The Road to Chelsea: Part One

A new and exclusive series following one designer’s journey from drawing board to the greatest flower show on Earth

Alexa Ryan-Mills. Photo by Paula Siqueira

There are just over five months to go until the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023. To most of us, that seems like an age away. 

It is November. In the northern hemisphere, gardens and their gardeners are winding down for the year. Surely, this is no time to be thinking about the world’s most high profile horticultural show, full of colour and life and springtime theatricality. 

Unless, that is, you’re designing a Chelsea show garden.

I first met Alexa Ryan-Mills a few years back, when I was beginning to plot the transformation of a grossly neglected patch of land at the front of an old telephone exchange, right on the local high street. That project has gone nowhere fast in the intervening years, for reasons that I’m sure I’ll get into here. Another day.

I got in touch with Alexa at the time because she was the local garden designer. She kindly drew up some really rather brilliant plans, but as I said, these have been sitting in the proverbial drawer for a long time now. Too long.

More recently, I did some work with Alexa. I say with, it was actually for – planting up a couple of her designs in some clients’ gardens. It was on one of these jobs that she told me that she’d been considering submitting a proposal for a show garden at next year’s Chelsea, but was nervous about following through. She’d previously put together a show border at BBC Gardeners’ World Live back in 2018, and was all too aware of the time commitment and extreme pressure that comes with putting one’s work on show for the world to see… and judge.

Well, if you follow these things at all closely, you’ll have already spotted this morning’s announcement that one of the show gardens in the All About Plants category at Chelsea 2023 is due to be created by none other than one Alexa Ryan-Mills. 

I’m excited to see what she comes up with on this grandest of stages (no pressure!), but even more excited that Alexa has invited me, and by extension you, to join her on this adventure. Between now and the flower show itself we’ll periodically check in with Alexa, and gain an exclusive behind-the-scenes insight into the people, plants and pressures that go into creating a Chelsea show garden. 

For this first instalment, I asked Alexa to introduce herself and her garden – The Sadler’s Wells East Garden – and explain how a designer goes about making their Chelsea debut in the first place.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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So Alexa, tell me about your garden. What is the concept behind it?

The Sadler’s Wells East Garden is all about celebrating the next generation of dancers and appreciators of dance in East London. It’s a 6mx8m garden in the All About Plants category which is inside the Great Pavilion – the huge white marquee in the centre of the show ground.

What is it going to look like? 

The plants are really the stars of the show. There are three beautiful multistem trees – I’ve picked some gorgeous ones that are pretty unusual too – that cut beautiful figures amongst colourful shrubs, perennials and annuals. They’ve been selected and will be planted to echo layers, patterns and shapes of dance, scrambling, rippling and seeding about. 

There’s a bent steel sculpture that wends around the garden, framing different views of the planting as visitors walk, sit and even dance within the space. The profile of the sculpture echoes saw-tooth roof-lines of local warehouses and factories of the industrial revolution, which is also in the architecture of Sadler’s Wells East itself. 

The garden is firmly placed in East London – the manufacturing heritage of the area inspires the garden’s materials: reclaimed or sustainably sourced brick, timber and metal. 

Early artwork for The Sadler’s Wells East Garden, as designed by Alexa Ryan-Mills

Chelsea show gardens are always in association with groups or charities or businesses – your partner organisation is Sadler’s Wells East. Who are they?

Sadler’s Wells is a very established dance organisation – you may know their theatres in London. In autumn next year they’ll open Sadler’s Wells East as part of the East Bank development alongside the BBC, UAL’s London College of Fashion, UCL, and the V&A.

It’s going to be home to a Hip Hop Theatre Academy and Choreographic School, as well as a theatre for dance performances. There’s so much going on in East London in the creative arts, and Sadler’s Wells East will support artist development and training, and the creation of new work. It will make dance accessible to more people.

How did the partnership with Sadler’s Wells come about?

Well it started about two years ago! I was doing a diploma in Planting Design at London College of Garden Design, and for my final project I had to come up with a client and a brief for a planting scheme in a given space. I wanted to create a planting design for a cultural space and one that would be open to the public – basically my dream client. So I did some research and found that Sadler’s Wells was opening a theatre, hip hop theatre academy and choreography school close to me in the Olympic Park as part of East Bank.

I thought: “This is interesting. I can definitely work with that, associating plants with dance.” The diploma was all about narrative and how you can tell a story with plants. Also, back when I didn’t have a child, I used to go to Sadler’s Wells a lot. And I used to dance as a kid and a uni student so it is something that resonated with me. Plus the connection with the Olympic Park, which is a place I’ve been visiting more and more – it’s a very inspiring place.

I’d also been taught on my course by Nigel Dunnett, and he was one of the designers that had produced the planting schemes at the park, some of which are opposite where East Bank is going to be. So it meant that I could integrate that style, while coming up with something new.

So I went ahead and made Sadler’s Wells my imaginary client and did the project. I really enjoyed it, and it did really well.

