Descent to normality - The epilogue

It's the Tuesday after Chelsea and already the show seems a lifetime away. I can't believe that only two weeks ago only the trees were on site, and the garden was only a few lines on a sheet of paper and a heap of materials.

So much has happened in the past week and we all try to remember it all to little avail. "Was that last wednesday or Thursday?" - can't remember - it doesn't matter anyway. So many people pass through our Chelsea world in the space of a few days - all outside their normal environment. Here celebrities, gardeners, Royals, friends and relatives are all the same. Reminds me of that famous Dickens piece about the same wind blowing across the peasant's patch that blows across the nobleman's - can't really remember that properly either.

"Was Chelsea good"?, "Did you get the Gold?" - have been asked that a few times in the past few days. The answer to both is yes. Both the staging experience and the show itself were fantastic. I hate leaving it all behind - I feel as it I've left a part of me there in the Pavilion when I walk away from it at the end of the show.

I'm lucky - I don't have to do the demolition. Ricky and the clearing crew took care of that on Sunday. Today was clearing up the odds and ends - The war torn remains that come home and need to be dealt with.

Piles of e mails await attention - amongst them greetings, congratulations and salutations. These I want to read - to hang on to - they are the remains of Chelsea 2009 and I'm not ready to let go yet. Perhaps its time to move on and start thinking about next year? - Do I have an idea for Chelsea 2010 ? - Well, you'll have to wait and see.

64th Consecutive Gold Medal!

An early start for Ricky, Mark and Ellie (with not a little apprehension during the taxi ride!) who were on the exhibit at 7am to open up. The team from Hampshire had beaten them to it, and had unloaded the magazines and headed off for breakfast already.

But the fantastic news was that we have been awarded our 64th consecutive Chelsea Gold Medal - Mark sent me a text at 7am to give me the good news, which was very welcome.

8am - and busy start - loads of interest from the public, which is always great to receive - the themes of the exhibit really seem to have struck a chord.

Ricky works his magic with Alan and Carol who enjoy their visit - i dont know how he does it. I'm writing this on the exhibit now at 11am, and its packed with visitors, so time for me to stop writing and start talking - Enjoy the Show!

Monday - Press Day

Frantic action this morning as we rush around the exhibit cleaning, tidying, and sweeping ready for the press launch at 11am, and the judging at 2pm. The press lauch was exceptional - with a great turnout and some wonerful compliments; not only about the garden, but my new book as well (Losing the Plot, in case you missed it).

The Queen arrived on the exhibit later and was very complimentary - always a pleasure!

Now we prepare for the Gala Evening, and as for tomorrow - the thing that really matters; the public - i cant wait!

Subdued Sunday?

Sunday morning started bright and fairly warm with a modest little breakfast at our usual cafe. Glad I went for the lighter option - scrambled eggs(about half a dozen), a few rashers of bacon and a ton of mushrooms washed down with an ocean of tea. A good start to the day before embarking on the homeward straight.








Although I am always quite relieved to get to this stage its always rather sad that the fun creative part is nearly over. The worst part is the team breaking up at the end of the day. We become very close in these few days working on the exhibit and it seems as if we have worked together as a team for a few years rather than a few days.

One tends to forget that the show is still to come and there is still the marathon of Press Day, Royals, and Gala night to get through before the curtain rises on Chelsea 2009.

At this time I always think that this is the best exhibit we have ever done, whether I will feel the same at the end of the week remains to be seen.



However, although I say it myself, it is brilliant and that's thanks entirely to The Hillier Chelsea Team - a bunch of incredibly talented individuals that weave their magic in The Great Pavilion. We could not have achieved it without any single one of them, especially the stage management Neil and Nigel who manage the construction, the logistics, loading, unloading and party arrangements.


And of course the other important element of Chelsea - the plants - what can I say Mr Dorlay you've done it again!

Now, I've got an idea for next year.............................

