John Ravenscroft, the founder of Bridgemere Garden World, joined Blue Diamond MD Alan Roper at the opening of the Chelsea Flower Show Award winning Octavia Hill garden that has become the 16th show garden at Blue Diamonds Bridgemere Garden Centre.

On Friday 9^th May, Alan Roper the Managing Director of Blue Diamond, officially unveiled the newest addition to Bridgemere Show Gardens, ‘The Octavia Hill Garden by Blue Diamond Garden Centres’.

The Garden celebrates Octavia Hill, the pioneering co-founder of the National Trust, who believed green spaces and gardens were vital in everyone’ life. It features 3,600 native and non-native plants working together for biodiversity and beauty with bold, pollinator-attracting planting throughout the garden.

Over 400 visitors joined the team from Blue Diamond throughout the day to celebrate the unveiling, along with special guests including John Ravenscroft, the original owner and founder of Bridgemere Show Gardens, BBC Gardeners’ World presenter, Adam Frost, Clare Armstrong, a cousin of Octavia Hill, children from the local Bridgemere Church of England Primary School, along with members of the press and radio. Visitors were also entertained with live music from the Jake Leg Jug Band, and interactive entertainers.

The Garden had originally been showcased last May at RHS Chelsea Flower Show where it was awarded the augural Children’s Choice Award, People’s Choice Award and a Silver-Gilt medal.

It has then been lovingly, but painstakingly removed and rebuilt over several months, to its now permanent home, at Bridgemere Show Gardens, in Nantwich, Cheshire. Leaf Creative carried out the construction work and then the gardeners from Bridgemere, led by Samanatha Farr, completed the enormous task of planting up the garden.

Longevity of Octavia’s legacy and sustainability are at the heart of the Garden and as such the planting scheme replicates, so far as it is able, the planting scheme at Chelsea. Most of the plants in the garden are those that featured in the original Chelsea Garden, having been carefully looked after by Blue Diamond owned, Bridgemere Nurseries, with only a handful having to be replaced where they had not survived the move.

All the key features in the Garden are those seen at Chelsea except for the metal work birdbath which unfortunately was stolen a few months ago!

The new Garden is the 16^th garden to join those already at Bridgemere, (9 of which are RHS award-winning).

Alan Roper, Managing Director of Blue Diamond Garden Centres said: “ Having visited Bridgemere Show Gardens over the years, both during John Ravenscroft’s time and thereafter when the Gardens went into decline during their ownership under Wyevale Garden Centres, when the opportunity to buy Bridgemere Garden Centre and the Show Gardens came about, I jumped at the chance! Although the Show Gardens make no commercial sense, as they cost much more to maintain than the income they generate, these gardens are a piece of history, and I wanted to not only honour that, but also to add to that history with the addition of new show gardens”.

Jill Kerr, Group Relationship Manager for Blue Diamond Garden Centres added: “I have been incredibly lucky to have been involved in this Garden from its conception. The idea to build a show garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, based upon the life and ethos of Octavia Hill was first voiced by our Managing Director, Alan Roper, at the very first meeting I attended and I was then involved in managing the project on behalf of Blue Diamond, both through to it being showcased at Chelsea and thereafter being rebuilt at its permanent home at Bridgemere Show Gardens. Standing in the Garden at Bridgemere on Friday, I felt quite emotional. The Garden feels to me, like it did at Chelsea; its heart and soul having followed it to its now permanent home.

“We had a tremendous turnout on Friday to celebrate the Garden’s official unveiling, and we would like to thank all who attended and all those involved in the rebuild of this Garden."

Celebrations continued at Bridgemere on the 10^{th of} May, with a visit from best-selling author Joanne Harris who hosted a talk about her new novel “Vianne”, the prequel to Chocolat which was made into an Oscar nominated film in 2000, featuring Jonny Depp.

This talk was the first of Joanne’s book tour which takes place throughout May and Blue Diamond were delighted to secure advance copies of Joanne’s new book, ‘Vianne’ (officially launched the week of 19^th May), which many who attended the talk, eagerly purchased.

Blue Diamond Garden Centres will launch a new and exclusive rose for Joanne at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show to coincide with the launch of ‘Vianne’.

Rosa ‘Vianne’s Chocolat’ bred by Rosen Tantau is a nostalgic style, Hybrid Tea rose which produces deep purple, highly fragrant blooms that repeat flower throughout the season, with a bushy upright growth.

Joanne has synaesthesia that allows her to smell colours and her new rose smells, to Joanne, aptly of chocolate!

See GTN Xtra's photo's from the opening, the show gardens and a tour of Bridgemere Garden Centre below