A great start to the week - the sun is shining and have just been on a tour of inspection of the Chelsea plants with Ricky. The weekend sunshine has brought things on apace. Hostas that were barely above the surfce of the compost last thursday are now almost in full leaf. Rhododendrons and azaleas break into flower daily and are hurried into cold storage to halt their progress. The roses are starting to show some bud so should be fine if they keep moving. The acers look better than ever with a heavy canopy of fresh foliage.
Rick has some fantastic yellow magnolias (could be 'Yellow Bird' or 'Yellow River') in cold store. We looked at one on the tree lines, its creamy yellow flowers like huge tulips against a blue sky. If the hold for the show they will be a show stopper but too early to count one's chickens!
And now the hornbeam arches - we are still debating whether to use them or not. These are great big arches grown and trained on our Andlers Ash tree nursery. They are probably 3.5 metres high in their pots and quite magnificent. Only problem is they were lifted and rootballed and dropped into containers this season so there is an element of risk in how they will react at being dragged off to Chelsea. One arch looks good at the moment - I want to use it over my Grand Designs staircase surrounded by layers of frothy white Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii'. We will reassess in a couple of weeks. We do have alternative plans and two more established hornbeam spirals are likely to play a leading role whatever we decide.
And now the hornbeam arches - we are still debating whether to use them or not. These are great big arches grown and trained on our Andlers Ash tree nursery. They are probably 3.5 metres high in their pots and quite magnificent. Only problem is they were lifted and rootballed and dropped into containers this season so there is an element of risk in how they will react at being dragged off to Chelsea. One arch looks good at the moment - I want to use it over my Grand Designs staircase surrounded by layers of frothy white Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii'. We will reassess in a couple of weeks. We do have alternative plans and two more established hornbeam spirals are likely to play a leading role whatever we decide.
One thing I love about Chelsea is that it makes you look closely at the plants you are working with and I always discover something new. Ricky has a few plants of Acer palmatum 'Wilson's Dwarf'. Beautiful copper-red sparkling, pointed leaves on a compact plant make this ideal for a pot or a smaller garden - I like it - I want one. I always think that's a good measure of a plant with sales appeal.
After the nursery - and I must admit my pre-Chelsea "How on earth are we ever going to pull all this together" mood is now changing to excitement and enthusiasm, I spoke to Mehrdad.
This talented guy has produced some fabulous water sculptures for me over the years. He's sent me a sketch of this year's masterpiece: like a clump of bamboo in copper with lilac and gold glass flowerbuds. I already envisage it rising from a pool of soft lilac rhododendrons and pale golden azaleas punctuated by burgundy foliage.
This talented guy has produced some fabulous water sculptures for me over the years. He's sent me a sketch of this year's masterpiece: like a clump of bamboo in copper with lilac and gold glass flowerbuds. I already envisage it rising from a pool of soft lilac rhododendrons and pale golden azaleas punctuated by burgundy foliage.
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