Had I the money and the space I would love this greenhouse and its glazed canopy extension from Hartley Botanic in my garden. It will never happen, but it is nice to dream.
More About Hartley
Hartley have been making greenhouses for almost as long as the Chelsea Flower Show has been going. That’s a 100 years in case you hadn’t heard. Here’s one of their ads from the RHS Journal in 1965. Such is the popularity of their design they still make this model today.
Take a look at the Hartley Botanic site to learn a little bit more about their range of greenhouses which extend from this classic example to the New Princes Foundation Glasshouse Range above.
I’m a keen supporter of WaterAid and the work it does in bringing clean water and sanitation to areas of the world where both are all too scarce, so I’m delighted that their Artisan garden at Chelsea was awarded a Gold Medal. Depicting a floriculture business in India, the gloriously colourful garden is hung with marigolds, roses and hanging garlands being grown and prepared for sale, with a backdrop of a simple house on stilts. By having access to clean water and sanitation people’s lives are transformed and women and children freed from the burdens and dangers of collecting water, giving them the time to earn a living and get an education. The rainwater harvesting jar (on the left) collects water in times of high rainfall, for use in times of water scarcity or when flooding has contaminated ground water sources.
There’s always a plant that appears in several show gardens and catches my eye. Last year it was 
One of my top gardens at this year’s show is Kate Gould’s garden with its inspired use of recycled materials. Flattened washing machine drums wrought into a wall panel, a deconstructed shopping trolley and bed springs used as screens, corrugated iron fences, and bits of boiler pipe used as bench supports. It’s not romantic or rustic, but it is really inspiring to see recycled materials used in such a well-crafted manner.
In amongst the commercial stands on Eastern Avenue there’s a rather charming display of plants, each one encased in moss balls. I particularly loved this daisy. I would like to tell you more about them, but the Japanese men who were manning the stall were charming but spoke little English.
