Another plant of the year is the cistus, with different forms growing in different gardens. A low-maintenance, drought-tolerant plant from the Mediterranean, it Flowers For several weeks through May and June, it produces hundreds of delicate, papery flowers. Darren Hawkes is very handsome cysts ‘Silver Pink’ dotted her garden, while Joe and Laura Carey chose low-growing ones. Cistus schönbergii For their gravel garden.
Irises are always popular in Chelsea – they are a classic May flower, after all. The most delightful display this year is Horatio’s Painterly Collection at the Garden Stand, curated by perfumer Fern and designed by floral artist Frida Kim. All the selected varieties are really attractive with interesting smoky colors including the pale, frilly ‘Party Dress’ and the sultry ‘Downtown Brown’.
One of the plants I saw in various gardens at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show was the dye plant, Wood (isitis tincture)An attractive ornamental plant in its own right. Drought tolerant and easy to grow, it is a brassica relative with yellow flowers that mature to small, acid yellow pods. Growing plants to create your own natural dyes is the theme throughout this year’s show. Sparsholt College put up an informative display of dye plants recognizable by their giant washing machines and a washing line hung with natural dye garments.
Francis Tophill also includes color plants such as Coreopsis tinctoria (tickseed), Quota color (Golden Chamomile) and Colored blondes (Madder) in the cottage-garden style RHS King’s Foundation garden. These functional plants can be grown together to create mini dye beds for easy harvesting but are also happy among other annuals or perennials. They are usually easy to grow from seed or can be purchased as young plants from garden centers.