But how did that coursework turn into a garden at Chelsea?

A few months after completing my diploma, I saw that Project Giving Back was looking for designers to work with charities to apply for funding for the Chelsea Flower Show 2023. There was a category called All About Plants for people who hadn’t done Chelsea before. So I thought, hang on, I’ve done some work on this already. I have a newsworthy client who’s a charity doing something exciting in the year this is for… This would be pretty perfect. So I approached Sadler’s Wells and they said: “Yes, go for it.” 

How did you go about actually securing your place at Chelsea? And as importantly, where is the funding coming from?

So you can apply to the RHS – anyone can – with a design for a specific show and category. For a few of them, the RHS will contribute some funds. For most gardens though, you need to go and get funding. It can cost a fair bit to make a garden and at Chelsea there are additional costs that come with it being in central London.

So back in 2021 while I was doing my Planting Design diploma, my classmate Andy [Smith-Williams, who I interviewed at this year’s Chelsea] said: “Have you seen this? You can apply to get funding for a garden at Chelsea 2022 through this organisation called Project Giving Back.”

Project Giving Back was started that year in the wake of Covid, to fund gardens for charities at Chelsea and give them the opportunity to use the show to raise their profile and raise funds. At the time I had my head down in the course and I didn’t really have any ideas and the timing wasn’t right for me, so I didn’t apply. Andy did and went all the way through and won gold! 

But when Project Giving Back opened up applications for 2023 over a year ago, I thought: “Let’s go for it. I have an idea now and something I think could work.”

Initially they just wanted a bit of background on me and Sadler’s Wells, then a couple of months later we were longlisted and I supplied more information about a concept. And then we were shortlisted and needed to provide a concept design, ideas about planting and materials, a top line communications plan, and information on what we would do with the garden after the show. That took the form of a presentation over Zoom to a panel. 

Then one evening in early May, I was watering my tomato plants and I got a call from Project Giving Back saying I had been selected for funding. That was really exciting but also quite scary. You know sometimes you might apply for things and think, this is probably not going to come to anything. But then it did and I thought: “Oh Christ!”

So that was the funding secured, but still not your place at Chelsea, presumably?

Exactly. At that point I needed to apply to the RHS as they have their own application process and they could still say no to the garden, even though I had funding. In the end, that was actually fairly smooth, and by the end of the summer I knew I was going to have a garden at Chelsea the following May!

Have you always aspired to create a Chelsea show garden?

No! I only realised I really wanted to do it a couple of months ago after I’d gone through the whole process. I thought, I should probably just do this! When someone offers you funding to do a garden at Chelsea, you’d be a bit mad to say no.

Not that mad! I know you were concerned about how much stress you might feel over the next few months…

Other flower shows, like Hampton Court, have a more relaxed vibe, more space, more chilled. Chelsea is on another plane. Industry eyes are on it. It has a lot more coverage, nationally and globally. The BBC are all over it for hours and hours! It’s a big deal. So it’s kind of scary. 

In 2018 I did have a ‘Beautiful Border’ at BBC Gardeners’ World Live, which was a quick intro to show gardens. And then I’ve worked and volunteered for various designers at Hampton and Chelsea so I am not completely in the dark about what’s involved, but obviously having a garden at Chelsea with your name on it is another level.

What is your motivation for doing it?

I’m in the process of changing my business. So I’m doing less residential garden design for private clients and much more planting design consultancy for landscape architects and other garden designers. And that means I’m working on a bigger scale. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to pick up more of this kind of work if I can meet the right kind of people and they can see what I can do. 

And of course, it’s brilliant that I can work with Sadler’s Wells to use Chelsea to highlight what they’re doing in East London as well. Lots of visitors will have heard of them, but they might not be aware of Sadler’s Wells East. I’m always championing East London so it feels like a good fit.

How Green nursery, who are currently growing most of the plants that will feature in Alexa’s Chelsea garden

You mentioned your show border at BBC Gardeners’ World Live – did you learn any lessons from that experience that you’ll be leaning on this time around?

Definitely. I had a five-year-old then. He’s now nearly nine. It was quite tricky to leave him at home and I didn’t feel I could fully throw myself into the show in terms of how much time I committed to putting it all together, especially when that meant being away from home. I felt rushed and like I was supposed to be with him – though that was typical mum guilt and didn’t come from any pressure from anyone else.

This time, I know I have to be fully committed. And I’ll be staying away from home for two weeks. I’ll probably only see my husband and son once during that period. But I need that full concentration, and those days are going to be too long to be commuting back and forth across London.

Also having a proper team behind me will be key. People who know what they’re doing and have done it before. I remember at the end of Gardeners’ World Live, the show had finished and it was time to dismantle the border. I ended up being one of the last people on site as I hadn’t planned for anyone to help me. I had no budget for that show and even had to borrow the plants! 

