The Times Eureka Chelsea Garden comes to Kew for the summer

We are delighted to announce that The Times Eureka Chelsea Garden, in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, will be on display near Victoria Gate from mid-July until this autumn. The show garden, designed by Marcus Barnett and which won a Silver Medal at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, highlights the significance of plants to science and society.

06 Jul 2011

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Our garden for Chelsea comes to Kew Gardens

Marcus Barnett drew inspiration for this modern garden from plant cell structure. The plant species chosen for the garden demonstrate both beauty and utility.

Installing the Chelsea Garden at Kew

The garden, located at Victoria Gate will, as far as possible, be faithful to the original design, with the exception that it will not include the still water features and boundary hedges that featured at Chelsea.

We are pleased to be able to give anyone who missed the Chelsea Flower Show an opportunity to see The Times Eureka show garden at Kew over the summer months.

Professor Angela McFarlane, Director of Public Engagement and Learning

Visitors to Kew Gardens will also have the added benefit of being able to walk through the show garden and to see it against the majestic backdrop of Kew’s historic, UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape, and to see many more beautiful, useful and rare plants in Kew’s gardens and iconic glasshouses.

Introducing the plants

The plant species featured in the show garden demonstrate both beauty and utility, including medicinal, commercial, and industrial uses to underline the fact that plants are invaluable to our everyday lives – without them, none of us could live on this planet; they produce our food, clothing and the air that we breathe.

They include fennel, which is used to flavour food in many culinary traditions around the world and geraniums, often used as a diuretic and to treat kidney complaints – the leaves of which can also be used as mosquito repellent. Others featured are salvias, which are used as a treatment for diseases of the Central Nervous System, and roses, commonly used by the cosmetics industry and by drinks manufacturers.

Featuerd plants that inspired the garden.

Discover the plants that inspired the garden.

Professor Angela McFarlane, Director of Public Engagement and Learning, said, “We are pleased to be able to give anyone who missed the Chelsea Flower Show an opportunity to see The Times Eureka show garden at Kew over the summer months.

“As an organisation, the future and security of the planet’s plants is very close to our heart. This garden is not only stunning, but also embodies how we all absolutely depend on plants for the necessities of everyday life.”

Marcus Barnett's design

Marcus Barnett drew his inspiration for the garden from plant cell structure. A central pavilion, designed to look like the skeleton of a leaf, folded into a cube shape, provides a contemporary and light space from which to view the garden. From this structure ‘capillaries’ radiate along the ground, helping to demonstrate the link between plants and materials. For the design of the pavilion, Barnett collaborated with award winning architectural practice NEX. Engineering services were provided by Buro Happold.

Sussex-based company The Outdoor Room, who are the main contractors for building the show garden, are also involved in the relocation of the garden to Kew.