For anyone interested (and for the Posterity that has, as George Bernard Shaw pointed out, no vote) I am putting up two illustrated articles that between them tell much of the story of my efforts at these two shows.

On the eve of the Chelsea Flower Show Saga magazine published a feature article about me which is here: Chelsea Flower Show, Saga Magazine, Anthony Samuelson.

For the Hampton Court Flower Show my sponsor Prudential Insurance produced a brochure. which is here: Hampton Court Flower Show, Anthony Samuelson, Prudential brochure

Click on thumbnail images (left) to see larger versions.

Both the Saga magazine article and the Prudential’s brochure for Hampton Court benefit from the independently-minded insights of the brilliant writer James Alexander-Sinclair. He has a web site devoted to garden and landscape design that can be found here. James sent me a very amusing Christmas card (the digital sort) that is here: 08-ostriches-chirping.mp3 James says that he thinks it might be festive Ostriches singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing, but it could just as easily be a cover of Shakin’ Stevens’ Blue Christmas.

Whenever I was asked whether I would do another flower show and I always replied: No. I said that 2007 would be my one and only year. This remains the case. There will, however, be a book all about my experiences in the world of gardening in due course.

I could not be doing gardens at Chelsea and Hampton Court were it not for the fact that I have been able to take out a brilliant life time mortgage with the Prudential. Life time mortgages are not for everyone but they are certainly the ticket for an old fellow such as myself who has lived in a big old listed house for decades, bought it for the price of a couple of dozen Mars Bars (the old big sort) and has so much stuff that downsizing would be the equivalent of being stuffed into an iron maiden for months on end watching it happening outside.

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Issued 2 July 2007

The Prudential presents…

Anthony Samuelson’s

“The Past is Another Country”

What is it? It is a classic 1966 T-Series Bentley motor car suspended vertically above a black watery pool. Trailing and other kinds of plants emerge from every opening including the boot, windows, doors, bonnet and wheel arches. It will be the first thing most visitors to the show will see.

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