Billy wins Chelsea honour
A KERRY gardener has placed among the top winners at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show in London.
Billy Alexander won a Silver Gilt Medal for his showcase of the rare and exotic ferns he grows as part his aptly named Wilde Atlantic Garden at the Kells Bay House and Gardens, situated on the Ring of Kerry.
The Silver Gilt i s the second most esteemed of the prestigious garden show’s four award categories and entitled the west-Kerry resident to meet Queen Elizabeth following his win.
Mr Alexander said he was ‘truly honoured’ to be recognised at the prestigious flower show.
Inspiration entering the global competition was sparked after he took home the top gong at the Bloom in the Park Garden Festival in Dublin.
‘After doing quite well in Bloom last year I was lucky enough to get Best in Show,’ he said.
‘I decided it was an opportune time to
‘I was lucky enough to get Best in Show’
apply for the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show. To my surprise my application was accepted, because I had never exhibited, as one would normally do, in an RHS British show before.’
And while the Wilde Atlantic Gardens have now found their way among the world’s best, the beginnings were considerably more humble.
It took six years of restoration from when Mr Alexander and his wife Penn bought the gardens and adjacent property in 2006, before they could eventually relocate there from their home in Dublin.
As many of the ferns were planted in the latter half of the 19th century it made for an intricate overhaul.
However a remarkable transformation ensued and Kells Bay now includes an onsite Thai restaurant in addition to acting as a Victorian-style hunting lodge with luxurious rented accommodation for guests.
The property also boasts the Northern Hemisphere’s biggest tree-fern forest.
The RHS Chelsea Flower show runs until Saturday. This year’s award for Best Show Garden, the event’s top prize, was won by the Morgan Stanley Garden, designed by Chris Beardshaw.