Good Companions

Cool and airy whites and greens were very evident in several of the show gardens.

Tom Stuart Smith’s garden

Robert Myer’s garden

Last year some of the gardens were moving this way but generally  added pinpoints of colour, with the exception of Ulf Nordfjell who led this trend.  It was interesting to see some of the plants he used reappearing in gardens this year – in particular Asarum europaeum which has been long overlooked despite its good qualities as ground cover in shade.

Asarum europaeum

I really loved the simple pastel beauty of planting in the Go Modern Garden which was matched with the quality of the hard landscaping.

Pink persicaria

But,  after all this tasteful restraint I was delighted by a colourful planting of blues, yellows and oranges on a stand selling garden metalwork.

Joyous planting

And for pure joie de vivre the rhubarb and custard combo was hard to beat

Rhubarb & custard

Many of the planting combinations of the main show gardens are available from crocus and once the show is over there will even be an opportunity to buy some of the actual plants from the show gardens – delivered to your door rather than carried home in the traditional manner.