Chelsea 2012: The Brewin Dolphin Garden, by Cleve West

This Gold Medal winner was also voted Best Show Garden by the RHS judges, and was certainly a very accomplished, beautiful and sophisticated garden, full of nice touches.

Chelsea 2011: Our best in show

The garden we thought was best in show at Chelsea was the RBC New Wild Garden, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Canada and designed by Nigel Dunnett, Director of the Green Roof Centre at the University of Sheffield.

The judges only found it worthy of a Silver Gilt medal, but we thought it had more good ideas than any other garden, although at 10x12m (33x39 feet) it was one of the smallest of the 'large show gardens'.

CHELSEA - BLOOMING GOOD

Foxgloves in the Global Stone Bee Friendly Plants garden, designed by Janey Auchincloss and Paul Hammond (f6.3 @ 1/160s. 100 ISO, 150mm lens - 225mm 35mm equivalent)

Foxgloves (f6.3 @ 1/60s. 100 ISO, 210mm - 315mm equivalent)

Black Iris (f5.6 @ 1/180s. 100 ISO, 300mm - 450mm equivalent)

  Circium (f5.6 @ 1/180s. 100 ISO, 260mm - 390mm equivalent)

Sarracenia leucphylla (f5.6 @ 1/125s, 3200 ISO)

Bromeliads in the Trailfinders Australian Garden, designer: Scott Wynd
(f5.6 @ 1/50s. 100 ISO, 300mm - 450mm equivalent)

 Irises in Christina Williams' Music on the Moors courtyard garden.
(f6.3 @ 1/50s. 100 ISO, 75mm - 112mm equivalent)

White Iris (f6.3 @ 1/160s. 100 ISO, 170mm - 255mm equivalent)


Iris Sibirica Silver Edge (f2 @ 1/30s. 100 ISO, 50mm)

  Yellow Orchids (f6.3 @ 1/13s. 100 ISO, 190mm - 285mm equivalent)

 Multicoloured Pansies (f4.5 @ 1/10s, +1.7EV, 100 ISO, 190mm - 285mm equivalent)

Andy Sturgeon garden (f5.6 @1/1000s ISO 1250)

Iris in Japanese Garden - F5.6 @1/125s ISO 1000

HERE COMES THE JUDGE

If there is one thing you can be sure of at the RHS Chelsea flower show - it's that you probably won't agree with the judge's decision. There are gardens that get gold medals - but look tired just a fews days into the show. There are gardens that you would want to recreate in part or in whole that only get a bronze. This year our favourite garden only got a silver medal.

Iris Sibirica 'Tropic Night'

The garden was called  Kazahana (A light snow flurry from a cloudless sky) designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara.  He has won three gold medals at Chelsea - so it must have been disappointing to only get silver this year.

Equisetum Japonicum

The planting was beautiful. We took a load of photos and chatted to one of the people on the stand who very kindly let us enter the garden. Usually at Chelsea only the Queen, Alan Titchmarsh or friends of the designer are allowed into a garden. This is a shame because gardens are meant to be enjoyed from the inside and this is definitely true of this garden.

The garden was designed to be a roof garden with a  hidden room that is meant to enclose you in a green world. Perhaps he was marked down as it is difficult to appreciate this room from outside the barrier - where the public stand.

All the walls are covered with these beautiful, tactile mounds of moss which must have taken ages to grow. Even the table in the room was covered in this living green.

Over the top of the room ran a glass rill flowing into a waterfall to fill the pond.

Water also flowed down the windows - letting in light but giving privacy from outside prying eyes.

Even amongst the noise of Chelsea it was cool and calming inside the garden. I actually found it quite moving.

keeping everything spick and span

Related post (on our technology blog): Lack of HD gives Chelsea the blues