Charlie Albone in his entry ‘The Time In Between’ at the Chelsea Flower Show
Despite being the kiss of death when it comes to plants, I dream of creating a beautiful, lush garden that’s full of flowers, fruits and vegies. While it’s a bit of a pipe dream for now, considering the large number of cacti, succulents and desk plants I’m responsible for sending to an early grave, I still love looking for inspiration in the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show entries.
As the plants in my garden breathe a sigh of relief that my black thumb and I are in hiding after the latest casualties, I’ve been busy checking out the masterpieces put together for this year’s show.
This year one of my favourite garden gurus, who we’ve featured a few times in Handyman magazine, Charlie Albone, was the only Australian entrant and he won a Silver-Gilt award. His stunning entry, ‘The Time In Between’, is dedicated to his late father.
Charlie managed to squeeze in 80 different plant varieties while still sticking to a minimalist colour palette of green, white and purple. The landscaping materials such as aged copper pieces and sandstone pavers blend seamlessly.
His clever positioning of plants with a broad selection of leaf shapes, textures and tones, and playing clipped shrubs and ornamental grasses off tall flowers such as arum lilies, alliums, proteas and my personal favourite, beared irises, for pops of colour, is both beautiful and emotive.
A really special inclusion in the display, sponsored by Husqvarna and Gardena, is the water feature, which empties rapidly to illustrate the feeling of losing his father so suddenly.
The Best Show Garden was awarded to UK landscape designer Dan Pearson, for his recreation of Chatsworth’s ornamental Trout Stream and Joseph Paxton’s rockery.
Howard Miller Design Ltd received Best Fresh Garden for their Dark Matter Garden for National Schools’ Observatory.
Best Artisan Garden went to the Walker’s Nurseries exhibit designed by Graham Bodle for ‘The Sculptor’s Picnic Garden.’
I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year and perhaps by then I won’t be on Mother Nature’s most wanted list.