RHS Chelsea Flower Show talk

7/2/14

Today we attended a Botanical Society talk featuring David Davidson on this year’s Royal Horticulture Society’s Chelsea Flower Show. I was really intrigued by this talk because I had never even heard of the Chelsea Flower Show and it seems like the horticultural showcase/competition featuring the top dogs of in the industry, or at least those willing to fork over the money to for their display. The Chelsea Flower Show is basically a horticulture fair where companies can enter numerous competitions presenting displays or prize flowers for a group of judges.

Our speaker has been designing these exhibits for Kirstenbosch for 21 years now with Raymond Hudson.  In that time, the two have garnered 17 gold medals, were awarded the first ever President’s Most Creative Award, and more. This year, Kirstenbosch received a silver medal for their design which was inspired by “Celebrating Sustainability in Harmony with Nature”. To illustrate this concept, the creators utilized the concept of biomimicry while representing them on four visible landscapes, each consisting of a different aspect of South Africa’s natural landscapes, plus an additional corner tribute to Nelson Mandela. Biomimicry is mimicking natural, biological concepts for the use of modern technology. The picture illustrates the representing team with Mr. Hudson on the far left, and Mr. Davidson on the far right.

The Enchanted Forest is another name for the Arboretum section at Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. Because of the Centenary and newly erect Canopy Tree Walk, the design team seized a perfect opportunity to represent the forest biome and Kirstenbosch all-in-one. As you can see below, the Boomslang was modelled after the skeletal structure of an actual boomslang, which translates to tree snake. That is biomimicry.

The Boomslang then continues into the Ecosystem Services section. This system celebrates the conservation works being performed in South Africa to create harmony and peace between the people and nature. In Mr. Davidson’s own words, “We have broken harmony with Nature. To re-establish a balance with Nature, we must acknowledge its intrinsic value and clearly establish the obligations of humans toward Nature and also recognize that Nature has rights that should be respected, promoted, and defended.”

The Savannah is what Africa is most known for. This is where you go for safaris and observe the beautiful wildlife that Africa has to offer. This segment represented two more aspects of biomimicry. The basket, which is a new construction design after the Weaver Bird’s nest. The other is the Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre, which features buildings utilizing an ancient method of construction used to create cave-like structures billowing out of the Earth. Not going to lie, still having trouble analyzing the facts of this addition. But I know the actual site was elected a World Heritage Site nearly a decade ago.

The fourth setting provides the scenic landscape of the Cavalli Wine Estate. South Africa boasts proud winelands and this specific winery has a beautiful fully sustainable landscape representing the fynbos vegetation. It contributes to the natural landscape by utilizing water-wise plants from the native plant biodiversity found in the area, along with other design means such as a bioswale.

The final component of the Kirstenbosch display is a corner-piece mosaic of Nelson Mandela. The wall is constructed of rock and dry protea head rosettes, which create a natural color palette of eight. Below you can observe the volunteer gluing on the individual heads to create the mosaic. Alongside the wall is Strelitzia reginae “Mandela’s Gold”, obviously named after him by Kirstenbosch, and other native plants.

Truly striking and designed very well. David continued on to other spectacular exhibits of the show which continued to impress and amaze the entire audience. If you ask me, this seems like a convention all horticulturists should attend at least once in their lifetime. It is definitely now on my list of things to do. Below are some more pictures of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.