Flower hunting at RHS Chelsea 2018

From innovative displays to new plant introductions, there is plenty to see in the Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea 2018 and I found more than enough to occupy me on my second day at the show.

One of the most eye-catching exhibits was by M&S – the ‘flower wall’ (pictured top) is now appearing in countless ‘what I saw at Chelsea’ photos as visitors took turns to pose in front of it.

The M&S display featured cut flowers from British growers, grouped in wicker baskets and florists’ buckets.

John Sallis Chandler, who put together the exhibit, said the colours had been toned down from previous years after comments by RHS judges.

Even so there were some bright combinations.

What I liked was that each group of flowers had variety names and details of the nurseries that supply them.

Another clever display was by Raymond Evison Clematis, who chose not to go down the fairly standard route of using obelisks and other supports to show off their climbers. Instead, there was a distinctly nautical theme with the flowers in boats in a sea of blue and purple blooms.

There were even ‘waves’ on the exhibit.

McBean’s Orchids gave three young artists the job of designing their stand and they took the chalky landscape around the Sussex nursery as their inspiration. The judges weren’t sure and gave the nursery a bronze award rather than its usual gold, while reaction among visitors was also mixed. For me, it was good to see a nursery doing something a bit different.

The NAFAS display had a four seasons theme – I loved the peacock with a colourful tail.

It was Flowers From the Farm’s first visit to Chelsea and members were thrilled to get a gold medal. It was a stunning display with a real air of nostalgia.

Sara Willman, who co-ordinated much of the work, said flowers had been donated by 94 of the collective’s 500 members and they had come from as far as Inverness and the Isles of Scilly.

With no sponsor, the display was put together with donated time as well as blooms, and the wire sculptures are being auctioned on Ebay to help cover costs.

After a challenging start to the growing season, it was remarkable to see how many different blooms the growers had managed to contribute.

Here are some other things that caught my eye at RHS Chelsea 2018.

If you hadn’t had enough of lupins on the show gardens, Westcountry Nurseries had plenty more.

They even turned up on the National Dahlia Collection’s exhibit.

The Botanical Nursery had a sneak preview of a new foxglove that will be available next year. It’s really rather pretty.

Thompson and Morgan were celebrating winning the RHS Chelsea 2018 Plant of the Year with Runaway Bride ‘Snow White’, a rather dainty hydrangea. It was almost more a case of ‘Blushing Bride’ though as being in the artificial climate of the Great Pavilion was giving the white blooms a distinctly pink tinge.

Hardy’s – who won their 23 gold medal – had a couple of new introductions. This is Salvia ‘Kisses and Wishes’

And I rather liked this Gaillardia ‘Honey Apricot’

There are always roses launched at Chelsea. This is ‘Emily Bronte’ from David Austin Roses.

On the Harkness stand there is ‘This Morning’.

I love iris and this is a new one from Cayeux called ‘Cocktail Tropical’.

Fuchsias don’t usually appeal to me but there was something rather charming about ‘Silver Surfer’ on the Potash Nursery stand.

I also grow few succulents but I do love echeveria. This was ‘Lottie’s Red Edge’ on the Ottershaw Cacti exhibit.

This was another beauty – Lilium ‘Natalia’ from Harts Nursery. The fragrance coming from their display was incredible.

This made me smile. Tomato ‘Oh Happy Day’, new from Pennard Plants, is blight resistant.

And this is a great idea for growing salad.

I also loved the idea of ‘Shabby Chic’ salad mix.

The last time I saw these Ashwood Nurseries hellebores, they were tucked up in a freezer. They seemed none the worse for the ordeal and earned the nursery a well-deserved gold.

And who can resist a peony? Not me. This is the rather dramatic ‘Souvenir de Maxime Cornu’ from Kelways.

It was a hot day and the water feature on Hillier Nurseries’ stand, designed by multi-award winner Sarah Eberle, was tempting.

Though really all I wanted was to sit down in Daisy Roots’ pretty garden.

• You can read about what I found among the show gardens at RHS Chelsea 2018 here.