For 100 years, the Chelsea Flower Show has been a showcase for what’s hot in horticulture.
This year’s show is no exception – but you’ll literally need to throw in the kitchen sink to keep up with the latest trend. Not to mention a fridge, a woodburning oven and under seat heating…
Yes, outdoor kitchens are the latest must-have for green-fingered hosts who want to impress their guests with something more than a soggy sausage on the barbecue. Or so say the experts.
Piping hot: Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver demonstrates his outdoor oven at the horticulture show yesterday‘There’s an increasing trend for outdoor living and entertaining, for using the garden as a place where people and families gather,’ said Geoffrey Wheating, director of upmarket garden furniture firm Gaze Burvill which had its new top of the range line on display at the show yesterday.
‘People are entertaining outside more and the British weather is no barrier – you just have to plan how to deal with it.’
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It was an overcast day at the show in London yesterday as it celebrated its centenary with a host of VIP guests but the alluring smell of garlic flatbread wafting from a £2,000 wood-burning stove – designed and demonstrated by Jamie Oliver at Mr Wheating’s stand – certainly set Jerry Hall’s taste buds tingling.
The supermodel ex-wife of Sir Mick Jagger, dressed in a black leather biker’s jacket, shades and leopard print shoes, made a beeline for the freshly cooked treat.
Outdoor life: A Gaze Burvill stand showing a large oval table, sofa and 'A la Carte' kitchen in the backgroundBehind her was a row of hand-made oak kitchen units housing a fridge by Sub-Zero Wolf, a plate warmer, and enamel sink by Shaws of Darwen. Worktops are available in granite or quartz.
NUISANCE WEED NOW IN FAVOURA common sight in meadows and hedgerows, cow parsley is often considered to be a nuisance weed in gardens.
But the tall, rapidly growing plant with its white flowers is in favour with some designers at Chelsea this year.
Other plants in vogue include ragged robin, also often seen in roadside verges, and native wildflowers such as shepherd’s purse and hop.
Rhododendrons are also increasingly back in fashion. Other humble varieties that feature predominantly this year include foxgloves and daisies.
The kitchens are made to order, with prices on application, but each individual unit including appliance is understood to cost around £3,000. A further £2,145 gets you the snazzy matching kitchen trolley complete with a slot for a champagne bucket.
Oak chairs, a table with parasol, loungers with a ‘classic but contemporary’ look completed the display – and there was even a grate housing electric heating elements placed in the floor under the table and seats to keep diners warm.
Press day was also an opportunity for the royals to turn up in force to lend their support to an unexpected garden designer – Prince Harry.
The 28-year-old helicopter pilot was at Chelsea for the first time with his charity Sentebale, which helps Aids orphans in impoverished Lesotho.
The prince has been closely involved in the creation of the charity’s garden – even examining designs while stationed in Afghanistan.
Colourful pose: Absolutely Fabulous actress Joanna Lumley was at the show promoting the cause of weedsPrince Charles looked proud as punch at his son’s efforts and when Prince Philip arrived Harry said: ‘You were meant to be looking at strimmers and tractors, Grandpa, I didn’t know you were coming. Fantastic!’
'You were meant to be looking at strimmers and tractors, Grandpa, I didn’t know you were coming. Fantastic!'
Prince HarryThe prince even teased Philip that a circular stone centrepiece to his garden span round with flashing lights was rather like a nightclub podium.
‘Really?’ Philip enquired earnestly. ‘No, Grandpa, they wouldn’t let us,’ Harry joked.
Last to arrive was the Queen who was delighted at her grandson’s efforts but apparently told Harry to send a few plants to his father’s stumpery at Highgrove as he ‘needed a bit of greenery’.
Royal seal: The Queen (left) at Chelsea yesterday. Prince Harry (right) welcomed his father Charles with a kissThe garden’s creator, Jinny Blom, said she had been inspired by the landscape of Lesotho itself as well as Harry’s experience of losing his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
A pattern of hearts and crowns has been engraved on a circular terrace in the garden, acting as a memorial to the late princess.
'I don’t weed. I don’t believe in weeding because weeds are only flowers'
Joanna LumleyJoanna Lumley was also at the show promoting the cause of weeds. ‘I don’t weed,’ she declared. ‘I don’t believe in weeding because weeds are only flowers.’
Of the ‘lovely’ garden at her London home, the Absolutely Fabulous actress, a self-confessed ‘pagan and believer in the trees’, added: ‘It’s looking sensational at the moment, everything’s out as we all know so we’ve got all the blossoms and all the sweet smelling and all the lilacs tumbling over and the tall bits and the shadowy bits.’