At 200 square metres, Hartley Botanic’s trade stand at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show will be one of the largest and most ambitious in its category.
The stand, which has been designed by Longview Design, will be built by The Outdoor Room with plants sourced by Burford Garden Company, will feature five handmade greenhouses and glasshouses with show garden worthy planting to demonstrate the variety of ways Hartley Botanic greenhouses can be enjoyed by the modern gardener.
Hartley Botanic’s Victorian Grand Lodge will be the largest glasshouse featured on the stand and will be dressed with tropical and subtropical species – a nod to Victorian plant collectors. Airplants, palms, bananas and the exotic Gloriosa vine will complement the lodge’s proportions and Stephanotis will provide a wonderful scent. The Opus glasshouse, featured in last year’s award-winning show garden, will ‘exhibit’ an incredible collection of orchids, celebrating them like individual works of art. Orchids on show will include the slipper orchid Paphiopedilum, the South American Zygopetalum and Masdevallia species. Two other buildings, the Grange greenhouse and Westminster glasshouse, will demonstrate the more traditional art of growing fresh fruit and vegetables and will be filled with brightly coloured peppers, aubergines and chillies as well as fresh herbs. For those passionate about ‘grow your own,’ and perhaps spurred-on by recent supermarket food shortages, the stand will also feature Hartley Botanic’s Grow & Store greenhouse.
The stand itself will feature exotic and hardy plants from around the world which will add beautiful texture as well as help lead visitors around the exhibit. Key themes for both the external plantings and those within the greenhouses and glasshouses is a love and passion for plants and visitors’ sensory experience – especially as they visit each unique greenhouse. The stand is in a prominent location next to the Great Pavilion and show gardens on Main Avenue which, along with the stand’s ambitious plant displays, will help to attract visitors.
Hartley Botanic managing director Tom Barry commented: “We wanted to develop and execute the best trade stand possible this year – not just to win awards but to win current and future customers. Hartley Botanic’s 79 year old reputation for ‘the finest greenhouses money can buy’ and its new RHS recommended status has been built on pioneering design and quality which exceeds expectations. It felt fitting that this year’s trade stand reflected these principles in the plant and stand design as well as through our expertly crafted greenhouses and glasshouses. There is no reason why our trade stand cannot be as inspiring and enticing as RHS Chelsea’s show gardens this year, and this is our aim.”
Burford Garden Company horticulture director Glen Sheldrake added: “Burford Garden Company was delighted to be invited to supply and plant the gardens and greenhouses on the Hartley Botanic stand at Chelsea this year. With us both being British heritage brands with an eye for quality and detail, we felt it was a great fit. We have worked tirelessly to source the finest plants for the stand, creating a multi-sensory experience for all who visit. We are sure the Hartley Botanic exhibit will be taking the trade stand category to a new level.”
