- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: The 2007 Chelsea Flower Show opens its doors to the public
- Date: 26th May 2007
- Summary: VARIOUS OF THE 'GARDEN OF CLOUDS', GOLD MEDAL WINNER (CITY GARDENS)/ WATER FEATURE CASCADE
- Embargoed: 10th June 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA3IVPXIJNJV4H9DNW4XSMH3V2D
- Story Text: The world's most famous flower show begins its 5-day run on Tuesday (May 22).
Since 1913, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has been held at the Royal Hospital in southwest London. This year there are around 600 exhibitors at the show, including 20 show gardens, 26 small gardens in the Chic, City, Courtyard and Roof categories and over 100 floral exhibitors in the Great Pavilion.
The Great Pavilion covers over 120,000 square metres and is the most popular feature of the show.
The Flower Show is attended by some of the world's leading garden designers who spend anywhere from 10 days to three weeks building their gardens.
Gabriella Pape and Isabelle van Groeningen are two of them.
They won the Silver Gilt medal in the Show Gardens category for 'The Daily Telegraph Garden', which was inspired by Karl Foerster's sunken garden in Potsdam-Bornim, Germany.
"It's been real fun doing it I really loved it, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much, actually building and planting the garden. The thing that's fantastic now, this week is actually getting the comments and the reactions from the public. And people seem to really enjoy it and really love it. I wish I could let people come in here because it's so nice in here, but unfortunately we can't," said van Groeningen who comes from Belgium.
Japanese designer Kazuyuki Ishihara took the gold medal in the City Gardens category for 'Garden of Clouds'.
"There are a lot of environmental programs and issues that are being discussed all over the world, and the name of the garden, 'Garden of Clouds' is basically inspired by the natural environment. And I want people in the urban area, the city people, to feel nature as close as possible," he said.
Linda Bush is a first-time exhibitor at the Chelsea Flower Show and was well-rewarded with a bronze medal in the Show Gardens category for 'The Hasmead Sand and Ice Garden'. A large water wall representing cracked and melting ice is the focal point of the garden, which aims to address concerns about global warming.
"Well it's difficult to tell because obviously the whole climactic change thing is over a very long period of time, and it may be that the sort of water shortages will go up and down throughout the years. I mean we just had a particularly bad year last year, and this has been the hottest date for a long record, so I'm not a scientist so I don't know what's going to happen. I think it's wise to think ahead. A lot of my clients are asking for large underground water storage units so they can use rainwater from their roofs, that sort of thing. And I think it makes sense to plan ahead just in case," said Bush.
Another first-timer is ex-banker Kate Frey, who designed 'The Fetzer Sustainable Winery Garden' that won a gold medal in the Show Gardens category.
Sporting an eco-friendly theme, the garden features a winery and vineyard built according to principles of sustainability.
The winery is based on the original Fetzer winery in California and is made from recycled redwood, with wildflowers dotting the entire garden.
"Well I certainly think that many of these California wildflowers will become showstoppers in the future because I think they're happier here than they are at home. And certainly with the well-drained situation and sun, they seem to flourish here. And they're very drought-tolerant. So they'll bloom for a long period of time if, given the right conditions. So these may be some of the new plants that will grow in the nursery trade," said Frey.
The show runs for five days and ends on Saturday (May 26). - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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