Guest Blog

Today we’re going to have some fun with Scott Wynd, the official ‘problem solver’ of the Fleming’s 2012 Chelsea Team! This is Scott’s 6th year at Chelsea and he’s got a whole lot of great experience under his belt and some stories to tell- I’m dying to know what he said to make the Queen laugh like that (see below!) – Jenny x

Flemings 2005 Gold Medal winning Chelsea Flower Show entry ‘Float’

Scott Wynd is one of Australia’s premier landscape design and construction specialists. He was the lead construction manager for the build of the first Fleming’s Chelsea entry in 2005, designed by Jack Merlo, which received a gold medal.  He was also the designer in his own right in 2010 and again won a gold medal. Renowned for their iconic pools, lush, functional garden spaces, and great outdoor entertaining areas, Scott’s company Total Landscapes and Constructions and TLC Pools, is in hot demand in Melbourne! Scott has been a steady member of the team since 2005 and is the captain of the construction team in 2012. – Wes

More of the 2005 ‘Float’ entry and Scott posing with some of the Chelsea Flower Girls after the big win!

Are you excited to be back at Chelsea for 2012? What do you love about the Chelsea Flower Show?

It’s great to be back at Chelsea I have to say – this is a project that gets in your blood. I first came to Chelsea in 2005 when my crew built Jack Merlo’s ‘Float’ design for Fleming’s. It was a beautiful, sleek design, very iconic and very much the signature of Jack Merlo, so it was a pleasure to build and thoroughly deserved it’s Gold medal.

Chelsea is a completely different environment to building a home garden. Show Gardens are completely different to build… they have greater challenges, they have a time frame, they have to look perfect and work to be showcased to a crowd all within 17 days – and then they are demolished in a matter of days.

In the years that I have been involved with Chelsea it has become more and more clear to me how important this event is to the Australian landscape industry. The project is Wes Fleming’s baby, and his vision was to ensure the experience is shared among the people in the horticulture industry – from apprentices, nurserymen and women, landscape contractors, builders, and pool construction people – just as much as it about sharing ideas amongst different landscape designers.

Scott saying something hilarious to the Queen (!!!) and working hard on site at Chelsea

What has working at the Chelsea Flower Show taught you?

One of the loveliest things I found throughout these past years working with Fleming’s is that landscaping is a blend of gardens and construction, without one the other is lost, and Chelsea has taught me that in England, the soft side of the business takes priority where in Australia we tend to rely on our hard elements for impact – a pool, a deck, a entertaining space etc.

The English designers create postcard perfection with mass plantings of perennials and pleached trees, avenues and delicate seating areas for quiet contemplation, their designs are in stark contrast to the bold structures found in the Australian Garden. Their use of plant material has certainly made an impact on me – although I don’t share their love of pretty perfect and laden flower beds, I can appreciate their use of the plant material to great effect – to soften the hard edges of the built material, to lend elegance and balance to built spaces.

I have also noticed how many of the Australian gardens have lent influence to the European and English designers also – small elements of change are appearing as they notice the role hard landscape plays in our gardens.

English designers have made the comment to me more than once that they are envious of our ability to be bold at Chelsea – it’s perceived as bold to them, as the use of hard landscape materials is so foreign here they feel it will affect their chances of success if they dare to be different. But that is slowly changing, and more use of constructed elements melding with the traditional use of plants is emerging, and it’s a pleasure to see.

Having an opportunity to build at Chelsea is special. But the news it brings home is probably more valuable than you can imagine. The landscape and horticulture industries represent a wide range of occupations from gardeners to marketers, arborists to designers and architects – and they all share in the good news story of our success at the Chelsea Flower Show. The industry also needs to excite people in their own backyards – we hope this project inspires others to spend time creating their home environments and discover a love of horticulture/design in their own way.

See you in the pool!

- Scott

This week we welcome Wes Fleming of Fleming Nurseries to the Guest Blog! Wes and his team are currently in London where they are preparing for the incredible Chelsea Flower Show. This week we will be meeting some of the key players in the Flemings 2012 team and seeing some snippets of the design and construction process on this year’s garden, before seeing the completed design on Friday. There are even a few photographs of the Fleming crew with Her Majesty The Queen – she loves the Aussie style! – Jenny x

Flemings 2010 Gold Winning Chelsea Flower Show Garden- wonder what the 2012 garden will look like?!

This week my team and I will bring TDF followers a daily snapshot from the world’s most prestigious gardening event, ‘The Chelsea Flower Show’, as we create a show garden in the main category. In what I call ‘The Chelsea Experience’, each year we invite a different Australian landscape designer and construction team to build a show garden at London’s premier garden show.

With four gold medals and three silver-gilt so far, we continue to share the experience across the horticulture industry in a bid to raise the profile and value of gardening, design, landscaping and tree planting across Australia.

Let’s start this week with a few questions!

Where did your passion for horticulture come from and how has this influenced your business today?

(Wes) I started growing trees as a kid, I would grow trees and sell them back to the nursery – I was about nine when this started.  It must have been in the blood because I understood from that age how to work with the trees.  I quit school after year 11 – at the time I was entertaining the idea of becoming a solicitor but my dad said, ‘Son, we can hire as many solicitors as we want, but what we can’t find so easily is great, natural nurserymen.’

That made me a third generation nurseryman, and I never looked back.  My family believes – as I still believe, the best training is done on the job, in the field. My children are now working in the business – from the ground up, and we carry on that family tradition, remaining focused on introducing and growing the best trees in Australia.

Fleming’s 2008 Gold winning entry, designed by Jamie Durie. Below is Wes and Jamie after being awarded the gold award!