I can laugh about it now but it wasn’t fun. My intention this time is to not be there at breakdown and be on my way to a Greek island! Because by the time you’ve done all the work leading up to the show, and then you’ve talked to hundreds of show visitors, people in the industry, media, I’ll be exhausted and ready for a holiday.

What do you anticipate your biggest challenges will be?

The hardest thing about exhibiting at shows is having the funding. As a first timer, I wouldn’t be able to be at Chelsea without Project Giving Back. So I am very thankful to them. But I think keeping on track budget-wise is already proving to be the most challenging thing. We’re very generously funded, but it’s not unlimited. Things are costing more and more so I’m having to dial a few things back.

The category is All About Plants, so I’m not holding back on spending money on plants – which is fun – but I need to reduce how much I spend on materials and any construction. But at the same time, I want to be true to the design and the idea of the garden. So yes, that’s a challenge and I’m sure lots of other Chelsea designers will be facing that too. 

Plants don’t always behave themselves of course, even when you’re making them the stars of the show. How much does that figure in your preparations?

Some things are pretty much out of my control, but I still need to plan for them. So if we have a super hot spring or a freezing cold one, that’s going to impact how our plants grow, particularly our herbaceous perennials, and we have a fair few of those. 

There are things that the nursery can do, such as moving things in and out of greenhouses, but if something is flowering too quickly, they won’t be putting them in a fridge – something that some nurseries do! That’s why I’ll be ordering extra plants, so I can make choices and swap things out. And then I’m also choosing some plants that are repeat flowerers or don’t flower at all – having these plants that I need to worry about less is a good idea.

There are always things that could happen. I just have to plan and have back-ups and deal with them in a calm way when they do!

What are some of your other fears and anxieties as this process kicks off in earnest, and very publicly?

I suffer from migraines. And one of the things that causes them is stress. So I’m looking at ways to deal with that preemptively through acupuncture and drugs. I know too, having spoken to designers who’ve done Chelsea, during the build they’re often so pumped and so wired that even if they’re knackered they can’t sleep. So I’m going to work out how I might deal with that. Because lack of sleep isn’t great for migraines either. I’ll need to be able to make decisions and have a clear head.

I have a really supportive husband and son. They’ll see me right over the next few months. But when I get on site they won’t be there, so I need to make sure I look after myself and that mainly means eating and sleeping properly! I really want to make sure I have the energy for show week, to enjoy it and make the most of it.

Also, the All About Plants category designers are already getting to know each other. We’re not being competitive. Because there’s not one gold medal! We could all get golds, we could all get nothing – hopefully not! – but it’s not about that. We’ll have ups and downs and we need to really support each other. I think we’ve already been doing that.

You mentioned medals. Love it or loathe it, the judging process is an integral part of the show garden game. How much weight are you personally putting on the colour of the medal that you’re awarded?

I think I’ve learnt over the past year that you can create a fantastic garden, that’s beautiful and interesting and well-executed and that people love, but it might not get as high a medal as you may expect. And that can be to do with the judges’ brief that you’ve written as a designer, which is what they then measure your garden against. 

It’s quite easy to back yourself into a corner and promise things to a judge that they can’t see, and therefore you lose marks. So imagine in your brief you said: “You enter the garden walking under a blossoming Cherry tree.” Well, if that tree isn’t in blossom on judges’ day, you’re pretty stuffed. But judges can also get a bee in their bonnet about something or not understand something or dislike something – and that can be hard to do anything about sometimes.

Obviously every designer would love to go to Chelsea and get a gold. But I wouldn’t expect that first time out. Maybe the judges aren’t going to like my garden. It’s a little bit conceptual so they might not be into that. But as long as we’ve created something we’re proud of as a team; we’ve worked well together; we get good feedback from visitors; Sadler’s Wells get the media coverage they’ve wanted and it leads to more people donating money or visiting when it opens, then that’s what we want. 

What happens between now and Chelsea, then?

Lots of things! Over the next couple of months it will all be about getting into the detail of the design and finalising all that – bringing down the cost of the build is a big priority! I’ll be selecting and refining materials through that process. I’ve already done a lot of work on choosing plants, probably because that’s my favourite bit.

After Christmas there will be visits to the makers of various elements of the garden. I’ll be going back to the tree nursery, Majestic, to look at the pruning we’ve discussed. And there will be lots of visits to the main nursery, How Green, when it warms up.

Then there will be all the planning of who’s going to be there during the build and at the show and working out passes, and doing all the paperwork – I hear there is a lot! There will be work on marketing too, which will carry through over the next few months. Designing the leaflet we produce for the show and preparing the people who will be standing in the garden to talk to visitors confidently about it and Sadler’s Wells East. We’ll also need to work out what our photo call looks like for press day, and any filming and other media work we need to do. So yes, lots to do and you’re welcome to join me as it all progresses. There are lots of people involved, and it would be great for you to meet them!

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I don’t know about you, but I’m really excited to be able to join Alexa on the road to Chelsea. Stay tuned over the coming weeks and months for more interviews and updates. In the meantime, you can also follow Alexa on Instagram.