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The Very Best of 2013 – A Year In Pictures
When I wrote my equivalent post this time last year, I thought 2012 was a momentous year, but reflecting on 2013 I find the last twelve months have more than measured up. I celebrated my 40th...
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RHS London Plant and Design Show
A reminder that next week, on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd February, the RHS will be marking the imminent arrival of spring with their London Plant and Design Show. There will be ravishing displays...
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2014 RHS London Plant and Design Show – Highlights
Those of you who look in on The Frustrated Gardener regularly will know that I treasure my little jaunts from my place of work to the RHS London shows. I rarely break for lunch, let alone horticultural...
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After Dark – The RHS Spring Fair Late
Even for London it’s been a strange evening. The temperature in the city is not much below 20 degrees, which would be remarkable for a summer night, let alone the first in April. As I strolled home...
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Daily Flower Candy – Echeveria lilacina
We’ve spent the last two days on the Isles of Scilly, a tiny archipelago of islands off the southwestern tip of England. The climate is famously mild but occasionally wild. This suits plants that like...
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Chelsea Calling
May is well and truly here, so naturally my thoughts turn to Chelsea and what we can expect of the world’s most famous flower show in its 101st year. The omens are good. To start with we’ve enjoyed a...
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Chelsea Flower Show 2014 – Stars of the Show: The Telegraph Garden
I was right about some things concerning this year’s Chelsea Flower Show; the weather was better; most designers defaulted to the tried and tested formula of multi-stemmed trees underplanted with...
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Chelsea Flower Show 2014 – Stars of the Show: A Garden for First Touch at St...
Over the years the rock bank site at Chelsea has provided the setting for some of the show’s most exciting gardens. Last year it was occupied by The Australian Garden created by Flemings for...
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Chelsea Flower Show 2014 – People’s Choice Award: Hope on the Horizon
No doubt spurred on by TV talent shows, where the audience as well as expert judges get a vote, the RHS introduced People’s Choice awards at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2010. These awards reflect...
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Chelsea Flower Show 2014 – My Top 10 Plants
Despite the inevitable fuss over the show gardens, the highlight of my visit to Chelsea Flower Show is always the Great Pavilion. At 12,000 square metres, about the same size as two football pitches,...
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Chelsea Flower Show 2014: Artisan Gardens
Away from the hype and hubbub of Chelsea’s Main Avenue, two categories of show garden highlight the newest talent and the most innovative ideas in garden design. These are the Artisan and Fresh...
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London Grows, Amsterdam Shows
Every so often a particular date throws up so many opportunities for merriment that one is spoilt for choice. The next such occasion is June 21st and 22nd, when two gardening events I’ve been hotly...
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RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2014 – Show Garden Highlights
Chelsea needs to watch her back. Her bigger, louder and brighter sister at Hampton Court Palace is slowly but surely stealing her crown. Chelsea may be smarter, better educated and popular with the...
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Hampton Court Flower Show 2014: Vestra Wealth’s Vista
I had never heard of Vestra Wealth before this year’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and that’s for one very good reason – I have no wealth to manage. Should I come up trumps in the lottery, I would...
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Kinky Leeks and Gracious Grapes – The RHS London Harvest Festival Show 2014
Apart from Cinderella, few people are likely to consider an after-dark encounter with a giant pumpkin an exciting prospect, but the Royal Horticultural Society are out to change all that. In a revision...
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The Very Best of 2014 – A Year In Pictures
I embark on my review of 2014 with a degree of trepidation, as this year did not turn out to be quite as joyful as I hoped it might be. The two preceding years were gloriously packed with exotic travel...
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Great Expectations – Chelsea Flower Show 2015 Show Gardens
Only fifteen days into the New Year and the RHS have offered the public a glimpse of how the show gardens will look at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. As you’d expect there’s little that might risk...
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Saltwood Castle NSPCC Plant Fair 2015
Driving south to the pretty village of Saltwood for the annual NSPCC plant fair has become something of a tradition in our household. Even Him Indoors looks forward to going, or at least pretends to....
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Chelsea Flower Show 2015 – The Dream Ticket
Generally speaking I am not the kind of person who wins lotteries or ballots. I don’t even come out of tombolas or raffles particularly favourably. I am the man that walks away with the cider vinegar...
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Chelsea Flower Show 2015 – Stars of the Show: Laurent-Perrier Chatsworth Garden
At about 10.30am yesterday morning a small crowd surrounded Monty Don and RHS Director General Sue Biggs as they prepared to announce the prize for ‘Best Large Show Garden’. Their position, next to the...
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