Last week I had a truly lovely and inspiring afternoon with Oka at The RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

We started the day with a faux flower arranging lesson with their in house Interior Designer Hilary using Oka’s silk flowers at their flagship store on Fulham Road. It was really fun and I will be showing you the some of the skills I picked up soon here on the blog.

I’ve never been to RHS Chelsea Flower Show before and ironically even though I have worked in TV and know the ropes  – I still imagined it would be ‘ like off the telly ‘ which it kind of was but much, much bigger and spread out than expected.

The show gardens were so clever. The dedication that goes in to each and every one is admirable.

Being a fan of Japanese styles I loved this gold medal winning one above designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara called ‘ Goshi No Niwa Now wall, No War ‘. The way the glass house hides amongst the trees. Stunning.

It was really exciting to see Tom and Danielle Raffield showing their ‘ Gwenver Garden Room ‘. You may know that I interviewed Tom recently after their home was featured on Grand Designs. I seem to have learn a lot about steam bending wood recently and I think their house is just beautiful.

To really take in every single design you’d have to spend a couple of days there but I took as many photos as I could. Here is the ‘ The Silk Road Garden, Chengdu China by Laurie Chetwood and Patrick Collins ‘. Another gold winner..What are you thoughts on it ? I love its uniqueness.

There were a lot of people studying this yet another gold winning garden named ‘ Breaking Ground ‘ designed by Andrew Wilson and Gavin McWilliams. I really like it. I’m pretty sure if my daughters had been there they woulds have wanted to climb it … not sure that would have gone down well !

This ‘ Poetry Loves Garden ‘ designed by Fiona Cadwallader won a silver really caught my eye. I’d love something like this in our garden at home.

One from my neck of the woods. The ‘ IBTC Lowestoft Boatbuilder’s Garden by Gary Breeze. It won a gold and I’m not surprised. Are you ? So tranquil.

I wish I’d managed to get a better photograph of this design but wanted to share it anyway. An industrial style space called ‘ Walkers Wharf ‘ by Graham Bodle using recycled woods and materials. For me it shows how you can make a calm area out of pretty much anything. It won a gold.

 

This orange tree was part of the ‘ Viking Cruise Garden of Inspiration ‘ by Sarah Eberle made me yearn for Spain. The mosaic and spiky arid loving plants. Sarah won a silver this year.

Then there were the flower exhibits. Wow. The colours.

It was a fantastic experience and I think I’m hooked now. Can’t wait for next year. Thank you Oka for a really inspiring time.

Which is your favourite ? Leave me a comment under this post  – would love to hear from you.

Lucy x