Chelsea
Once a year, somewhere around May, there’s a slight change in the seasons and suddenly everyone you know is whispering about their borders in conspiratorial Cornish voices. The phenomenon that triggers this moment is Chelsea Flower Show. It happens like mass annual permission to garden bloggers who have been muttering darkly about their borders all winter, and inexplicably turns the entire country into people who have strong feelings about dahlias and precise ideas about what they want from a cutting garden. If you know someone like this, or watched endless hours of coverage last year and found themselves unexpectedly a little glassy eyed at the walled gardens and the wildflower meadows, then this collection is curated around them.
Simple.
We put it together because we noticed that most gifts for gardeners fall into one of two categories. Things so generic that they could have been bought by anyone (you know the ones, we’re looking at you trowel, at you seed packet), bought in five minutes without a second thought. Or they’re so niche that you need to know the ins and outs of the recipients plot before buying. You need to know what they grow, how they like to grow it, what tools they use. We wanted the middle ground. Things that would mean something to someone who spends more time with their plants than your average person does, but that didn’t require us to know their planting plan by heart.
What we did look for was quality. Thoughtful gifts that any gardener would be happy to receive. Stuff that’s been made well. Tools that feel like they’ll last and will pleasure to use. Books you know have been written by people who’ve grown stuff and undoubtedly messed up at some point. Ceramics that are as beautiful outside as they are in your Instagram feed. In short, things that you can confidently buy for the person who spends more time in the garden than the sitting room, knowing that they’ll use it and actually love it.
Timing-wise, Chelsea tends to coincide with that point in the year when everyone’s gardening desires are most potent. It’s the time for planning. For allowing yourself to be inspired. We think a gift timed to catch someone when they’re feeling like that lands very differently to one given at Christmas when all the beds are bare and the catalogues aren’t even out yet. Say it with plants.