RHS Chatsworth Flower Show
This month sees the launch of the RHS’s new flower show, set in the magnificent grounds of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, and featuring a spectacular line-up of show gardens and other highlights. Gardens Illustrated will be there – so come along and say hello at our stand CHW245.
• Among the show gardens to look out for is Sam Oven’s garden for show partner Wedgwood. It was John Wedgwood, son of the celebrated potter Josiah, who first suggested the idea of a Royal Horticultural Society. Sam’s garden features a central cocoon surrounded by planting and uses a combination of traditional and contemporary materials.
• Be sure also to visit the Wedgwood pop-up Tea Conservatory, where you can sample specially blended teas, and find mugs and teacups from Wedgwood’s new Wonderlust collection, inspired by its historic pattern books.
• Don’t miss the show’s displays of well dressing –a summer tradition of decorating wells with elaborate pictures made out of petals that is most closely associated with Derbyshire and the Peak District.
• Make sure you leave plenty of time to explore the plant marquee, which at Chatsworth will use state-of-the-art inflatables technology to recreate the Great Conservatory, built at Chatsworth by its most famous head gardener, Joseph Paxton. Among the stalls will be lush displays retelling the story of the ‘Cavendish’ banana, which Paxton grew at Chatsworth in the 1830s and then shipped back to the Pacific to kick-start its banana industry.
7-11 June, Chatsworth, Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1PP. For full details and ticket availability go to rhs.org.uk/shows