Plant Based!
In honour of Chelsea Flower Show this week, we’re championing the use of plants for big celebratory moments. From an English garden-inspired flower arch for the King’s Coronation to a rose-filled Chelsea in Bloom installation for Colbert, we’ve been enjoying the sustainability and longer lifespans of working with glorious seasonal plants.
Looking first at Chelsea in Bloom, where 150 pretty pink rose plants currently frame the awning of Parisian-style bistro, Colbert in Sloane Square. Paying homage to Édith Piaf and inspired by the biographical film of her life, our ‘La Vie en Rose’ installation brings together the magic of French cinema and the timeless beauty of nature. Sponsored by French apéritif, Lillet, the Colbert bar team have created three rose-inspired cocktails in its honour.
Each rose plant, supplied by the fantastic Quality Plants, is nestled into simple moss pads, incorporating dried lilac branches and ruscus to fill the façade of the restaurant, with vine woven letters spelling out ‘La Vie en Rose’ above the door. Perfectly fitting for this year’s ‘flowers on film’ theme, the installation has received a Silver Award from the Chelsea in Bloom judges.
Using plants rather than flowers is a more sustainable way to work, and one that lasts so much longer. Once Chelsea in Bloom has drawn to a close, the rose plants will be donated to Royal Trinity Hospice, so they can continue to be enjoyed.
Another of our favourite plant-based jobs, was working with Lay London on The Mayfair Coronation Garden Party. Inspired by English country gardens, and in particular the iconic gardens of Highgrove, the pride and joy of His Majesty King Charles III, we fashioned a focal flower arch and table displays of potted plants in Grosvenor Square.
Our flower arch blossomed with life, taking its cues from similar structures found within Highgrove. It was a luscious blend of twisted foliage and leafy vines scattered with bold pops of colour. The plants used included pelargonium in the aptly named ‘Regalia Purple’ and lycianthes in ‘Charles White’, as well as lavender, hydrangea and petunia. Nestled amongst them were two buzzing bees - a King Charles and Queen Camilla bee – artfully made by Leila Watts.
The structure itself was reused from a flower arch we created for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, adding to its sustainable credentials. For its first dressing up, we were inspired by Mary Poppins and used lots of kitsch, playful plants you might find in a classic front garden; gorgeous geraniums and colourful fuchsias. The arch will be used again and again, with a different ‘plant-fit’ to suit the style of the event. We love to keep things and reinvent them.
For the Coronation celebrations, we also created a joyful garden party setting and brought the bounty of the British garden to the dining tables. Each picnic bench was laid with floral linens for a resplendent ‘at home’ garden dining feel and were decorated with a central arrangement of Mayfair-branded terracotta pots, which were also made for last year’s Platinum Jubilee and reused. This created a rustic, walled garden look, and they were filled with seasonal lavender, geraniums, rosemary and clematis, adding summer colour and scent.
Thinking again about what happens once the glasses have been raised and the cake has been eaten, all the plants were donated to charity at the end of the weekend. Planting seeds of joy beyond their intended use, we’ve loved these recent jobs and their extended life and longevity.