Stephen Hendry of Newington Nurseries and Raymond Blanc of Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons meandered through our nursery late last summer, discussing the merits of tropical plants and vegetables.  The words 'Asian vegetables' and 'Cheslea Flower Show' cropped up during their enthusiastic conversation.  The idea to create an Asian garden for the 2005 Chelsea Flower Show was born in our tropical glasshouse!

Several meetings later and in preparation for the show, we were invited by our generous sponsor, Malaysia Airlines, to visit their wonderful country.  We did this in February earlier this year.  We left a very cold Oxford and arrived in a sunny Penang where the temperature was a glorious 35^oC.  There, we met wonderfully hospitable people who introduced us to the most fabulous tropical gardens, vibrant fruit and vegetable markets, untouched rainforest environments, mouth-watering food as well as traditional and stunning architecture.  For us, it was magical to see some of the rainforest plants that we grow at Newington Nurseries flourishing in abundance in their natural habitat.  It was home from home.

On our return, preparations for this year's Chelsea Flower Show continued in earnest and our exhibit was completed well in advance of the start of the show.  Our design was entitled The Malaysian Garden and although we were situated in the Grand Pavillion, the weather for the end of May was akin to that of February.  But our beloved tropical plants performed beautifully for us.  Our exhibit included a typical Malay hut which was surrounded by water and lush vegetation, all so reminiscent of our earlier visit to Malaysia.  Our hard efforts were rewarded with a Silver Medal and we were delighted that our exhibit received recognition by the RHS.

The show is now over for another year and our lovely stand has been dismantled.  However, the Malay hut is now reassembled in our glasshouse and some of the plants exhibited at this year's Chelsea Flower Show are on display, both inside and out.  Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons is also developing an area of their gardens so as to incorporate beds of Asian vegetables which will complement the more traditional herbs and vegetables they use in their kitchens.  Stephen Hendry will be assisting Raymond Blanc in this new venture in terms of design and planting.

Many people helped in putting the stand together for this year's Chelsea Flower Show, from the early ideas and discussions with people we met as far back as February to the current infrastructure for the stand itself.  Our grateful thanks go to all who helped us in staging a wonderful exhibit and the Silver Medal is for everyone who was closely involved in this award-winning project.  Kind friends took time away from their places of work and all of our staff gave up days off in order to complete the exhibit ahead of schedule. 

Anne Hendry

Our thanks in particular go to:

Raymond Blanc of Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons for his close collaboration with Stephen Hendry.

Newington Nurseries, a haven for plant lovers, on the A329, Newington, nr. Stadhampton, Oxon

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