Dame Helen Mirren and Gwyneth Paltrow among celebrities at Chelsea Flower Show 2011

Dame Helen Mirren and Gwyneth Paltrow among celebrities at Chelsea Flower Show 2011

24 May, 2011
by: Tom Jeffreys

Despite some beautiful gardens, Tom Jeffreys is a little disappointed by the Chelsea Flower Show.

The great and the good were out in force yesterday at the Chelsea Flower Show, which opens to the public today. Spoonfed spotted boozy TV scientist Robert Winston, actresses Dame Helen Mirren (who had a plant named after her) and Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as pink-haired fashion designer Zandra Rhodes alongside sculptor (and Alternative Miss World founder) Andrew Logan. According to a list in the press tent, other big names who may have been there included Alex James, Fiona Bruce, Piers Morgan and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. Phew! A-list or what.

This is the first time we've covered Chelsea Flower Show, and it's quite an experience. We weren't entirely sure what to expect – apart from lots of flowers, obviously – but all in all, we left a little disappointed. One of the real charms of a great garden is the collision between human control and nature's tendency towards spontaneity. At Chelsea, alas, everything is controlled to within an inch of its perfectly manicured life, and as such, things feel a little sterile.

In particular, the preponderance of man-made design/architectural elements in many of the gardens generally feel rather on the tacky side. Leeds City Council's HESCO Garden, for example, is innovative and sympathetic (both environmentally and historically) but the finish of the faux-eighteenth century mill renders it rather silly. Likewise, the ugly architecture in the Laurent-Perrier Garden, the stupidly shaped pool in the Australian Garden, the silly old pillars in The Daily Telegraph Garden and TV gardener Diarmuid Gavin's attention-seeking Wonkavator in the Irish Sky Garden. All so ugly.

That's not to say there aren't some great things on show here. In terms of the Show Gardens, the stand-out is The Times Eureka Garden, produced in association with Kew Gardens. The pavilion – designed by NEX Architecture – mimics the structure of plant cells, and neatly reflects the combination of beauty and utility present in the plants themselves – including foxgloves, geraniums and roses. It works with, not against, the surrounding plants.

This year, naturalistic, 'wild' planting predominates throughout – a trend best encapsulated in the Artisan Gardens, over on Serpentine Walk, away from the main crush. Highlights here include the cute allotment-style planting of A Child's Garden in Wales, by Ysgol Bryn Castell & Heronsbridge School Horticulture Students with designer Anthea Guthrie; Katie Crome and Maggie Hughes' A Postcard from Wales, featuring a ramshackle old cottage, complete with old wooden boat and even some broad beans on a tin plate outside the front door; and Stephen Hall's Tree House Garden for UK drinks company, Fever-Tree – with long grass, tumbledown fencing and even a bird box, this is one of the highlights of the whole show. Yes, some of these Artisan Gardens are rather twee, but it beats the egomania running riot elsewhere.

Inside the Great Pavilion, and the focus is more on the plants and not the people. Mostly. Varietal displays of daffodils, lavender and allium are particularly striking, and all the more so for the clarity and simplicity of arrangement. There's an amazing range on show here too – especially at the Jacques Amand Garden, where the burgundy and white arisaema sikokianum steals the show, and at Churchtown Nurseries, where the elegia capensis restionaceae and the porcupine-esque elegia tectorum restionaceae really stand out.

Overall, Chelsea is a strange old beast that rather saps the joy out of plants. Yes, these are show gardens, but, with the champagne popping and exhibitors dressed up to the nines, it seems less about the gardens, and much more about the show.

The Chelsea Flower Show is at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea from 24th to 28th May 2011.

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Photo: the Fever-Tree Garden, credit - Dr Crystal Bennes.

Tom Jeffreys