The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is always the headline-grabbing pinnacle of the garden year, where plant trends are noted, and show gardens can inspire with myriad ideas.
In 2023 I was fortunate enough to capture several innovative and varied gardens.
This container garden by Emilie Bausager and Amelia Bouquet was so evocative of London transport hubs, with its familiar green tiles. Sponsored by Energy Garden, you can read more about it here. It includes repurposed concrete elements (spot the former bins), drought tolerant planting and rainwater harvesting ideas. Emilie and Amelia are talented, forward-thinking garden designers – I’m delighted that they’ve now joined forces officially in their new business Bausager & Bouquet.
The plants and containers then went into safe storage after the show; in September it was all transplanted, as intended, to Latimer Road Tube Station in London. It has now become a community garden, where I photographed the band of volunteers helping on the day of the installation and planting. It really does bring a green uplift to this busy and diverse corner of the capital.
Just along from the container gardens were the balcony show gardens. Here I photographed for Emma Tamsin Tipping, who was awarded a gold medal for her ‘Alight Here’ garden. Designed as a respite from commuting life, a space for a morning coffee and a sunset chill-out, it grabbed a lot of interest. Emma made use of railway sleepers, repurposed containers and wildlife-friendly details. You can read more about it on Emma’s site here, and from landscapers Topoforma here.
I was also invited back by Gaze Burvill to photograph their wonderful five-star trade stand, this year designed by Will Williams. The stunning gazebo by Oli Carter was a breathtaking piece of work, and the perfect backdrop to showcase the oak furniture for outdoor living.
There were also Gaze Burvill pieces to spot around the rest of the show:
The styling here by clever Wildstone Floral and Lamb & Newt made it all a perfect setting.
On Press Day, I was invited by my friends at the National Garden Scheme to scoot over for a photo call with their ambassadors, trustees and directors, plus President, Dame Mary Berry. She was joined at a tea party by Danny Clarke, Jo Whiley, Rachel de Thame and Arit Anderson.
There wasn’t a great deal of time to capture other areas of the show, but in passing, here were some views that stopped me in my tracks.
I found Sarah Price’s garden utterly captivating, as I’m sure many others did too. Those glorious Benton irises…
In 2024, I’ll be photographing the first Chelsea show garden ever presented by the National Garden Scheme, designed by multi gold-medal winning Tom Stuart-Smith and generously sponsored by Project Giving Back. See you there?
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