Sep 9, 20212 min read

RHS Chelsea Flower Show: A First Display for Exotic Earth Plants

Exotic Earth Plants has been asked to dress a cart style display at RHS Chelsea Flower show this year (2021) in the Italianate Market. The exciting news came late into August 2021 from an RHS Floral Marquee Manager, who visited the collection before COVID-19.

At the heart of the Great Pavilion an Italian-style piazza will surround the Monument with huge olive trees, cypress and characterful handmade terracotta pots adding to the Mediterranean flavour.

The stage set located around the Chelsea Monument will deliver an amazing theatrical representation of a historic Italian market with a ‘vintage’ look and feel. Villaggio Verde have designed the feature, which will have a warm Mediterranean feel. Rustic colours will be used and the key planting will include olives, cypress, citrus trees, dahlias, cannas and geums.

The Great Pavilion Piazza will showcase specialist growers of rare and unusual plants and autumnal themed produce displayed on vintage flower carts. The whole feature will have a rustic, authentic and romantic atmosphere.

There will be 12 vintage flower carts, which are over 70 years old and have reconditioned tops. The display will not be judged and an example of a cart is given below:

This will be a huge dive into the deep end of the horticultural circuit for Exotic Earth Plants and I look forward to displaying some Brugmansia and other subtropical plants at the event on one of these carts.

I am tirelessly feeding the plants in the collection and will decide next week which plants I will be taking with me. As a rough list I am looking to take Brugmansia, Iochroma, Trozelia, Solanum, Colocasia, Roldana, Echium, and some other subtropicals which might be looking good. The setup will be 4 wooden rustic planters edging the cart with galvanised pots in the corners showcasing some low to mid size plants. In the middle I am hoping for some flowering Brugmansia, Trozelia and maybe a Musa to increase the exotic appearance.