Chelsea Gold:Award-Winning Gardens: Award-winning Gardens from the Chelsea Flower Show Book

Behind the scenes at the annual Chelsea Flower Show you imagine an army of frantic workers and rather neurotic designers furiously working to produce their masterpieces, so Chelsea Gold provides a surprisingly relaxed look at the very impressive end results. Acclaimed landscape architect John Moreland has chosen 37 very different gardens from the past 10 years of the show. Each is presented in turn, gloriously photographed and accompanied by a readable and entertaining account of the story behind each design, issues involved in its creation and (very usefully) lists of all the plants, shrubs and trees that have been used. Looking at the gardens it is difficult to imagine their life is so short, with just five days to make their mark by capturing the imagination, creating intrigue and even amusing their many visitors. As a gold winner himself, Moreland provides impressive knowledge in his commentary and good taste in his chosen gardens, presenting a range of styles that is both impressive and refreshing. At one end of the scale, enjoy the majestic vision of marble, lilies and palms created for the President of the United Arab Emirates; at the other delight in the quintessentially English, National Trust Centenary Gardens. For the modernist, find Christopher Bradley-Hole's Latin Garden--where concrete cubes provide the backdrop for delicate mauve spears of irises, glass and aluminium meet wildflowers and grasses. Fans of a more informal look can explore the wild Quarryman's Garden by Marney Hall, designed to encourage the conservation of butterflies, and enjoy a walk through "a colourful array of wildflowers that have made themselves at home among the rocks: wild thyme, horseshoe vetch, birdsfoot trefoil, rock rose and sheepsbit." Forget the garden manuals, this is the place to come for real inspiration. Chelsea Gold is a glowing testament to the superb skill and creativity of all the people involved in the show, also providing generous information to encourage readers to adapt the designs as their own. Useful, inspirational but above all simply beautiful, this book really is a Gold Medal winner in its own right. --Rachel O'ConnorRead More