What is the Chelsea Flower Show and how does that relate to Fleming’s?

I can’t honestly remember the first time I heard about the Chelsea Flower Show, but it was always there as this elusive, very prestigious and ‘proper’ garden show in the UK.  Initially I never thought of being a part of it – I mean why would we – we are an Australian nursery that doesn’t export… what’s the point?

Then in about 2003, myself and a gang of fellow industry-men where feeling pretty chuffed with how things had gone at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS), and the gauntlet was thrown down – ‘what’s the next challenge’ and someone threw out this idea of the Chelsea Flower Show.

To cut a long story short – there we were in 2004, the first Australian team to enter a show garden in the main category at the Chelsea Flower Show, with a design by Jim Fogarty called ‘Australian Inspiration’.  Due to a lack of sponsorship, Fleming’s supported the project.  Our entry was awarded the second top honour – a Silver Gilt.

That first year was a huge eye-opener, and while we had a lot to learn and many things to refine and change, it was the beginning of something special.

I am constantly asked why we continue to exhibit at Chelsea.  The answer is not particularly straightforward, but it is really about the profile the project brings to the industry.  We don’t do it to sell more trees, but to encourage more people to place their careers here, to support our landscapes, to recognise the value of soft and hard landscaping, to get excited about their own gardens, and finally to break away from the cottage-impression this industry has had for far too long.

Close up details of the Jamie Durie design 2008 garden, and Jamie and Wes meet the Queen!!!

You have partnered with many great designers, what made you approach Jason Hodges this year?

We have invited seven previous designers including Jim Fogarty, Jack Merlo, Dean Herald, Mark Browning, Jamie Durie, Scott Wynd, Ian Barker and now Jason Hodges.  (And we’re already speaking with a designer for 2013 – hush, hush at the moment sorry!)

We don’t always have the same process, and each year our designer has emerged through quite different circumstances.  Some have directly approached us and others have been approached by us – Jason was the latter.

We first got to know Jason through previous years at Chelsea when he presented for Better Homes and Gardens while they were shooting the show at Chelsea.  Jason always presented almost as part of that team, he lived and breathed the stress and tension, the highs and lows with us. Since then we have worked with Jason on his MIFGS entries and we have held him in very high regard – not only for his design integrity but his down-to-earth approach to gardening and Australian design equally. Moreover, Jason is a highly talented designer in his own right and I think, up until know, that fact, despite his gold medals at MIFGS, is somewhat downplayed by his very down-to-earth bloke next door persona on BHG.

Jason is the perfect candidate to represent Australian horticulture on the world stage because he gets it – he gets our reasoning for doing it and he is an amazing ambassador for the industry.

Looking forward to showing everyone our 2012 Chelsea Flower Show entry on Friday!

- Wes

Kate Gaskin continues to take us through her Fashion Week Favourites, today with a Jenny Kee retrospective. It’s wonderful to iconic Australian design being celebrated as well as new and upcoming designers being embraced, such an exciting week! – Jenny x

Jenny Kee at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Photo by Lucas Dawson.

Three down, two days to go!

Day four saw presentations from both the old and new generations of Australian fashion, each special in their distinctly different ways.

First up was Jenny Kee - somewhat of a pioneer of Australian fashion and design, and certainly an icon of the industry. I was quite excited to see what she would present as I remember my mum dressing me up in pieces of hers when I was quite young (between that and my Ken Done kit I was quite the outrageous dresser back in the day!).

And to my delight her installation on Thursday morning, titled ‘The Art Of The Scarf,’ was nothing short of breathtaking. A retrospective featuring her work from 1980 through to current day, the installation comprised of ten different outfits, all made up from her boldly coloured,  flora/fauna-inspired silk creations.

Set amongst a gumtree forest, the exquisitely decorated ‘Jenny Kee tribe’ showed off her designs in one of the more artistic displays of the week. Collaborating with the Romance Was Born team, their imaginative styling midas touch was clearly evident. One of the prints on display, known as the ‘Black Opal,’ was apparently used by Karl Lagerfeld in one of his first collections for Chanel- wow!

A stalwart of the industry, Kee has always had a very distinct, timeless style that she has remained true to despite fickle fashion trends that have come and gone. She says, ‘I don’t want to be restricted by fashion whims- it’s too temporary. I think my work is about lasting.’  And if this display is anything to go off, I’m sure she’ll be around a long time yet!

Jenny Kee at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Photos by Lucas Dawson.

So in contrast to the elaborate, decorative displays of amazingness from one of Australia’s best-known fashion artisans, another day four highlight came in the form of modern, minimal, masculine designs from one of fashion’s relative newbies. Awarded the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival’s highly esteemed Young Designer Award just a couple of months prior, expectations were high for 25 year old designer Christopher Esber‘s show. Much to everyone’s delight, he certainly lived up to the hype.

The presentation was slick and dynamic – with an amazing set constructed from refracting mirrored panels strategically placed down the runway, a thumping electronic soundtrack, and models coming out onto the runway from every which way and in very close succession. There was a lot to take in, but not so much that it took away from the precise tailoring and detailing in each carefully considered garment.

Despite a huge weight of expectation on his shoulders, this bright young thing really came through with flying colours (well more of a monotone palette but you get my drift!) and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Christopher Esber at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Photos by Lucas Dawson.

Other highlights from the day included Carl Kapp‘s rainbow of draped jersey gowns, and We Are Handsome‘s cute and quirky swimwear collection show….

Carl Kapp at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Photos by Lucas Dawson.

We Are Handsome at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Photos by Lucas Dawson.

- Kate x