“I had the opportunity to take Her Majesty the Queen around the garden”
LOCAL LIVES JON WHEATLEY Chelsea comes to Bath with the first ever Festival of Flowers. Here, the festival’s choreographer talks playing tour guide to the Queen, and designing a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show with Mary Berry… Jon Wheatley, a member of the elite Council of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), has won 26 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show as well as the Diamond Jubilee Award. He’s also the chairman of South West in Bloom and manages a garden design and landscape company. Here, ahead of Bath’s first ever Festival of Flowers – which Jon is choreographing – he talks to us about his experiences of gardening with Mary Berry and Chris Evans, and one of his proudest moments: meeting the Queen
I first fell in love with gardening when… my grandfather introduced me to growing dahlias when I was young. I love the power of flowers and growing – I believe that gardening has a lot to offer people.
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Milsom Place is staging a spectacular Festival of Flowers this month… It’s a brand-new, innovative event for Bath, and I will be choreographing head-turning displays – which will showcase flowers, fruits and veggies. You can also browse our plant sale, and there’s lots more going on at Milsom Place throughout the weekend [including: a wine masterclass at Le Vignoble; mosaic, bouquet and aromatherapy workshops; as well as sales at the shops and restaurants]. We want to show the public not to be afraid of colour… including the current favourite: Pantone purple – from the National Dahlia Collection, and there’ll be new releases for 2019 on show for the first time. I’m keen to reintroduce Bath’s floral heritage… which has
always made the city a special place for visitors. This festival is all about urban greening – it’s regenerative and fun. If I could design a garden for anyone, it would be for… myself. I never have time to do it. My day job involves…
organising exhibits for the Chelsea Flower Show, and running a local landscape management company. I’m also chairman of RHS South West in Bloom – I look after a region from Wiltshire to Cornwall – and I volunteer in the biggest horticultural campaign in Europe: Britain in Bloom. It’s been helping people to improve their local environment since 1964. Bath was the first ever winner of the national competition in 1964…It took the title again in 1968. Since then, Bath has won the Britain in Bloom best city category 10 times and won the regional South West in Bloom title more than 20 times. I lived and worked in Bath in the 70s… and although I’m constantly back and fore (I orchestrate the planting throughout the year at Milsom Place), I’m mostly based in Chew Magna. But
Bath is in Somerset, and I love the land of the Summer People. On a day off, you’ll find me… eating at Carluccio’s restaurant or visiting the Botanical Garden at Royal Victoria Park, which the city can take so much pride in. Bath has so many spectacular parks and formal gardens. If I was king of Bath, I would… regenerate and restore the great horticultural tradition Bath had in the past. Something people may not know about me is… When we were awarded the Diamond Jubilee Award for the best display in the Great Pavilion at Chelsea, I had the opportunity to take Her Majesty the Queen around the garden. And, last year, I designed the The Chris Evans Taste Garden at Chelsea with Mary Berry, to help celebrate the tastiest plants growing in UK gardens. You’d be surprised at the number of fascinating people you meet through horticulture.
Milsom Place’s Festival of Flowers takes place on 16 and 17 June; for more, visit www.milsomplace.co.uk