The Queen visited the Hillier Exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this week as part of celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of Hillier Nurseries and Garden Centres.
Her Majesty met Robert Hillier OBE VMH, Chairman of Hillier Nurseries, John Hillier VMH, Andrew McIndoe (MD) and Ricky Dorlay, and was presented with a copy of Hillier: The Plants, The People, The Passion by Jean Hillier, wife of Robert Hillier and author of this remarkable account of the history of the Hillier family and nursery.
“It was a great honour to welcome the Queen onto the Hillier Garden and to talk to her about the book,” says Jean Hillier. “I thought Her Majesty would be particularly interested in the photographs of her mother, the Queen Mother, with Sir Harold Hillier,” explains Jean. “They were taken on 9th May 1978 at the opening of the Arboretum (now known as the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens).”
Hillier Nurseries are Royal Warrant Holders to HM The Queen, and participated in the Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace in 2013. 4000 trees from Hillier’s Hampshire nursery have been planted in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Hampshire’s Hillier Nurseries and Garden Centres, Jean Hillier has painstakingly researched the history of Hampshire’s Hillier Nurseries, delving through the family and company archives, talking to long-serving staff members, scouring through the RHS library and reading parish records.
Jean has written an engaging account of the development of Hillier Nurseries and Garden Centres from its origins amongst agricultural labourers, its foundation in Winchester in December 1864 and the planting of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens to the company’s present-day status as Royal Warrant Holders, winners of 69 consecutive Gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and one of the world’s leading nurseries.
Above: The Queen, Robert Hillier, Jean Hillier on the Hillier Exhibit at Chelsea.
Below: Sir Harold Hillier VMH with HM The Queen Mother in 1978.
