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Rose McMonigall

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Secluded beauty of the Galician coast to feature at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

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Rías de Galicia: A Garden at the End of the Earth from the Spanish Tourist Office

The breathtakingly beautiful Atlantic coast of north west Spain will be brought to life in a show garden collaboration between the Spanish Tourist Office, Turismo de Galicia and designer Rose McMonigall at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (3-8 July).

The garden will evoke, on a small scale, the extraordinary landscape of the Rías De Galicia, the estuaries on the rugged Galician coast. Here, surrounded by uncrowded white beaches and turquoise waters, a series of large rivers meet the Atlantic, an area which in times past was believed to be the End of the Earth.

Gardening PR show garden Secluded coves are dotted throughout this region and, in her third RHS Hampton garden for the Spanish Tourist Office, named ‘Rías de Galicia: A Garden at the End of the Earth’, Rose will be celebrating these coastal havens, their wild flora and the local tradition of shell-cladding. The garden will also give a nod to the delicious local seafood.

Visitors will be transported to a small cove, sheltered by two coastal pine trees. A path winds up from the beach, past a crumbling sea wall, through a selection of salt-resistant shrubs, rock plants and flowering grasses, to a weather-beaten fisherman’s cottage. Traditional Galician cooking pots act as plant containers filled with bay and geranium, and a pantiled roof is weighed down with stones to protect it from the Atlantic gales. A rock pool nestles in the boulders filled with colourful pebbles and shells. In the shallows, a small fishing boat is beached, ready for its next trip out to harvest the rich abundance of seafood of the Rías De Galicia.fishing boat

The garden’s backdrop will depict distant hazy mountains of Finisterre using a panelled art installation filled with scallop shells to form an impressionist collage. Historically, the walls of buildings in the region were often clad in porous scallop shells to reduce humidity inside. The scallop shell is the sacred icon of the pilgrims on the nearby Camino to Santiago de Compostela and is the symbol of St James himself.

Shells will be scattered on the beach and traditional mussel baskets, nets and Galician lobster pots will be in the boat and undergrowth.

Although the garden will evoke the spirit and romantic beauty of Galicia, it will use plants which can be easily bought in the UK, so ideal for show-goers to use in their own outdoor spaces, particularly those with extremely free-draining soil or who live in exposed sites or near the sea. Succulents such as sedums (stonecrop), saxifrage (rockfoils) and sempervivum (houseleeks) will feature with eryngium (sea hollies), armeria maritima (sea thrifts), stipa (grasses), plus rosemary, thymes, fennels, tansy and tamarisk. Many plants growing in Galicia also thrive quite happily in sheltered parts of the UK.

Gardening PR show gardenDesigner Rose McMonigall said: “Falling at the brink of the summer holidays, I always think RHS Hampton Court has a happy atmosphere, vibrant with colour and thoughts of long, lazy days outside. I’m so excited to be creating a garden which paints a picture of an idyllic scene, a secluded beach on the Atlantic coast of Galicia, glimpsed through pine trees, with the ultimate hideaway of a fisherman’s cottage nestled amid the wild-looking vegetation.

“I’ve aimed to create a garden rich in atmosphere but using a palette of plants that can be used in any garden, especially with sandy, rocky or coastal conditions – an Impressionist memory of happy seaside holidays in your own special space at home.”

Javier Piñanes, director of the Spanish Tourist Office in the UK, said: “In collaboration with the region of Galicia, we are delighted to be collaborating with RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and garden designer Rose McMonigall this year. Galicia is a very unique, spiritual and cultural destination with an outstanding coastline strung with dramatic cliffs and pretty fishing ports. The interior offers a labyrinth of valleys and hills and is of Spain’s most green and vibrant regions. We are excited to be bringing a slice of Galicia to London this year and look forward to showcasing some of the highlights at the Flower Show.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

This will be the third garden Rose McMonigall has designed for the Spanish Tourist Board at RHS Hampton. Last year she created The Pazo’s Secret Garden and in 2016 The Route of the Camellia both of which were award silver gilt medals.

