Monday 29 May 2017

Bloomin' Marvellous

The warm weather has finally arrived here in the UK.

This is no cause for celebration for me, of course - I'd be happy to have a perpetual cycle of autumn, winter and spring, with summer skipped altogether. But here it is, and I have to deal with it. 


So vibrant, these plants didn't even look real


Softening the blow of summer is the fact that we usually have visits from Antipodean friends and relatives to look forward to, and this year is no exception. Already we have caught up with Fiona and Geoff who passed through on their way to family in Wiltshire, and in a few weeks my cousin Marina and her husband Les will be London.

Close friend Lesley has visited us several times since we returned to the UK nearly three years ago, and this year she planned her trip to coincide with the Chelsea Flower Show and invited me to go along with her.

It's Lesley's fault that we've been suffering through temperatures in the high 20s (and just nudging 30ºC one day) because she always brings warm and sunny weather with her to the UK. She really has a remarkable record in that regard. A bit like TMC* in reverse because she actually likes the heat, being an Adelaide girl.
* The Maree Curse

And so we headed into Victoria, taking advantage of the special buses shuttling Flower Show attendees to and from the venue. Upon arrival we girded our loins and dived into the throng.



Chelsea village was adorned with floral displays in honour of the flower show


The people, the people, the people... but just look at that avenue of plane trees
- a tunnel of green at Chelsea 😀

The show only runs for five days, and we attended on a special members' day for Royal Horticultural Society subscribers. The crowds were huge, and shuffling along to view the garden exhibits, particularly in the heat, was a test of patience and endurance. One can only imagine the horror of non member days.

Naturally I was equipped with lightweight long sleeves, hat and SPF 50 sunscreen, which I reapplied liberally throughout the day - contrary to nearly everybody around me. Each time the sun appears in the UK Kevin and I are amused to witness the phenomenon of 'mad dogs and Englishmen'. Off come the shirts (the men only, usually) and out comes the cavalier disregard for sunburn and skin cancer. I'm sorry I didn't take the opportunity to photograph one particular chap at Chelsea who, at about 2.00pm was already beet-red to the extent he could probably have lit up a dark room or acted as a radiant heat source in frosty conditions. 

All I could do was wonder what kind of scarlet hell he would be in that evening, and I'm fairly certain he'd have a dose of sunstroke as well.

The exhibition gardens - when we could actually get near them to take a peek - were lovely but nothing that bowled me over, with one or two exceptions. I suppose to Australian eyes most of the more modern gardens are not terribly new or innovative. 

However, I do love the serenity of a Japanese garden, and the one below did not disappoint. There's something about that delightful mix of natural environment and formal structure that just makes me go 'Ahhhhh....' and I am immediately more at peace. Believe me, I needed that feeling as people hogged the front row for an unacceptable length of time at each garden, and the rest of us stood three rows back in fuming silence (in my case) or stoic acceptance (the British), waiting to shuffle forward by increments as soon as they left.


Ishihara Kazuyuki’s Gosho No Niwa ('No Wall, No War') garden
- inspired by the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
*Japanese garden bliss*

Detail from Ishihara Kazuyuki's garden - how I love moss! ❤️



A lighting installation consisting of more than 60 Tom Raffield sculptural pendant lights 


Traditional wildflower garden telling the story of Clippy, who was rescued from terrible conditions 
by World Horse Welfare and restored to health.
The garden aims to shine a spotlight on ‘invisible’ horses around the world whose suffering goes unnoticed or ignored


'Breaking Ground', designed by Andrew Wilson and Gavin McWilliam

'The Royal Bank of Canada garden', designed by Charlotte Harris
- inspired by the Boreal forests and freshwater lakes of Canada.
This was one of my favourites


The brutalist concrete form of 'The Jeremy Vine Texture Garden' reminded me of Canberra


Mixed in with the exhibition gardens was a huge array of trade stands - designers and manufacturers offering to transform your own humble abode with sculptures, plantings, gazebos and artwork. I tend to think the majority of British people do not have the extensive grounds to support most of the concepts on offer, but I suppose somebody must.

Just the thing for your tiny two-bedroom mid-terrace home with its broom-cupboard size backyard
- driftwood animal sculptures by James Doran-Webb
(this photo and next)






One of Simon Gudgeon's award-winning trade stand sculptures, complemented by
wife Monique's planting arrangements

Lesley and I were lured into this outdoor living display by the vibrant colours
and particularly the 100+ year old Rajasthani doors



Rajasthani inspired outdoor living

Fancy an astroturf giraffe for your backyard?


A piece of home - the trade stand for Willie Wildlife Bronze Sculptures,
which is based in Ocean Grove, Victoria


Hobbit-like ornate garden shed!


Not only were we wowed by the gardens, plant displays and large-scale trade stands, we were in seventh heaven exploring the stalls selling homewares, gardening paraphernalia, antiques, clothing and toiletries.

We were also intrigued by the apparel of the locals. Lesley commented that she never knew you could purchase such a wide variety of floral garments - every second woman and a good percentage of the men were dressed in Chelsea-appropriate spring finery.