But for now - have a look at all the pictures of the finished exhibit - click here

Sambuca Saturday

Friday night was fun - visited an old haunt - Benitos retaurant on Earls Court Road - greeted like long lost family menu and quality just the same. Should have gone straight home but tempted to a club for a nightcap - bit of a bop and a few shots of Sambuca - Neil was entirely responsible for a few hangovers - well done Neil! Great night - it wouldn't be the same without a Hillier moment in a dodgy club.

Today flew by - staging - photos for magazine - captions - interruptions. Everyone beavered away and order came out of chaos. Space hoppers and bird boxes are the highlights and will be more in demand than anything else at the show.

Actually Mehrdad's glass and copper sculpture is a show stealer - perfectly co-ordinated with the planting - luck or judgement? who knows - more tomorrow.........................

Deliveries and deliberations

"I've never seen so much excitement at the arrival of a delivery" exclaimed Ricky when the second load arrived this morning. Yesterday's staging seemed to exhaust every plant that the team were looking for. They arrived on site this morning ravenous for gorgeus plants so the smell of them fresh off the lorry set the blood racing - who would be the first to lay claim to the Physocarpus Diable d'Or.

Some may find it stange that a crowd of lads let loose in London get more excited by the thought of a Hamamelis or Acacia than they do about the delights of the city - hortics are a stange breed.

Anyway progress had been pretty good. I concentrate on keeping the team on track. There is always conflict between creativity and practicality. a plant might look good in a particular situation but would it grow there? You need to keep all of this in mind while staging.

Cindy and Kevin are now on the case labelling. Kevin is more of a connoiseur and herbaceous specialist rather than an average garden plants man. Chelsea is just God's way of making him appreciate Rhododendrons. Cindy's Chelsea cafe opens up for tea, coffee and stale biscuits - thank heavens for small mercies.

Tim gets creative with the camera taking dreadful pictures of me, Sue and Pip and good ones of everyone else - don't worry we will soon get our own back.

Aline and James are working with Rick on Grand Designs - they look good on the steps in the Carpinus tunnel - think we'll leave them there all week as long as they keep smiling. Aline's hair goes well with the two Acers and James' tatoo reflects the lines of the carpinus spirals.

The cute little bird houses in Coping with Kids will be the stars of the show in the eyes of the public - but what will the judges think? A part of me says "what the hell!" at the same time I have a nagging doubt. Sue's promise of three colours of space hopper sends a shiver up my spine...............

Although things seem to be going swimmingly I am still aware of a gaping hole in the planting on the far side of the monument - have we got anything large enough to fill it? I'll go and look!

Planet Chelsea

A cold grey start - now a warmer, brighter afternoon - what a difference a few rays of sun make. They really lift the colours in the Pavilion and suddenly even those dark corners start to look good. Paul is here fixing up the lighting - our insurance policy agaist dull weather during the show an that ittle extra magic that really brings the exhibit to life in the evenings - especially on Gala Night.

Another three lorry loads of plants arrived this morning - soon unloaded and now the team is settling down to some serious staging in their respective areas. Gary is painting walls in First Base. Pip is scowling at the red rhododendrons I put in Surviving Suburbia. Stu has been edging and is now arranging his peanuts - stepping stone sculptures in Coping with Kids. Rick is just about keeping his head above water in a sea of lilac and gold rhododendrons. Sue is arranging her climbers around the arbour in Losing the Plot. So far everyone is giving Pushing up the Daisies a
wide berth.

The amazing thing about Chelsea is how quickly one becomes completely enveloped by this little world. Yesterday evening I went to the launch party at the Jo Malone store - lovely hand massage and plenty of pink drinks - what did we talk about? - Chelsea of course. The real world has now completely slipped into oblivion - I don't even know or care who was knocked out of the apprentice last night. I don't know what any MP has spent on his garden in the past few days - It no longer concerns me because I live on Planet Chelsea!

Chelsea isall about learning new skills - Sue tries her hand at Pole Dancing........................................................

Plants move into place

The staging team arrived on site this morning - by minibus from Hampshire and by train from Hemel Hempstead and Redditch.

