Cotswold designers and growers have got top awards at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show – and been given royal approval.
Family herb nursery The Kitchen Garden Plant Centre picked up gold for the second year running. There was silver-gilt for Green JJam Nurseries, and silver for Derry Watkins of Special Plants.
Designer Jamie Langlands got five stars, the top award, for his design for sculptor David Harber’s trade stand.
And a Gloucestershire gardener helped the National Garden Scheme win a gold medal by contributing plants for the charity’s garden.
Neil Jones, who runs The Kitchen Garden Plant Centre with his wife Niamh, said he was overwhelmed by the result.
‘It wasn’t what I was expecting this morning.’
It’s the Newent nursery’s third time at Chelsea and they are already making plans for next year.
It’s Green JJam Nurseries’ second Chelsea exhibit but their first at the spring show – they showed their penstemon at the September Chelsea in 2021, winning gold.
This time, Julia Mitchell is displaying plants from the White Nursery section of Green JJam with white and white-enhancing flowers and foliage.
The Upton-upon-Severn nursery’s stand caught the eye of the King when he visited the show yesterday.
‘He asked if we grew all our own stock,’ said Julia. ‘He really liked it.’
At the heart of the display, is the winner of the RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2024. The ornamental cherry, Prunus ‘Starlight’.
‘I think it’s brilliant that a tree has won that accolade,’ said Julia.
She is delighted with silver-gilt award, saying it had been a challenge to put together a display so soon after last week’s RHS Malvern Spring Festival.
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Special Plants, run by Derry Watkins in Cold Ashton, is part of a display by small nurseries under the Plant Fairs Roadshow banner. It’s Derry’s second time at the world-famous flower show, having first exhibited 25 years ago.
‘I’m delighted to be back at Chelsea,’ she said. ‘It’s so important for small nurseries to be seen at the show.’
Jamie Langlands was brought in to plant up the sculpture stand after a clean sweep of awards for his garden at last year’s Malvern festival.
It’s the first time the lead designer at Witney-based Oxford Garden Design has been at RHS Chelsea: ‘It’s been a long-time dream of mine to do something here and the opportunity to do a trade stand was the perfect foothold into learning about how Chelsea works.’
His design, with planting that includes thalictrum, rodgersia and silene, is designed to show off the sculptures: ‘I wanted to make sure they were shown in a way that would reflect a real garden.’
The display was built by landscaper Rupert Keys from Pershore.
The National Garden Scheme garden, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, incorporates plants grown and donated by gardeners who open their plots in the charity scheme. Among them were white foxgloves, Solomon’s Seal and Iris sibirica ‘Caesar’s Brother’ from Oxleaze Farm in Gloucestershire.
‘I’m delighted to support a very worthwhile charity,’ said Chipps, ‘and thrilled that my foxgloves have made it onto Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden.’
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs until Saturday May 25. Details on the website: www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show
