Green gardens at Chelsea

I am for once not casting my fortuitious name into the garden equation, more of making a late reflection on the plants chosen by Chelsea Garden show winner Tom Stuart-Smith. His Laurent-Perrier garden has had a huge knock-on influence on designers all over the country.

I hope this lovely show garden isn’t copied slavishly, but it has made its mark in a big way and it will be interesting to see if it sets new trends for next year’s show and if all and sundry will endeavour to travel the green and foliage route in their Chelsea designs.

Smith proved that even with a monotonal rendering, that plant shapes and textures with a garnishing of white and off-white flowers could initiate strong but serene feelings in a garden.

His best hand was to choose foliage plants that would usually flower later in the year and like many spring plants their early decorative growth was the key.

The decorative leaves of the young milk parsley (Selinum wallichianum) against the early growth of the euphorbias, ferns  and grasses (hakonechloa macra) was sublime, even though the finished product, like in every show garden, was a statement that would last only from Monday to Saturday!