We all arrived around 8.30 a.m. after a very early start to find the first lorry nearly unloaded and Nigel, Steve and Pete well underway with the last stages of walling and paving.

The next two lorries arrived in quick succession leaving just enough time for a hasty bacon roll and a cup of tea.

The volume and size of stock on these first loads feels unmanageable - bearing in mind there are already 40+ trees on site plus a load of hedging but the hungry space quickly gobbles them up. As always we seem to make great progress, then slow down as blood sugar levels drop and one becomes blind to what's around and what works where. The Carpinus tunnel and Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii' underplanting are in place - think this bit is rally quite dreamy. Nigel is still mixing alongside Pushing up the Daisies - would have liked more depth in the planting area here but it just did not fit. Ricky's cherries look good - nice and tight in bud so I think they will last the show.

This afternoon Neil is in the process of edging - Chris is painting the sleepers. Steve and Gary are Photinia hedging - it's good for their souls. Julia and Aline are picking over a large pittosporum with scorched foliage that I have managed to put in a highly visible spot. Stu and Matt are working on filling a large gap in first base. I an sitting in Losing the Plot with a panoramic view of the tool shed from the arbour - this garden needs some serious replanning - I must get a copy of that excellent new book on the subject.

Staging Team Briefing - Tuesday 12th

Chris is bright and early with the minibus, into which we load all the essential kit we need for the first few days of staging (including a few crates of very essential beer for the evening refreshment).

The team involved in the main tasks of staging all the 3,000+ plants assemble at 10am for a briefing - ready for their 6am start tomorrow morning. No easy task - from Wednesday to Sunday I need them to work 12 hour days, and whilst ive given them all areas of responsibility on the exhibit, I'm bound to change things as we go along. The Chelsea "old hands" know how things are done and smile as I describe the planting plans and layout...

So whats happening tomorrow? The first 3 lorries of plants arrive, and the team have to unload and stow away all the plants; in sensible places, all stock of the same type located together, and above all, intact and undamaged. A mistakes at this stage will cost us dearly as we cannot afford to keep shipping replacement stock to London.

I said yesterday that all the trees were in place - no so, theres one to move, which will take 4 of us, so ive saved that for the lads tomorrow. We also need to get all the large plant material into place, ready for thursday when more and more lorries of plants will arrive and the detailed work of staging the smaller plants begins.

None of the smaller plants have planned positions - we do this by eye as the stock arrives, working to a theme and my colour and texture ideas. Good job ive got a great team of people with me; we'll publish profiles on some of them on the website so check that out as the week progresses (http://www.hillier.co.uk/)

Cooking on Gas - monday 11th

Another busy day ahead - Monday morning brings its own challenges as the work begins in earnest, and this list of jobs to do gets ever bigger....

The first task was to order another 5 pallets of blocks and another ton of sand - I had wildly underestimated the amount of blocks we will need. i reckon now there will be 2,000 blocks, about 20 tonnes of sand and at the last count Nigel has mixed his 170th cement mix; all by hand!

Nigel doubles as domestic goddess on site, putting his cement mixing skills to good use by making tea for the troops - and guarding his washing up liquid with a passion.

Today we put most of the big trees in place (more of this later), and have made great progress; its cold in the marquee, and very windy outside, so im glad we are undercover.

The boys from Forest were with us, assembling the buildings and painting like fury - it makes it so much easier to paint in-situ, and before the plants go into place, so this work has to be completed by Tuesday night.

By the end of the day my head is spinning with the tasks we have to complete - and who will do it. I can mull this over on the train home, ready for the Staging Team Briefing first thing Tuesday morning.

Another sunny Sunday

Its Sunday morning - the sun is shining again and the garden looks glorious. I spent yesterday at home - weeding, mowing, potting and worrying about what a state my plot would be in after he next two weeks of neglect when nearly all my time will be spent in London. When I wasn't worrying about that I as thinking about what was going on on site. I phoned Neil early yesterday - I hadn't marked out the site of the second pond; I am also a little concerned that Surviving Suburbia is too small to accommodate the paving, hedges, lawn and gravel area and, most importantly, the plants. It's great to be able to move the boundaries to get in what you want to - shame you can't do that in a real garden.
Antway when I spoke to him the big trees had already arrived on site and they had one unloaded.

