19th May 2016

Chelsea Show Build

It's been erratic hours - sometimes early - 6-7am and 5pm finish or slightly later  930 - 10am and later finish, because we work around construction work being finished sometimes. It has been mainly hot and dry - there was one day of very heavy rain.

I spent time picking woolly aphids off the Alnus trees too. As people couldn't reach the top tiers, the aphids had migrated and had quickly colonised the bottom branches again almost overnight. 

We dug over some of the compacted areas of the beds. Planted some Viola 'Belmont Blue', but it got incredibly stressful to mimic them growing down a bank, low and tilted enough but not too much of a drop between them and some foxgloves and then to get the pots low enough from the edge so that the pots don't suddenly appear through the mulch in a very visible spot. Fluffing and weaving plants together will commence after planting is finished and as final touches, to make plants look as if they've grown into each other.
More plants have been delivered mid week. Back at the nursery it was business as usual, open 7 days a week. There is approximately 20 staff altogether inclu. part-time. I did a lot of super mulching. When we managed to complete planting on one side, there was a breathing moment and stepping back to see that we had created a border. 

Photo 1: One side of the planting completed.
More plants: 

- Polemonium yezoense var. hidakanum 'Purple Rain' - lovely dark reddy brown foliage one with blue purple flowers. 
- Cirsium alba 
- Violetta 'Arvo Lawson' - beautifully scented big flowered deep purple one - almost looks like a Geranium.

Photo 2: Violetta 'Arvo Lawson'

Photo 3: Polemonium yezoense var. hidakanum 'Purple Rain' in the middle with its purple foliage.
Construction has continued inside, I have helped move and rearrange plants around. Any new plants coming have been unloaded and given their own space straightaway so that they endure minimal stress (e.g. not been squashed on a Dutch trolley and remaining there for days). I helped do some painting too on their indoor stand.

Photo 4: The continuing of their build inside the Great Plant Pavilion.

Photo 5: Hedgerow planting with one of my favourite plants - Plantago major 'Rubrifolia' in the Show Garden and lawn install on the inside edge of the show garden - unfortunately this will not get seen by the general public.
Photo 6: Middle section of the Show Garden was planted up - this was tricky as this is where water will go, so we couldn't get any soil in it. So we the edges of the bed and the water area with fleece.
Photo 7: Planting in the Show Garden really starting to come on towards the end of the 2nd week. Only a few more days to go!