For more information on the region of Galicia, please visit http://www.turismo.gal/inicio 

For more information on RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, please visit https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-hampton-court-palace-flower-show 

For further press information:

Emma Mason, Emma Mason PR T: 07762 117433 E: emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk

The Spanish Tourist Office is represented by LOTUS (spain@wearelotus.co.uk)

 

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Recreate your own Galician ‘pazo’ garden as seen at RHS Hampton

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The Spanish Tourist Office is showcasing the mystery and romance of Galicia’s ‘Pazo’ gardens at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this July. Show garden designer, Rose McMonigall, shares her tips on recreating the look in your own garden.

The historic Galician Pazos are magnificent palaces famous for their exquisite architecture and extensive gardens, where formal design meets the untamed nature of Galicia’s landscapes.

Often mysterious and dripping with greenery, with mists enshrouding them in the cooler months, softening the edges of their often highly formal design, these gardens blend with a larger, more practical landscape, where the productivity of the land is as important as its aesthetic appearance. Vines tangle amid the ornamentation to yield harvests producing some of Northern Spain’s best wines.

“The climate of Galicia is very similar to that of the UK” says Rose, “and the plant life that thrives in northern Spain is not dissimilar to that which we enjoy here, so why not try to achieve the ‘Pazo’ look in your own garden?”

 Rose provides her top tips for bringing a little bit of Galicia to Britain:

  1. The key to this indulgently romantic look is to embrace nature in your garden. A few ‘weeds’ here and there will add to the theme, so let nature do its thing. If there’s a balance between plants that you have bought and those that have self-seeded and introduced themselves, you are following the right path. Celebrate the true beauty of these wild flowers; after all this is a romantic garden…
  2. Go for green, in all its many shades. A limited colour palette with varied green shades and a dash of cool blues will evoke the mysterious, shady gardens of the Pazos. Edges should be blurred, so avoid neat lines and be led by the shape of the plants.
  3. To add instant impact, invest in specimen plants common to this beautiful part of Spain such as glossy-leaved camellias and delicate mophead blue hydrangeas, or climbing varieties. Both of these need acid soil, so if your soil is neutral or alkaline (you can check this with a pH tester kit bought at a garden centre), you’ll need to add ericaceous compost. Ferns and arum lilies will also complete the look.
  4. Garden furniture, stone features or hard landscaping should look as faded and vintage as possible. A stone bench with lichen spots, rocks covered in cushion moss or even a classic statue tangled in ivy or vine will add to the atmosphere.
  5. Encourage wildlife into your garden by creating a small log pile as a haven for insects and hedgehogs, and avoid sweeping up fallen leaves. If you want to really embrace the Galician look, build a small pond or water feature and add some marginal pond plants and water lilies. Local wildlife will love it and the sound of trickling water will really heighten the romantic vibe.

Spain’s exhibit at the show this year, ‘The Pazo’s Secret Garden’, by Rose McMonigall, celebrates Galicia, its Pazos, the camellia, and the distinctive Albariño wine of the region and provides an exquisite example of what your Pazo garden could look like.

Known as ‘the land of camellias’, Galicia is a renowned destination for lovers of the outdoors and garden enthusiasts. Camellias have become such an integral part of the region that visitors to Galicia can follow a dedicated ‘Camellia Route’; a journey that passes from northern to southern Galicia through 12 manor houses (or Pazos) and gardens where the camellia reigns in all its glory.

Covered in lush greenery, with some of Spain’s most idyllic, natural beaches; home to a number of buzzing, charming and characterful cities; one of the top (though lesser known) wine producing regions in Spain, famous for the delicious Albariño white wine; and offering up arguably the best seafood in the country, Galicia is a must-visit destination.

To purchase tickets for the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, visit: www.rhs.org.uk/flowershows and for more information on Galicia or other regions of Spain visit http://www.turismo.gal or http://www.spain.info respectively

Ends

Notes to editors:

  • There will be an opportunity to meet for 1:1 interviews with garden designer, Rose McMonigall, and the STO team throughout the show. Please contact the Rooster PR team should you wish to schedule a time to meet
  • A more detailed description of the garden and the symbolism behind its design is available upon request, as is a full plant list and background on designer Rose McMonigall.

 

For further press information on Spain, please contact:

Natalie Garland / Melissa Hobson / Julie Aguilera

Rooster PR

T: +44 (0)20 3440 8926

E: Spain@rooster.co.uk

 

For further information on designer Rose McMonigall, contact:

Emma Mason

Emma Mason PR

T: 07762 117433

E: emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk