of succulents.

The RBC Garden’s naturalistic plantings were influenced by the philosophy of the Victorian garden sage, William Robinson. Designers: Nigel Dunnett & The Landscape Agency

A contrasting concept defined the sleek, contemporary style of ‘A Monaco Garden’ designed by Sarah Eberle for the Principality of Monaco. Not surprisingly, each show garden in its own way emphasized the importance of water in a garden plan.

Blue water represented Monaco’s harbor; water collected from building rooftops feeds the pool; drought-tolerant plants were selected for the green roof; the garden’s vertical living walls echo the greening of Monaco’s urban apartment blocks.

As pools and fountains offer to refresh the spirit on a sunny summer’s day, the reflective quality of water plays an equally prominent role, emerging as an essential point of focus in the layout of the Laurent-Perrier Garden designed by Luciano Giubbilei.

My experience of the Laurent-Perrier gardens at Chelsea brings to mind a sophistication together with a romantic touch. In 2011 this held true. According to the show guide, the soft pink tones of the lyrical plantings were meant to evoke Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Champagne. As a lover of fine bubbly, and most especially Rosé Champagne, I can’t imagine a lovelier notion.

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