No further phonecalls during the day should mean that everything went according to plan and everyone is happy.
Pete and Steve really need to have the main pathway finished by tonight to allow enough time to uid the ponds, walls and do the rest of the feature paving by Tuesday evening. They do need to have the base constructed for the main building by tonight - the guys from Forest should be there tomorrow to install all the buildings - ready painted.
I still haven't finalised lighting for the main water feature and there was something else I thought of...............life's like that.
Tomorrow I wan to sort out planting of pots with Sue before I head for London - have put two on the drive to go from here, also the large glazed bowl for Losing the Plot - still deciding whether to take an old lichen covered bench from home for Pushing up the Daisies.
Heading into the BBC later - Radio Northampton at 12.15 Then The Goodlife on Radio Solent from 1-2 - still lots of gardening to do. Must plant some more parsley ..............and my beans!

Underway

Well, we started on site on Friday - a cool drizzly morning - glad to be inside the pavilion! No power in the showground - luckily the lads are quick thinking and got on the phone to hire a generator which arrived within the hour. We need power for the cement mixer, and more importantly the kettle. Lorry arrived OK with timber sleepers, equipment, straw sacks, bark pots, gravel, stone and all the rest of the paraphenalia. A full artic. load with no room to spare. Brian arrived with the paving - loads of it all immaculately lavelled and stacked in crates. The laying pattern is simpler than last year - but there is more of it I think. The etched slabs which create the "magic carpet" path are wonderful - subtle and charming - I love the ones with the beetles on them.
First of all the site is covered with black polythene and then the plan is marked out using spray marker. Modifications have to be made at this stage to take account of obstacles on site. For example the bracing between the uprights of the Pavilion is not where I expected; it's in a better place in fact. Alex, show manager said she told me - I'm sure she's right.

Nigel mixes cement,Pete and Steve start laying paving, Neil organises materials and works out plan of action with me. BBC Interactive turn up to do some filming - we run into a few old friends and the day passes quickly.

The afternoon is dry and breezy - the plane trees shed their little bits of irritating brown stuff that gets in everyones eyes and up their noses - If you had swine flu you wouldn't know it. I leave the site around 5 and hear, sniffling for the train - miraculously I get a seat on the 6 o'clock - Chelsea 2009 is underway.

Are we human or are we gardeners?

Its easy to get very passionate about plants at this time of the year - particularly when you are working with them every day. Creative containers talks in the garden centres this week really got me going on colour combinations. So much so that I can't wait to get my hands on those Chelsea plants and get creative - the whole team will soon feel the same. Rhododendrons in the gardens look fantastic - the Chelsea ones are now mostly in cold storage to slow them down - otherwise they wil be past their best by the time we get to the show. In my front garden

Rhododendron 'Nancy Evans' looks better than its ever looked this year. Those rich, soft yellow flowers with a hint of flame are just dreamy: a brilliant partner for blue and lime and stunning in a dark green glazed pot.

Earlier in the week I teamed it up with Heuchera 'Beauty Colour' with its olive and purple - brown marbled foliage - simply delicious. I intend to make the most of my time in my garden this weekend - the moments I get to enjoy real gardening are too few at this time of the year - but you can't have it all ways.

The week has seen bustling activity packing up all the props and paraphenalia we need for the show. Sue, our resident stylist, has unwrapping, packing, painting and creating before heading off with a group of Hillier holiday makers to the Welsh borders.

The approaching show has precipitated a flurry of frantic telephone calls arranging deliveries, tickets and passes for the show. There are so many details to think about and its easy to get impatient as everyone thinks their request is the most important. Red tape, protocol, complicated instructions, wristbands, badges, vehicle stickers, face masks - (hopefully for just dust) sometimes seem tobe what Chelsea is all about but lets just remind ourselves - this is a Flower Show - its about plants and gardening and I am a gardener so lets get on with it!