After almost three decades and an incredible 24 RHS Gold Medals, Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants has this week announced their retirement from exhibiting at RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Hardy’s were due to present their finale exhibit at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May 2021 with their largest ever exhibit which was sponsored by Candide.

Sadly, as RHS Chelsea has had to be postponed until September 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions, Hardy’s have taken the sad decision to forgo their chance of achieving a 25^th Gold Medal and bow out from the world’s most prestigious horticultural stage.

Hardy’s final exhibit was scheduled to have been their largest ever at 160 sq. meters, which is ¾ the size of a Main Avenue Show Garden. As with all Hardy’s exhibits, the display would have featured many hundreds of the nursery’s stunning species of spring and summer flowering herbaceous perennials and shrubs. All the plants have been nurtured and grown at Hardy’s Nursery in Hampshire over the last two years, in preparation for the Show in May.

With the postponement of this year’s Show until September, Hardy’s would not have been able to switch their planting scheme and have the time to grow the many hundreds of ‘gold medal’ quality, Autumn flowering perennials which would have been required for the exhibit. However, the many months of plant preparation and perfecting, will not go to waste, as Hardy’s and Candide are planning to hold a special May celebration, for which more details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Although Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants will no longer exhibit at RHS Chelsea, their gardening fans need not despair, as the team will continue to exhibit at all other RHS Shows, Malvern Autumn Show and at a selection of plant fairs around the country. Hardy’s will also continue to sell direct from their nursery in Freefolk Priors, Whitchurch, Hampshire online at hardysplants.co.uk and on candidegardening.com.

Commenting Rosy Hardy said, “We were originally due to have our finale exhibit in 2020 and after the disappointment of that cancellation we agreed to continue for one more year. However, with the postponement of this year’s May Show we have reluctantly made the decision to finally retire from RHS Chelsea.

We have loved our years exhibiting at RHS Chelsea and have some incredible memories. Stepping down from exhibiting there has been a very difficult decision especially as we had such a wonderful exhibit planned for May with our sponsor Candide. But we know the time is right to step back from the annual pressure we put on ourselves to create a flawless exhibit.

While we will not be exhibiting again, it’s very much ‘Au Revoir’ to RHS Chelsea, as we will continue to support all our fellow nurseries in the Great Pavilion, many of whom have become life-long friends.”

Helen Allsebrook of Candide said, “We are incredibly proud to support Hardy's and so disappointed Rosy and Rob won’t be able to have their finale exhibit at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May. However, we have a strong partnership with Hardy's who are a true British grower and whose environmental and ethical values we share. We will continue to work with them on a ‘yet to be revealed announcement’ which we’re so excited to share with Hardy’s fans!”

January 2021

Since the 2020 Chelsea was postponed until 2021 we have asked many of the people who have worked for us, what they remember about Chelsea. In this series of small articles about the planning and physical preparations for setting up a display at CFS, we hope to give you an insight as to what has to go on in the background that is incredibly important, but not usually seen.

What people remember are the floral displays and that moment in time that is captured in the exhibits on the day they visit the show. There is a lot of hard work, stress and maybe even a bit of sharp words mainly addressed at the plants which are not performing as they should.

Alison Broad memories of CFS:

Since I left Hardy’s 12 years ago, I have been working with my husband on a local shoot, only returning to help out for Hampton Court one year and Chelsea when Rosy did her garden in 2016.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Hardy’s but I think things are different now. My time in the show plant tunnel was spent with Tansy (a collie) and her love of flower pots! Usually cleaning grasses, a long job but very rewarding when done, watched over by Rosy’s Mum (Jillian. A. Laing) who was a huge part of Chelsea in my day.

I know how stressful it is for Rob, Rosy and Hilary with the pressure of plants flowering on time, but it always worked out and a Gold Medal to show for it, which in my day was celebrated with Overton Jam doughnuts!

Wishing you all well at this strange and difficult time, and good luck for Chelsea next year when things will be back to normal.

Alison

The preparation of the plant material used on the display starts in November, this is when the plants are mainly dormant meaning that tidying up and repotting can start. We have some very mature specimens which are used year after year, these are de-potted given a root prune and depending on their growth are split up or just have a small amount taken off them. This gives us new saleable material or more display stock. All of our display plants are grown outside during the winter harden them off, herbaceous perennials need the winter cold to help with flowerbud formation they do not require being cosseted, or wrapped up that is why they are hardy.

December 2020

The thought processes that underpin the planning of a display? I start to think about the next CFS as soon as we have been given an award for the present exhibit. This gives me the opportunity to decide on the size and shape of space within which I would like to create the next display. We have to apply for space in the August following a very busy summer, so being already prepared helps.

