When we received an email back in 2019 from an RHS Floral Marquee Manager, I remember the anticipation, slight confusion and buzz mum and I had at the idea of somebody from such a well-respected horticultural institution wanting to come and look at our Nursery. Our Nursery that was so full of (what we considered) beautiful quirky chaos but we always presumed ourselves too ‘off the wall’ for the taste of mainstream horticultural professionals. We had no idea that they were going to invite us to showcase our plants and creative designs at the 2021 RHS show in Cardiff!
I can remember my sister and I buying my mum a bottle of fizz to celebrate. We’d always watched the Chelsea flower show every year on the TV, critiquing the designs and gardens as if we were pros who knew what we were talking about.
Mum tried playing down here excitement. She said “I haven’t even done anything yet”, but we wanted to celebrate the occasion of being recognised for an invitation none-the-less.
The following spring, mum decided to round up some of her prized plants and favourite design concepts (picture below from Easter 2020). She fashioned together a mish-mash of design suggestions which we were able to study all summer at the Nursery.
Living on the coast, we’ve always collected flotsam and jetsam from the shore-line and many of our plants have found their way into fishing tubs, buoys, plastic crates and even Crocs and Wellies! Lots of the plants we grow are influenced by our coastal location and this includes an eclectic mix of coastal hardy succulents. I was having a real internal battle trying to fight the clashing colours of the vibrant plastic. It took some long discussions and lots of pondering before I could see that my mum was right. Our final design concept emerged when we decided to to embrace the clashing colours, embrace the plastic and embrace our recycled planters.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020 things were looking very bleak for the 2021 show. A condition of our exhibiting was the attendance of one of the RHS training sessions due to be held at the Malvern show in September 2020. With that looking unlikely we knew that our chance to exhibit in 2021 looked bleak too.
That being said, we decided to crack on preparing some of the statement pieces that might make up the bulk of our display. We decided that we would put on a trail-run here at the Nursery this year regardless. It would be a good exercise, providing us with an opportunity to explore our ideas in practise and see what worked and what didn’t… and we’re so pleased we did!
These plants weren’t exactly given “RHS star treatment” over the winter as we knew the show wasn’t going ahead but we are over the moon with how the display has turned out this year and we’re excited to see it grow over the summer here at the Nursery.
The planting of our display has been heavily influenced by our passion for growing Aeoniums. We love the variety in colour, shape and height this succulent genus offers and have enjoyed pairing the bold foliage with clashing vibrant planters. Aeoniums seem to be very happy here in our coastal gardens and it has enabled us to develop an extensive collection.
Lampranthus and other Coastal hardy succulents also feature heavily in the planting.
My mum always tells our customers that she only grows plants that can survive her. We wanted our display to reflect the succulents that fill our garden and can deal with our salt-laden beach winds.
The display is a real treasure trove of little hidden gems and trinkets such as planted shells, and trailing plants in all the nooks and crannies.
We also decided to include one of our most recent new partners; the fabulous ‘Ocean Plastic Pots’ who are a UK based independent business producing pots made from 100% recycled rope and fishing net.
The ethos behind their company really called out to us and we just adore how beautiful our plants look in these wonderful pots.
(You can purchase our succulent Ocean Plastic Pot Giftsets Here)
We already have bigger ideas for the final exhibit which include a purpose built back-drop, more use of the fishing nets and rope and the inclusion of some statement driftwood pieces. We’d love to know what you think!??
The display is going to be left up at the Nursery throughout the summer so we can ponder and study it. You’re welcome to come and take a look!
(Nursery currently open by appointment – please call 01646 641505 to check we’re home)
Many thanks for reading!
Rosie xx
What a great collection and so colourful. Incan see you work hard to achieve
what you set out to do. All the very best at the RHS when you eventually
get there. Good Luck.
Aww thanks very much Mavis! We are 6 months away from our first exhibit at Malvern 2023 Spring Festival and super excited for our debut! I’m sure we will have lots of pictures to share with our followers 🙂