Chelsea - Thomas Hoblyn's Cornish Memories Garden

Rhododendron 'Cunningham's Blush'

Approaching this garden the first impact is the beautiful and perfect oval of the pool, and its generous size. The smooth curved channels thrill with their line and with a fast running flow, even if your health and safety head thinks 'plenty of scope here for twisted ankles'. Pines and rhododendrons (here Pinus sylvestris 'Watereri') are very evocative of my Dorset early years so the planting provokes for me the emotion and retro response that the designer was aiming to capture.

who made these lovely bowls?

The rockpool bowls are gorgeous - oxygenating plants in them were producing lots of fascinating bubbles - and pick up on the artisan theme promoted though the show. The pavillion, however, was a little too B&Q for me.  I remain a fan of Hoblyn's Chelsea gardens.