Having designed and planted part of the Sitting Spiritually garden in Lyme Regis earlier this year, Martin asked us to design his stand at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The company was celebrating 10 years of exhibiting at the show and was excited about launching the Swinging Day Bed at the event.

With Martin’s top craftspeople to hand, we designed large timber frame planters within which we were able to create a planting scheme giving visitors a taste of the newly planted Dorset garden. A large shady area at the back of the stand was the perfect spot for a multi-stemmed Amelanchier, which was underplanted with Dryopteris and Asplenium ferns, and other shade-lovers. The colour palette was kept soft; Pimpinella rosea, Polemonium ‘Lambrooks Mauve’, Scabiosa oreuchula ‘Moondance’, Geum ‘Lemon Drops’ all providing muted tones, whilst pops of colour from Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’ and Astrantia ‘Roma’ caught the attention of passing visitors.

Lonicera henryii ‘Copper Beauty’ and climbing Rosa ‘Malvern Hills’ added the scent of summer as they twined around the supports of the day bed and clothed the walls, creating a secluded garden feel to the stand.

A few really special plants drew visitors in: Melica altissima ‘Alba’, with its nodding rice-like flowering stems, threaded through taller perenials, and the zingy Euphorbia polychroma brought a zesty highlight.

We were so pleased to see the stand win a 4 Gold Stars Award, the company’s first ever prize. There wasn’t a moment without the buzz of hoverflies and bees on the stand, or, for that matter, visitors to the very gorgeous and super-comfortable day bed!