With 2018’s show ready to kick off, we take a peek at the best of the new signings... Cheer on the Chelsea champs!

AT THE Chelsea Flower Show in 1983, gardeners got their first glimpse of a revolutionary new perennial. Discovered as a seedling at Kew Gardens a few years earlier, Heuchera villosa ‘Palace Purple’ was an overnight sensation thanks to its maple-shaped, dark burgundy leaves with a metallic sheen.

Nobody had ever seen a heuchera with such dramatic foliage. Until then, plants sported unremarkable green leaves – they were grown largely for their dainty, late spring flowers and ability to thrive in shade. The popularity of this is newcomer sparked a major trend for growing foliage perennials.

On Tuesday, scores of exhibitors inside the great pavilion will be hoping their new plants will have a similar ar impact when the 105th Chelsea Flower Show opens to epublic. Held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship event runs until Saturday.

Scores of new trees, shrubs, bedding plants, perennials, climbers, alpines and edibles will make a bow. Some have flowers, foliage or an unusual habit of growth that sets them apart from varieties already available, while others are simply additions to a popular line. A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of a cracking hydrangea at the headquarters of Hillier Nurseries in Hampshire. Hydrangea aspera ‘ Gold Rush’ boasts unique young foliage in shades of gold and orange, maturing to rich golden yellow before turning green in mid summer.

Bred at Coonan Nursery in Holland, the plant owes its existence to th the sharp eyes of a nu nurseryman who spott spotted a yellow shoot on a pure pu green plant, way b back ki in 2012. Growing to about 6ft, ‘ Gold Rush’ boasts lavender blue flowers with white edges in summer, and is happy in full sun or part shade.

There will be plenty of other shrubs being launched, including Rose ‘Emily Bronte’, a soft pink, heavily scented, blowsy double from David Austin Roses. Berberis thunbergii ‘Orange Sunrise’ is an amazing barberry from Poland with deep red foliage adorned with distinctive yellow margins.

A new crab apple from Denmark will take its place on the Container Revolution exhibit. Malus toringo ‘Aros’ forms a dwarf, upright tree up to 10ft in height with near-black l eaves, bright pink flowers in spring and maroon fruit in autumn. It’s perfect in pots or planted in small gardens.

Thorncroft Clematis are expecting one of its fresh varieties to be a big seller due to its royal name: ‘Prince William’ has reddish buds that open into tulip-shaped flowers with lavender interiors.

Elsewhere, Guernsey’s clematis guru, Raymond Evison, will unveil ‘ Sarah Elizabeth’, whose candypink, star-shaped blooms surround a crown of red anthers. More perennials get their premiere at Chelsea than any other type of plant. Among those to look out for are Gaillardia ‘ Apricot Honey’, Dicentra ‘Valentine’ and Eryngium ‘Blue Waves’. Garvinea ‘Sweet Sunset’ is a hardy gerbera with twotone, orange and yellow flowers.

The perennial I’m most excited about seeing i s Pol e monium yezoense ‘Kaleidoscope’, a form of Jacob’s ladder with amazing tricoloured foliage – green, white and pink – and dark blue flowers in late spring. Bred by Dunmore Perennials in Scotland, it will be brought to the show by Hardy’s Cottage Plants.

I RECEIVED A SNEAK PREVIEW OF A CRACKING NEW CONTENDER