At Chelsea Press Day

At Chelsea Press Day with Sue Bradley

Here I am with my friend and fellow garden writer Sue on Chelsea Press Day, our fab photo kindly taken by another friend and photographer Ian Thwaites, who's given his permission for me to use it in this post. Thanks Ian!*

'Oi, stand aside,' I hear you say... 'we want to see the garden you've been telling us about for months!' Well, here it is...


...almost exactly the same view, but without us! 

Moody view of the FloodRe garden with the 'whomping willow'

I'm also rather fond of this photo looking the other way, despite it being shot into the light. I think it gives it a slightly mystical feeling, especially as I mentally called the tree on the left 'the whomping willow' whenever I saw it.

Weren't we lucky with the weather!

The reaction to The Flood Resilient Garden on the day, on the Chelsea TV coverage, and in the press was immense. Naomi and her co-designer Ed certainly caught the zeitgeist after our miserable rainy winter and spring. Joanna Lumley said she adored it.

Here are a few more scenes from the garden in collage form:

Press Day at the Flood Resilient Garden

In the top right photo you have the garden's designer - and my friend - Naomi Slade with her daughter Holly on the right. Holly was a star on the build who worked like a trojan and bought her floristry skills to the fore to ensure beautiful plant combinations throughout the garden. As she said afterwards: "It's floristry with soil!" Have a look at her yummy designs over on Insta.

In the photo below them you have TV weather girls Laura Tobin and Elizabeth Rizzini. Laura's long been a champion of the garden's sponsor FloodRe and it was great to see she spent most of her day at Chelsea enthusing about the garden and what it represents, backed up with plenty of science and knowledge. Not your usual kind of celeb on Press Day!

Congratulations Naomi, I'm so happy I had a personal involvement with this show garden - the one that truly spoke to me when they were announced last year - and for giving me an opportunity to tick off something on my bucket list 😊

* = Ian's a true gentleman, who said in his description of his photo on Insta:

"One of the great things about going to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the opportunity to meet up with friends. Here are my good friends Michelle aka @vegplotting and Sue aka @lotmentlover enjoying the fantastic garden designed by @naomisladegardening in the glorious sunshine on Press day. What a great time we had!"

Awww, thanks Ian, we had a great day and I LOVE the photo! I see for once my badge is showing up the right way 😀

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