The display, is it a set idea or combination? Once the size and shape of the display has been agreed then I can decide on the feel for the upcoming display. As the pathways and any water features are very important, we need to know the exact materials required. The pathways can be soft curves or hard sharp clean lines, which when planted up are transformed into beautiful gardens.

When we first started to create displays in the Marquee at the CFS, it was a small stand 18ft x 8ft in 1992. This changed the following year to a square island site 15ft x 15ft and then subsequently 20ft x 20ft as we progressed and I became a bit more confident with what we were doing. Every display has its own character and is never the same year after year. Circular stands were always good to create, with the viewing public not sure where they started so walked around several times.

In 2010 encouraged by the then show manger Alex Denman, we created our first walk through stand (pics 2010 & 2010B). Since then we have not looked back, with walk-through stands giving so much more to the viewing public. It is as though they can enter the garden and browse both the plants and design to get ideas to use at home. The only downside from our point of view with walk-through gardens is that you end up with a lot more edges and these require finishing off to a high standard. But we have found this to be a winning combination, helping us to showcase all our beautiful plants. At the end of the day the plants are the stars. Gradually over the years the displays have grown in size and complexity which stretches the imagination and designer.

Our last RHS CFS is also a chance to work with some very talented young craftsmen, George Harding and Simon White of Object Atelier, both of which come from prestigious design backgrounds. George Harding worked at Benchmark Furniture Ltd, the award-winning Berkshire based furnituremakers founded by the late Sir Terence Conran with Sean Sutcliffe. Simon White first worked for Opus Magnum and then Aldworth James and Bond, both leading British furniture design companies where he met George and the rest is history. By coincidence or perhaps serendipity, we have also had the privilege of growing plants for Sir Terence Conran for his RHS CFS garden created by David Stevens.

Interview with the bespoke timber structure designers OBJECT ATELIER

Earlier this year during the first Coronavirus lockdown we asked Object Atelier to share their thoughts about being involved in this design collaboration

George Harding and Simon White of Object Atelier

What is your role on the RHS Chelsea display?

We have been asked to design, create and install an atmospheric entrance arch plus circular benches from English Chestnut for Hardy's final display in the Marquee

RHS Chelsea Flower Show - do you love it or hate it?

George Harding - My mother is a very keen and talented hands-on gardener, so the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has been part of my life, if only on the periphery, for some years. I am personally very excited to be part of it this year.

How do you find the process of collaboration with another designer, especially a plantswoman?

We have really enjoyed the experience of going from reference images and concepts from Rosy, to working up models and creating the final structure that we hope will really stand out at the show in 2021.

What were your inspirations when designing the structure?

Incorporating Rosy and Rob's vision and imagination were key to the initial design into which we fed our knowledge and guidance of timber selection, plus structural and manufacturing capabilities

What is the best part of your job?

Taking and developing a client's initial thoughts to a design and creating something for them to enjoy for years to come

How do you select and source your materials?

We called upon our knowledge and experience of working with wood to select a timber that is grown and sourced in England, as we felt this fitted best with the brief and Hardy's ethos of promoting home-grown Hampshire plants

What is the strangest object that you have been asked to create?

The cladding of a house where the cladding would have to open and close

What's next for Object Atelier?

A commission to create outdoor furniture from solid oak for a client in the Cotswolds

Now that you are part of the Hardy's Family, we have an important question - favourite cake?

Lemon drizzle

November 2020.

For RHS Chelsea 2021 the original plan for our display will be used. We may have to make minor tweaks as it is designed as a walk through, a one-way system for the public is something we may have to implement.

All the trees and hedging were purchased from a British nursery last year and we have been looking after them ever since. Lets hope they have not grown too much in a years time!

On this, our last Chelsea show we are going to be documenting all the exciting developments in the lead up, including some great memories from past and present.

So let the countdown to Chelsea 2021 begin........

As we head into the winter months all our show plants are starting to be re-potted and split as required. The display area will be the largest indoor display we have ever built at Chelsea Flower Show. This plan required many more plants which, back in March of this year, were all ready to be grown on and moved in and out of tunnels. But obviously it never happened. These plants instead stayed in their growing area flowering, without many people getting to see their beauty.

At the moment we are not sure if we will be launching any new plants. But watch this space!!

The plant selection we will be displaying will be varied and numerous. This enables me to showcase them at their best, in a design that holds to my mantra of ‘Right Plant, Right Place’.

There will be a wooden structure at the start of the garden. All the wood has been sourced and we have tasked Object Atelier to build this, a very talented group of bespoke furnituremakers and craftsmen. In general we have made a concerted effort to ensure all items used for the display have been manufactured in the UK.