Home Garden & Home Chelsea Flower Show Chelsea Plant Stars

Chelsea Plant Stars

Chelsea Flower Show

RHS Chelsea Flower Show is always a hotbed of incredible plants, including exciting new varieties to try in the home garden. At Chelsea 2019, we are excited to be introducing more new plant varieties than ever before, grown by the teams on our own nurseries in Hampshire.

Read more about some of our Chelsea plant stars, available from Hillier Garden Centres*.

Weigela ‘Picobella Rosa’

A stunning new form of Weigela. This small shrub boasts strikingly vibrant deep-pink flowers and fine foliage, creating real interest in the garden. W. ‘Picobella Rosa’ has an exceptionally long flowering period and is extremely floriferous. This abundance of flowers is loved by bees. Naturally compact with a round doming shape, it is ideal for small spaces and performs equally well in a patio container or border. This is a tough plant that will cope with most conditions and is hardy to -25°C.

Available in Hillier Garden Centres from July 2019.

Factfile

Flowering Time: May to October

Sun: Full sun to partial shade

Soil: Well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 40cm height x 60cm spread

Recommended for: Borders, containers, low-maintenance gardens, small spaces

Isoplexis isabelliana ‘Bella’

I. ‘Bella’ is an unusually compact and bushy variety of Canary Island Foxglove. A hardy perennial distinguished by both its habit and delightful dense spikes of sherbet apricot-yellow coloured flowers, which are produced in abundance and add a tropical feel to a patio container or border. Flowering from mid-summer, it will continue to offer beautiful colour all the way through to mid-autumn and should flower from its first year. Position in a sunny spot in well-drained soil for best results.

Factfile

Flowering Time: July to October

Sun: Full sun

Soil: Well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 60cm height x 30cm spread

Recommended for: Small gardens, borders and containers

Cordyline ‘Pink Star’

A tough evergreen shrub, particularly in comparison with other pink cordyline varieties. Its vivid pink leaves give a bold, almost tropical look. This is a perfect plant for a container, creating dramatic interest through its height and standout colour. Position a pair either side of your front door to transform this space, or place on a patio or terrace. This is a low-maintenance plant that has proven to be quite resistant to diseases such as leaf spot, which can affect the genus, and is drought tolerant.

Introduced to the UK market by Hillier Nurseries.

Factfile

Sun: Full sun to partial shade

Soil: Any moist, free-draining soil

Size: Grows to 100cm height x 80cm spread

Recommended for: Containers, doorsteps, front gardens

Lavandula ‘Phenomenal’

An impressive variety of lavender with very large blue flowers and amazing flower power. Unusually, L.’Phenomenal’ will offer a second flowering after being pruned. It has an attractive uniform growth, forming a pleasing, natural little clump and produces an absolutely delightful scent. Like all lavenders, it is adored by bees. This tough plant is drought tolerant and needs to be grown in full sun in a border, patio container or as a low hedge to thrive.

Factfile

Flowering Time: June to September

Sun: Full sun

Soil: Well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 70cm height x 70cm spread

Recommended for: Bees, sensory gardens, pathways, containers, low hedging

Dianthus ‘Flutterby’

Available in large volumes at Hillier Garden Centres for the first time in 2019. Dianthus ‘Flutterby’ is a mound-forming, evergreen-perennial with grey-green foliage. Its delicately patterned single magenta flowers have a blackcurrant eye and white fringed petals plus a sweet fragrance. The flowers are produced all summer. This is a great plant for the front of borders, rock or gravel gardens or in a container.

Factfile

Flowering Time: May to August

Sun: Full sun

Soil: Any good, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 15cm height x 15cm spread

Recommended for: Rock gardens, patios, front of borders, scent

Phormium ‘Blondie’

Launched in the UK market in 2018 and available now from Hillier Nurseries. A chic, compact, variety of phormium with a unique weeping habit that creates an attractive mound of fine, narrow foliage. This is a sport of P. ‘Cream Delight’, bred to grow much smaller. This low-maintenance plant makes a good alternative to grasses grown in a pot and is a great choice for a more contemporary style of garden, offering year-round interest from its foliage. Grow in partial shade to ensure the best foliage colour and feed annually with a well-balanced fertiliser.

Factfile

Sun: Partial shade

Soil: Well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 70cm height x 1m spread

Recommended for: Contemporary gardens, containers, borders

Geum ‘Scarlet Tempest’

A fantastic variety of Geum with striking, semi-double, apricot-suffused scarlet flowers. These appear on slender, hairy, branching stems above the mid-green clumping foliage. G. ‘Scarlet Tempest’ makes a great container plant or combines beautifully with purples, white, pale pinks and blues in a border. It thrives in a sunny to partially shaded site in any good, free-draining soil. Deadhead regularly and remove stems that have finished flowering to encourage fresh growth.