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| Britain |
| Prince Chuck's gardening skills rewarded by the Queen |
| 2009-05-19 |
| At a preview of the Chelsea Flower Show, which opens on Tuesday, the Queen presented her son and heir with the Royal Horticultural Society Victoria Medal of Honour. He became only the second member of the Royal Family to be given the award, which was set up to commemorate the reign of Queen Victoria, following in the footsteps of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother who was presented with it in 1961. The Prince joined the select body of 63 horticulturists who can hold it because of his "passion for plants, gardening and the environment". The economic downturn has seen a reduction in the number of sponsored gardens and also inspired some low key and economical designs. James May, the Top Gear presenter, has created the world's largest garden made of Plasticine, there is a real underwater exhibit complete with man-eating piranhas in their display, and the Cayman Islands have used plastic coral to recreate an underwater reef. May, who conceded he was unlikely to win an award for a garden devoid of any plants, said: "It's relatively low-maintenance. Plasticine flowers don't die, and you don't get weeds." One of the favourites to win a prize is Sarah Eberle's series of "credit crunch" gardens built on a low budget using scrap and recycled materials. The Daily Telegraph garden, designed by Swedish landscape architect Ulf Nordfjell, mixes the traditional English garden with Scandinavian modernism. There was consternation at the show when Jekka McVicar, who is on the ruling council of the RHS, breached the rules by placing a garden gnome called Borage in the middle of her display of organic and culinary herbs. The rules clearly state that any brightly coloured creatures – including garden gnomes - will lead to disqualification. Mrs McVicar, who has won 61 RHS gold medals, took evasive action before the judges arrived and removed the gnome for some well earned rest. "He's my lucky mascot," she said. "This is the first time we've had a water feature. He went fishing and he got spotted. He's now asleep." The Queen, who is patron of the Royal Horticultural Society, rarely misses the Chelsea Flower Show while the Prince has often entered his own exhibit. In 2002 his Healing Garden dedicated to the Queen Mother and full of medicinal herbs received a Silver Flora in the Best Show Garden category. He also won silver in 2001 for his Islamic garden. The Prince has spent more than 25 years developing his own organic gardens at Highgrove in Gloucestershire which includes a wild flower meadow with 30 different varieties of endangered plants. Giles Coode-Adams, President of the RHS, said he was an ambassador for good gardening practices. "The work that the Prince of Wales does to promote and contribute to good gardening practices and the cultivation of plants, sustainable gardening and the environment are core to the RHS," he said. Katherine Jenkins, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart and Dame Helen Mirren were among the stars attending the preview. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #2 Nice to see Charles involved in the world's oldest profession, that of gardening....and yes of course there's Camilla, dedicated to the second oldest. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-05-19 19:33 |
| #1 and then Camilla ate the flowers.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-05-19 19:29 |