Day 56 of the 100 day project
Still here, still doing the project! Life has got a bit busy so that it has been a bit of a stretch both doing the project and recording it have so here is a bit of a catch up.
On Wednesday I went to Chelsea Flower Show which I decided to regard as part of the project, since thinking about the garden is a necessary part of gardening it. Chelsea is an interesting conundrum. The beauty and perfection of the show gardens is another world and the transient nature of what they produce is very different from what we try to do as gardeners with a garden which we live in and with the whole year round. And yet it produces moments of delight and beauty as you clamber through the crowds.
This is from one of artisan gardens which I like a lot for their small scale and accessibility. I was struck this year by how often I was attracted by the hard landscaping as much as the planting. Perhaps I am turning into Ian.
I love this slate sphere and would happily have accommodated one in my garden.
And this very simple water feature, which would not be at home up here on the hill, has a different sort of beauty.
This garden came from a category which is new to me called "Space to Grow". I like its clean lines and the planting was very typical of Chelsea this year, using lupins, which were everywhere, and deep purples and blues. Quite a few of the show gardens had a rather wispy style of planting, which this one certainly did not, and I prefer the forcefulness of this garden to the wispy style, shown most clearly in Sarah Price's garden. I expected to love Sarah Price's garden and was surprised to find that the wispy, wildish planting did not appeal to me as I had thought it would. Perhaps there is just too much of that style at home and I was moved by contrast!
The garden which I liked best was Chris Beardshaw's which won best in show but it was so surrounded by people that I couldn't get any photos which were worth keeping. I loved its woodland plants and the transition between the two parts of the garden.
It was a great day and lovely to have my friend's witty and incisive company. Chelsea is a show, a spectacle and an experience.
Coming home to the garden and the 100 day project was funny.
The kitchen garden does not look too bad in this photograph but the raised bed by the greenhouse has been invaded and a large hole dug in the middle. I was going to plant out the spinach beet but I couldn't help but feel it would simply become a handy snack on the doorstep of whatever has set up home. Bet that doesn't happen in a show garden.
The roses are out in the hedges and everywhere is thrusting and leaping and falling over itself into growth. The bees and pollinators are thrumming and buzzing everywhere and swallows are performing their acrobatics over the pond. I am trying to look at what is rather than at what there is to do. It is all so very beautiful.
On Wednesday I went to Chelsea Flower Show which I decided to regard as part of the project, since thinking about the garden is a necessary part of gardening it. Chelsea is an interesting conundrum. The beauty and perfection of the show gardens is another world and the transient nature of what they produce is very different from what we try to do as gardeners with a garden which we live in and with the whole year round. And yet it produces moments of delight and beauty as you clamber through the crowds.
This is from one of artisan gardens which I like a lot for their small scale and accessibility. I was struck this year by how often I was attracted by the hard landscaping as much as the planting. Perhaps I am turning into Ian.
I love this slate sphere and would happily have accommodated one in my garden.
And this very simple water feature, which would not be at home up here on the hill, has a different sort of beauty.
This garden came from a category which is new to me called "Space to Grow". I like its clean lines and the planting was very typical of Chelsea this year, using lupins, which were everywhere, and deep purples and blues. Quite a few of the show gardens had a rather wispy style of planting, which this one certainly did not, and I prefer the forcefulness of this garden to the wispy style, shown most clearly in Sarah Price's garden. I expected to love Sarah Price's garden and was surprised to find that the wispy, wildish planting did not appeal to me as I had thought it would. Perhaps there is just too much of that style at home and I was moved by contrast!
The garden which I liked best was Chris Beardshaw's which won best in show but it was so surrounded by people that I couldn't get any photos which were worth keeping. I loved its woodland plants and the transition between the two parts of the garden.
It was a great day and lovely to have my friend's witty and incisive company. Chelsea is a show, a spectacle and an experience.
Coming home to the garden and the 100 day project was funny.
The kitchen garden does not look too bad in this photograph but the raised bed by the greenhouse has been invaded and a large hole dug in the middle. I was going to plant out the spinach beet but I couldn't help but feel it would simply become a handy snack on the doorstep of whatever has set up home. Bet that doesn't happen in a show garden.
The roses are out in the hedges and everywhere is thrusting and leaping and falling over itself into growth. The bees and pollinators are thrumming and buzzing everywhere and swallows are performing their acrobatics over the pond. I am trying to look at what is rather than at what there is to do. It is all so very beautiful.
I do get ideas from Chelsea although it's years since I've actually been. Nowadays the closest I get is the telly. But you're right. It's very different to gardening. Tonight I watched a bunny happily munching its way through a large clump of red campion. Everything newly planted is encased in chicken wire. The lettuces are all netted and anything that will move is behind the closed door of the greenhouse. Good luck with the hole. Could that be bunny too?
ReplyDeleteYes I think the hole is probably rabbit. Sigh. Love your description of the various protective systems you have set up. That's partly gardening in the country I suppose. Although my city friends seem to have their share, especially of foxes!
DeleteGoing to the Chelsea Flower Show has been a lifetime dream of mine, so you have made me
ReplyDeletefeel better about knowing that that dream will never materialize. It sounds like the crowds there are as bad as at the Philadelphia Flower Show. I have attended that many times in the past, but have given up on it because there is no pleasure in fighting the crowds to see the exhibits. The other problem, as you noted, is that it is so hard to translate the show gardens to your own gardens. Perhaps it is like visiting a world class museum....you appreciate the great works of art, knowing that you will never have their equal hanging in your own home.
But don't we love our own decorative arts just as much?
Chelsea us a great experience pat but it is also a mixed experience, and my own tolerance for crowds varies too. I would always encourage anyone with an interest in gardening to go. I like your comparison to a museum or art gallery. It is different from what I do at home and as you suggest I don't love what I do at home any the less!
Deleteso beautiful i love this flower so much.
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