Episode 160: The RHS Chelsea Flower Show with Annie Guilfoyle

This year Chelsea Flower Show was full of interesting trees and shrubs with lots of dreamy woodland-edge planting in dappled light underneath leafy canopies. Native trees such as hawthorns, hazels and silver birch were the favoured choices in many of the show gardens, with a mixture of native and non-native ornamental plants selected for resilience and sustainability. In Ula Maria’s Forest Bathing Garden, white foxgloves, cow parsley and other umbellifers like Baltic parsley (Cenolophium denudatum) and valerian (Valeriana officinalis) were mixed with the simple shade-loving grass Melica altissima ‘Alba’ while Tom Stuart-Smith showcased intricate tapestries of interesting foliage in different shapes and textures. In other gardens, orange was a popular colour in many shades, from deep rusty orange irises to pale orange geums, especially in Ann Marie-Powell’s exuberant Octavia Hill Garden. As always, the Grand Pavilion is the ideal place to discover new and interesting plants showcased by some of the country’s leading nurseries.

Jasmit Singh Rangr, a Berkeley-based architect, founder of Rangr Studio, and a lecturer in architecture at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, is technically responsible for building his family’s stylish, minimal, cost-conscious home near the Grizzly Peak summit in the Berkeley Hills. But the behind-the-scenes mastermind who made it possible is his wife, Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice, a nonprofit, public interest environmental law firm. Anyone familiar with the area’s cutthroat real estate market won’t be surprised to hear that the search for a vacant, buildable lot in one of the most coveted neighborhoods in the West required Dillen to use all of the skills that make her a great lawyer: creativity, a knack for analysis and research, perseverance, and the art of persuasion.

Kelsey Hansen. Food Stylist: Annie Probst

Welcome to an exploration of flowers that start with the letter “B”. From the stunning Begonia to the vibrant Bluebell, this list covers a wide range of flowers, each with its own unique charm.

Summer is here—the perfect time to go outside and enjoy all the work you’ve put into your garden. Unfortunately, summer also comes with plenty of unwelcome guests. There are birds that eat seeds, bugs that leave holes in leaves, and rodents that steal fruits and vegetables.

There is much to love about passion flowers (Passiflora spp. and cvs., Zones 6–11). There are over 550 different species in the genus; some are shrubs and trees, but the ones that are most familiar to gardeners are the tropical-looking, tendril-bearing, climbing, flowering vines. These are the passion flower varieties that fall into my category of favorites. Some of these beauties even produce deliciously complex-flavored, fragrant, sweet-tart fruit.

Collaborative post

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Easy Summer Flower Planter Ideas Transform your outdoor living spaces with these 3 container recipes full of textures and blooms. 3 Flower planter ideas perfect for summer!

In 2020 a rather unusual virtual Chelsea Flower Show took place online instead of at its usual Royal Hospital location due to the coronavirus lockdown. As you can tell from our gallery of archive pictures from Chelsea, the royals are among its most enthusiastic attendees; the Queen almost never missed a visit, the Duchess of Cambridge had her own garden there last year, as has Prince Harry in the past, and various other senior royals are regular visitors. That year, since they were unable to visit, the royal family took part in the #MyChelseaGarden campaign, which encouraged the public to post pictures of their own gardens on social media to celebrate the show.

For the ultimate in low-maintenance planting, intersperse small balls of box with a seasonal display of bulbs and summer bedding: tulips in spring, geraniums in summer and winter pansies in autumn — or almost any annuals that take your fancy.

The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show is one of the most anticipated flower show events of the year, alongside the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. And thankfully, it’s just around the corner! No more months of anticipation and waiting – it’s finally just a few weeks away.