Chiswick Flower Market traders win Gold at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Holly and her mum Nikki with Holly’s husband Charlie and her father Graham

A ‘Feast of Foliage’

Chiswick Flower Market traders In the Garden have won a Gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It is the second year running that they have won a Gold medal at the show.

“We are absolutely over the moon to have won – delighted,” co-owner Holly Barsby told The Chiswick Calendar.

They were judged in the Great Pavilion, in the ‘Houseplants and indoor container gardening’ section, against a number of criteria that included overall impression and horticultural correctness. Their exhibit was called ‘Feast of Foliage’.

She hopes winning Chelsea Gold medal will raise awareness that it is possible to have an indoor garden, regardless of the space you have available, and that it will increase footfall to their shop in Mill Lane, NW6.

Holly and Nikki infront of their ‘Feast of Foliage’ exhibit, holding their medal

Mentored by another Chiswick Flower Market regular

“Mother and daughter team Nikki and Holly were spotted at Chiswick Flower Market and encouraged to enter Chelsea last year, where they won gold at their first attempt,” said Ollie Saunders, one of the directors of the Chiswick Flower Market.

Holly and Nikki are not the only traders at Chiswick Flower Market to have won Gold medals at Chelsea. Rosy Hardy, from Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants, is recognised as the most successful female exhibitor at Chelsea Flower Show, with 24 Gold Medals to her credit since she built her first display at the show in 1992.

READ ALSO: Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants at Chiswick Flower Market

She and her husband celebrated 25 years of exhibiting at the world’s greatest flower show in 2020 and have since retired from the show. They have been coming to Chiswick Flower Market since it started.

Rob Hardy has been Holly and Nikki’s mentor and introduced them to the RHS.

“He has been a fantastic support and a font of knowledge,” Holly told The Chiswick Calendar.

Holly with husband Charlie on the stall at Chiswick Flower Market

In the Garden will be at the Flower Market this Sunday, where they will be selling their plants and showing off their medal.

They sell plants in vintage containers, made out of galvanised metal, enamel, Wedgewood, ceramics and seed boxes, designed to be moveable and flexible for patios, planting evergreens, herbs and seasonal bedding plants together.

Indoor planting focuses on variegated foliage. Outdoor containers will have a mix of seasonal bedding plants such as salvias, petunias and geraniums.

“It’s literally an instant garden you can put on your balcony, or your front porch, or wherever,” said Holly, “so you can enjoy the seasons regardless of the space available to you.”

“Once you’ve enjoyed it, the spring in particular, the plants can be planted out in the garden; the container can be brought back to us and we can replant it for you.”

Holly and Nikki first achieved an RHS Gold in the 2023 at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, so this year’s Chelsea Flower Show win brings their tally of RHS medals to three.

They started with a stall at Beaconsfield Market with some plants, second-hand pots and a van. Having had a stall at Golborne Road & Portobello Market for almost ten years now, and a shop in Mill Lane, they joined Chiswick Flower Market four years ago.

They have a loyal client base spanning London, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. One of the services they offer is a 30 minute or a one-hour consultation via Zoom, to discuss how best to maximise the space you have available.

inthegardenuk.com

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