The Wedgwood Garden at RHS Chatsworth Flower Show 2019

Show gardens
Written By Form Plants

A long, narrow pool runs through the Wedgwood Garden at RHS Chatsworth Flower Show 2019, edged with blue, purple and crimson planting

In June 2019, the year before he founded Form Plants, Jamie Butterworth designed his first ever show garden: the Wedgwood Garden at RHS Chatsworth Flower Show. Created to celebrate Wedgwood’s 260th anniversary, it went on to become one of the most decorated gardens of the show, winning an RHS Gold Medal, Best Show Garden, the Best Construction Award and the People’s Choice Award.

A garden rooted in history

The starting point was John Wedgwood, son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood. John cared far more for plants than for pottery, and in 1804 he helped found what became the Royal Horticultural Society. He believed that plants and gardening could bring people together and make communities stronger, and that idea sat at the heart of the design.

Jamie spent time in the RHS Lindley Library reading John Wedgwood’s diaries and plant notes, and drew the planting from them: roses, sweet peas, herbs and trained fruit trees, just as John recorded growing in his own garden.

An espalier fruit tree trained against a red brick wall, underplanted with catmint and salvias

Jasperware in planting

The colour palette took its cue from Wedgwood’s famous Jasperware. Soft blues and purples of salvias and catmint wove through lush green foliage, lifted by flashes of deep crimson from poppies and dark-leaved shrubs, with clouds of white umbellifers to keep it light and airy.

Crimson poppies, purple salvias and white umbellifers in the Wedgwood Garden

Loose, naturalistic planting of blue, white and crimson flowers beneath the trees

A place to gather

At the centre of the garden was a sunken seating area built for sharing. Its large oak table and benches were hand carved from an oak that grew near John Wedgwood’s former home in Gloucestershire, and the table was laid with Wedgwood’s anniversary tableware. Alongside, a red brick bench sat beside a long, still pool, a quiet spot to pause and reflect, while trained fruit trees on the brick walls nodded to John’s diary entries about training fruit.

The sunken gathering space with its oak table, framed by dark foliage and soft planting

Airy flowering stems rising above hostas beside the gravel path and pool

Four awards, and a new home

The garden won an RHS Gold Medal, Best Show Garden, the Best Construction Award and the People’s Choice Award, a remarkable result for a first show garden. After the show it was moved to the World of Wedgwood in Barlaston, Staffordshire, so it could be enjoyed long after the show closed.

The Best Show Garden award on the oak table at RHS Chatsworth Flower Show 2019

That experience of designing, growing and building for the show ground shaped much of what Form Plants does today, from show garden planting to growing for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. See the Wedgwood Garden project page, or read more about Jamie Butterworth.

Form Plants