Newsletter 15th May
Jekka's at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022
We are eagerly looking forward to the Chelsea Flower Show this year. There is a definite excitement and last-minute urgency in the air.
Jekka will be there in her bling, both in her capacity as Vice-president of the RHS and also as a Riverstone Partner, where she is delighted to be attending Riverstone's RHS Chelsea Flower Show reception as their horticulture expert.
On Wednesday 25th May, Jekka is giving a garden seminar as part of the Chelsea Barracks Spring Fair entitled "Herbs: More than a Garnish" (tickets available). Hannah McVicar will also be at the Spring Fair, as part of the Artisan Market, selling her beautiful screen prints of flowers & herbs.
Our herbs are featured in all their finery in numerous show gardens, exhibits and stalls. We have highlighted some of them below. We wish all the garden designers, landscapers and nurseries the best of luck in the upcoming weeks and every success at the show.
Show Gardens
We are delighted to be supporting Sarah Eberle, who is a great friend of Jekka's, with her garden titled "MEDITE SMARTPLY Building the Future".
This garden is built in collaboration with MEDITE, a sustainable and innovative wood-based panel product. MEDITE has been used to create a natural vertical rock strata that is topped with a green sloping roof. We will be excited to see a waterfall cascading over this to a pool below. It is truly amazing what garden designers can dream up!
Jekka's herbs are being used throughout the garden and up the sides of waterfall. We have been growing and nurturing them since early autumn last year and have been bringing them in and out of our poly-tunnels to protect from frosts, winds and rain.
Some of the herbs we are particularly pleased with are:
- American Spikenard (Aralia racemosa) with its large pinnate mid green leaves. American Spikenard is more commonly known for its berries that are used in the making of jam.
- Curly Wood Sage (Teucrium scorodonia 'Crispum') that are looking stunning with their soft, green, heart shaped leaves, with very ruffled crinkled edges.
- Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica), which is an important medicinal herb with numerous traditional and contemporary uses but is used in gardens for its bright green, kidney shaped leaves.
- Meu (Meum athamanticum) that is native to Scotland and has feathery, soft, spicy scented, bright green leaves.
Watch Jekka and Sarah discuss the garden on YouTube.
Balcony Gardens
Balcony Gardens are a vital oasis in our built-up environment. Sometimes, these are the only outside space people have and therefore, are essential not only for our well-being but also as important habitats for the urban pollinators.
We are pleased to have provided herbs to William Murray from It Will Grow. He is building 'The Potting Balcony Garden' sponsored by Viking and visited us for a variety of yellow flowering and foliage plants. The herbs he collected included Variegated Lemon Balm, Jekka's "All Gold" Myrtle, Variegated Berggarten, Sage, Doone Valley Thyme and Golden Oregano.
Balcony spaces, although small, are difficult to design and we look forward to seeing what he achieves.
The Great Pavilion
We love the concept of the ‘Saving Seed’ exhibition by OmVed. This exhibition will highlight the circular, regenerative and community aspect of growing food and saving seed and its powerful impact on human and planetary well-being.
We have provided some herbs for Paul Gazerwitz from del Buono Gazerwitz Landscape Architecture who has designed the garden for OmVed. Read our blog on harvesting herb seeds and visit the exhibition located in The Great Pavilion Discovery Area (Stand 134).
