The Hardy Plant Society celebrates its 60th anniversary this year with one of the best birthday presents – a silver-gilt medal for their colourful Chelsea Flower Show stand.
Every year a branch of the Hardy Plant Society take on the challenge of building the Society’s exhibit at Chelsea Flower Show. This year, it was down to Worcestershire, representing the HPS in its 60th anniversary year. Worcestershire member Linda Marsh designed the stand, which is the first complete stand in the history of Chelsea to revolve constantly throughout the event. Visitors are able to enjoy the plant-packed exhibit (60 different kinds of plants have been used in the display, to mark the Society’s diamond jubilee) in its entirety, without having to move from one spot!
Many of the plants on display have been grown by Worcestershire branch members, who have been tending to them during the past year. QR codes enable visitors with smart phones to access lists of the planting, the theme of which is strong colour, and how to grow the plants. One plant that caught our eye was the stand-out poppy ‘Orangeade Maison’ – a relatively uncommon colour among poppies, a brighter orange would be hard to find.
Stand designer Linda Marsh, said: “We’ve aimed for an innovative, modern design for today. The idea behind everything we’re doing at Chelsea is to show that the Hardy Plant Society is moving with the times, encouraging new members of all ages so that we can grow and prosper.”
The HPS has 7,000 members across the UK and more than 40 regional groups. For more information about joining, click here.
See the Chelsea Flower Show 2017 Best in Show.
See the Chelsea Flower Show 2017 Gold Medal winners.
Do you know what the Chelsea Flower Show plant of the year was?
To find out more about the Chelsea Flower Show, click here.
