Alice's Garden Travel Buzz » England

Garden Design: Chelsea Flower Show Redux

Alice Joyce — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:24:12 +0000

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.

garden designContemporary 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: Berwick Church, Sussex

Alice Joyce — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:19:09 +0000

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

History, Horticulture & Design: RHS Chelsea 2011

Alice Joyce — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:09:38 +0000

Horticulture, History & Design : RHS Chelsea 2011

: Chelsea: RBC New Wild Garden Blue Poppy Photo © Alice Joyce

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.

: Chelsea: RBC New Wild Garden Seating Photo © Alice Joyce

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

RBC New Wild Garden Photo © Alice Joyce)

: Monaco Garden – Overview Photo © Alice Joyce

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.

: Monaco Garden Fountain/Pool Photo © Alice Joyce

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.

: Chelsea 2011: Laurent-Perrier Garden Photo © Alice Joyce

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.

: Laurent-Perrier Garden 2011 Photo © Alice Joyce

The Australian Garden .. Chelsea 2011

Alice Joyce — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:36:53 +0000

The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Show Garden: Chelsea Flower Show 2011

Design developed by Melbourne-based Jim Fogarty.

Australian Garden: Sand Dune Wall Photo © Alice Joyce

Inspired by the celebrated Australian Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbroune, the design illustrated the importance of water traveling from the parched outback region on a journey through rivers and gorges to Australia’s East Coast. An evocative wall element effectively conjures up images of burnt ochre sand dunes.

Australian Garden Callistemon c. 'White Anzac' Photo © Alice Joyce

A highlight of the garden’s fascinating plant palette: Callistemon c. ‘White Anzac.’

Chelsea 2011: Australian Garden Photo © Alice Joyce

A sky-blue pond echoes the culturally significant shape of a boomerang, set amidst paths suggesting dry river beds. The pavilion, providing shade, is surrounded by a wealth of plants native to Australia.

Australian Garden plantings & walkway Photo © Alice Joyce

There were many species familiar to a Northern California gardener, if not to most show visitors: Hybrid Kangaroo Paws (Anigozanthos hybrids); Westringia fruticosa – coastal Rosemary; woolybush; ‘Kalibarri Carpet’ Emu Bush; and Grevillea ‘Forinda.’

Australian Garden: Sand Dune Wall Photo © Alice Joyce

Other lovely specimens: Eucalyptus ‘Little Boy Blue;’ Prostanthera cuneata - Alpine Mint-bush; and the early-blooming vine draped across the blue wall of my front patio – outside the window of my office, Hardenbergia violacea or purple Coral-pea vine. Two gndangered plants were on display: Rhagodia parabolica and Swainsona greyana – Saltbush and Darling Swainson’s pea.

Sand Dune Wall Sculpture design by Valissa Butterworth.

Australian Garden Pool Photo © Alice Joyce

The bright blue of the Boomerang River symbolized the sky over the Outback, in contrast to the landscape’s iron-rich red sands.

Chelsea Flower Show: Horticulture in the Great Pavilion

Alice Joyce — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:57:25 +0000

Horticulture Highlights in The Great Pavilion: Chelsea Flower Show 2011

'Fantastic Thailand' Photo © Alice Joyce

Based upon The Temple of the Dawn – Wat Arun – located on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River - the Fantastic Thailand display had the WOW-factor one comes to expect from arguably the world’s greatest flower show: RHS Chelsea. The creation of Nong Nooch Tropical Botanic Garden, the exhibit won Gold.

Nong Nooch Tropical Botanic Garden Exhibit Photo © Alice Joyce

A sacred site and iconic Bangkok landmark, the temple complex on-view revealed the cultural iconography of a vivid Thai landscape in the boldest hues; dragons, elephants and shadow puppets demonstrating a floral arranging style that turned heads with a wondrous attention to detail. Petals and leaves from more than 100,000 blooms were used in this extravagantly exotic highlight, emerging at Chelsea in The Great Pavilion.

David Austin Roses introduced 5 new varieties, but an earlier introduction caught my eye! My notes are incomplete, however, it’s likely ‘Munstead Wood.’ Love the old rose form and heavenly fragrance I expect from Austin’s English Roses.

Enlivening the David Austin exhibit, fashion designer Zandra Rhodes and friends brought their energy to the lavish formal rose garden display. A new David Austin Roses 2011 introduction: ‘Lady Salisbury’ is pictured below.

Lady Salisbury (photo: Austin Roses)

If you’re drawn to color in the gardenscape – and I wonder if a gardener exists who is not to some degree obsessed with the shades and hues making up the garden scheme at home, then surely Chelsea dazzles with the very best in horticulture on exhibit; plant selections of every sort.

Along with the sublime Meconopsis punicea in the Kevock Garden Plants exhibit, an allium stole my heart, and took pride of place in a variety of major show gardens: Allium nectarscordum.

The show sets the stage for dreams of plantings one might be able to bring together at home, be it in balcony containers or on a suburban plot. The skillfully balanced, atmospheric combinations of forms, textures and subtle to brilliant hues on view have a powerful effect. Although, design ideas might not be equally inspiring. The Urban Gardens certainly present aspects to ponder, if the scale and fantasy aspects of show gardens are beyond the reach of most of us.

Fruits, Veggies & Blooms In Color Coordinated Sections of the Waitrose display.

Sharing only a few of the exhibits celebrating color, along with grow-your-own produce. And if now, you might be inclined to purchase from a Waitrose store.

Raymond Evison’s exhbit, as you’d expect, featured head-turning Clematis cultivars.

Evison Clematis and Interflora FTDA received Gold.

Interflora’s ‘A Sense of Perspective‘ exhibit designed by David Denyer called upon a gorgeous palette of plant material to create a contemporary composition in a gradation of hues.

Click & Scroll to see more on Chelsea 2011

Fab Food: London to Lewes

Alice Joyce — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:00:58 +0000

Travel always presents adventures in dining; hopefully locating a restaurant that satisfies on every level, from the overall ambiance and interior design, to the satisfaction of an excellently prepared meal.

After dealing with the crowds on opening day at the Chelsea Flower Show, I chose a nearby restaurant – The Ebury – on chic Pimlico Road where I met T. for lunch and a carafe of Rosé, ready to relax and unwind.

The Ebury, Chelsea (photo: Alice Joyce)

My favorite selection appeared on the A La Carte menu: Duck Confit, succulent and tasty. Tom sampled a three-course Set Menu for lunch: an enticing soup of the day followed by a main – he chose a delectable fish dish, and chocolate confection for dessert that I would have photographed, had I not been fully occupied with my meal.

There’s also a bar menu. And as I always seem to be looking for small plates at odd times of the afternoon or evening when traveling, I’ll return to The Ebury next time I’m in London to enjoy a cocktail along with light bites in the bar, such as haddock & prawn brandade fritters, or to share a wooden board of Farmhouse cheeses.

The Ebury (Photo: The Ebury)

Attentive, unrushed service allowed us to savor our food and wine. Another reason I look forward to visiting other restaurants in the First Restaurant Group.

Traveling from London to Sussex for a countryside idyll in the area of the South Downs, the town of Lewes offered informal, tasty meals at Bill’s Cafe, Restaurant and Store.

Bill's Cafe, Lewes (Photo: Alice Joyce)

Little did I realize that Bill’s has a London eatery in Covent Garden, as well as locations in Brighton, Reading, and Cambridge. You can see from the array in the cafe/store, the ‘decor’ is full of temptation. It’s a great place for a hearty breakfast, light lunch or lively atmosphere for dinner. Cream teas, of course.

: Bill’s Cafe .. Lewes, England