Ooh, the lovely things that were on sale... it took all our willpower not to spend up big



Gorgeous garden lighting to transform your outdoor space




Nicki Chapman of Escape to the Country and Wanted Down Under fame
- filming a segment for the BBC in the M&G Garden which was inspired by an abandoned Maltese quarry


A bold and unconventional installation designed by The Bull Ring Gate
- it's comprised of 15,000 pink, purple and white carnations


And so we entered The Great Pavilion, so crowded, so vast and so full of incredible exhibitions that we had to break it up into two segments - pausing for a lunch break in the middle.

You have never seen so many flowers in your life... everything from masses of peonies to carnivorous plants, including every type of rose, lily and lupin you ever thought existed and a few more you never would have imagined. Below are just a few examples of the wonders on display.



Thousands of perfect chrysanthemums inside the Great Pavilion

Peony in full bloom ('Buckeye Belle'.... I think)



Gigantic display of that most sculptural of plants, the allium

The throng... and it was HOT inside this pavilion


This chrysanthemum has a striking colour combination


A Japanese White Pine bonsai... planted in 1864 !!!



This perky little number is described as 'the rockstar of the Primula family'
Primula vialiiwith its punky, tufted lilac flowers opening from lipstick red buds 



At £61 per ticket - which is a discounted members' day price, courtesy of Lesley - it's an expensive day out, particularly when you add in the cost of public transport. The crowds and the heat were not to my liking however I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to experience the event, especially in the company of a friend who confidently was able to name the latin genus and species of just about every plant we came across, and enlighten me on where they could be found and their characteristics. A lifetime of gardening certainly came in handy for Lesley's visit to Chelsea and we happily whiled away a solid five hours.

Sadly we only had the pleasure of Lesley's company for a few days, but having discovered that she had never been to the Watts Gallery Artists' Village, she and I spent much of our last day together there. It's one of my favourite places in Surrey, and I must have visited at least six or seven times when we lived at Frensham during 2008-09

G F Watts, for those of you unfamiliar with him, was one of Britain's most famous artists during the Victorian era. Equally gifted in painting and sculpture, he was a contemporary of the Pre Raphaelites and some of his work certainly demonstrates this - he was said to be influenced by Rossetti.

We started off at the Watts Chapel, designed by Watts' second wife Mary - a glorious tribute to Celtic Revival and Art Nouveau style. 'It is no exaggeration to say the Watts Cemetery Chapel is one of the most beautiful, extraordinary, original, marvellous and magical buildings in the whole of the British Isles!' — I wholeheartedly agree with this quote from Lucinda Lambton. It is utterly delightful.


Rear view of the chapel


Yours truly at the ornate entrance to the chapel


Chapel entrance detail - doorway


The welcoming committee -
this tabby and his relatives have been greeting visitors to the Watts Chapel for many years


You couldn't dream up anything as wonderful as the interior of this teeny, tiny chapel


The blazing gold of laburnum in the Chapel gardens

Onwards to the Watts Gallery itself, then, followed by a stroll down the street to visit Limnerslease, the home of George and Mary for many years.

I'm not actually that keen on Watts' art, though some of his portraits are quite fine. I can admire it but it doesn't make my heart race like most of the Pre Raphaelite works. 

Happily, for some months at the gallery there has also been a special exhibition of paintings and ceramics from the De Morgan collection, and Lesley and I swooned over it at length.


The Watts Gallery - the building itself a shining example of Arts and Crafts architecture

The Angel of Death, by Evelyn de Morgan (1880)


Tile border from the de Morgan collection



Limnerslease, perched on a hill overlooking its private woodland


Window with William Morris cushion - at Limnerslease


Portrait of William de Morgan by Evelyn de Morgan (1893)




Summer window, Watts Gallery

On Lesley's final evening we returned to one of our favourite pubs in nearby Cobham, The Old Plough. It was a beautiful late spring evening and we scored one of the tables in the garden. A glass of bubbly and a bottle of South African pinotage, good food, great conversation... all was well with the world.



Lesley, Kevin and Maree enjoying dinner on a beautiful English late spring evening

It's been an eventful week with Kevin and I taking delivery of our new car, Lesley's visit and another development which I'll disclose in a future post.

As we lurch headlong into summer I am hoping the season will be gentle and brief, and as usual we have made plans to flee the south-east of England for cooler climes - in August we will be housesitting and caring for a 13-year-old cat in a 16th century cottage in Ayrshire, Scotland. 

Meanwhile, up there in Finnmark (north Norway), where we spent Christmas, it is still snowing... and it's nearly June. What do you say to that, climate change naysayers?!

Here in the south-east of England all the glorious trees of Surrey are now in full leaf, the meadows covered in buttercups, the towering cow parsley is waving gently in the breeze, and the elderflower is blooming. I can think of many worse places to be.



Ponies grazing at Epsom Polo Club


On one of our local evening walks in Horton Country Park,
literally two minutes' walk from our flat

Until next time,
- Maree  xo