James Whiting aka Plants By There’s Verdant Visions 1970s-inspired Houseplant Studio. Photograph: Jane Perrone.

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Transcript

[0:00] Music.

[0:16] So here I am at the Chelsea Flower Show and I'm about to go and investigate the Houseplant Studios. Let's go and find out what's going on.

[0:29] Hello, I'm your host Jane Perrone and this is the podcast about all things indoor gardening and this week I meet some of the creators of the Houseplant Studios at the world-famous Chelsea Chelsea Flower Show in London, finding out what these exhibits are all about and how they're showcasing houseplants in various different ways. And if you're thinking to yourself, gosh, is it Friday already? Don't panic. It is Thursday. If you're listening on the day of publication of this episode, I'm just publishing a little bit early because the Chelsea Flower Show is happening right now. So this is rushing to your ears. I spent this Monday, just gone, the 20th of May 2024 at the Chelsea Flower Show and I made a beeline as soon as I got there at 8am sharp for the house plant studios. For the last few years this has been the spot where those who don't have outdoor gardens or maybe just love to garden inside can see what is possible in the world of displaying houseplants. Now if you listened to last year's Chelsea Flower Show episode you'll remember that I was a little bit disappointed by the standard.

[1:50] The studios were OK, but they were a bit pedestrian on the whole. So it was of great interest to me to see how this year compared.

[1:59] And I have to say, on the whole, I thought they were much more interesting. And in this episode, I'm going to bring you some audio from my favourite houseplant studios kicking off with Verdant Visions. This was created by James Whiting, a.k.a. Plants By There. Now, if you love the 1970s, I was born in the 1970s, so I was actually there. You will be blown away by this confection of beautiful classic houseplants that we loved in the 1970s. Plus an orange backdrop, retro tech, like wonderful old stereos and even an avocado bathroom suite. Now we didn't have one of these ours was a sort of a amazing shade of peachy pink but yes if you're around at that period 70s and 80s you will know what I'm talking about and in fact they're coming back into fashion apparently and other amazing 70s pieces all put together by James who wasn't actually alive in the 1970s but clearly understands the vibe I'll have to say based on my parents house in the 1970s, I think this was probably a more stylish vision than theirs. There wasn't as much brown as there was in my parents' house, but I thought this was beautifully done. It's very James. He has a particular style, but he did manage to make it different from his previous houseplant studios.

[3:33] And indeed, this won Best Houseplant Studio and a gold medal from the the judges. So let's hear from James about how he developed this vision of 1970s plantiness. And why not pull up the show notes at janeperrone.com while you're listening to have a look at some images of the houseplant studios.

[3:57] James Whiting, we're here at your houseplant studio, which hasn't disappointed in the colour stakes as always. Tell me about this creation.

[4:06] James Whiting So for me, I wanted to create something with everyday houseplants that we've known for decades. Plants that are really nostalgic, give you memories of your grandparents and your aunties and uncles and your childhood. And I wanted it to appeal to the Chelsea audience because I think, you know, retro houseplants are very back now. They're very affordable. They're a great introduction to indoor gardening for beginners. beginners and they're available absolutely everywhere.

[4:36] Jane Perrone Absolutely and the colour theme is bright, we've got an orange studio, we've got an avocado bathroom suite which I'm loving. Tell us about the colour choices, this is a sort of a hat tip to the 1970s.

[4:52] James Whiting Yes definitely, so you know orange is my colour for sure and once you put greenery against orange the plants just ping, they just really stand out and you know people are decorating their homes with really vibrant colours now. They're less scared and we're stepping away from beige and grey. And, you know, houseplants are not beige and grey. There's so many colours within them. You look at the leaf patterns on these retro plants and there's red and yellow and touches of orange and cream and it's very, very vibrant. So, you know, mix the two together and you get this 70s vision.

[5:28] Jane Perrone And you've got, you really have got some classics here. Obviously, you've got the Swiss cheese plant, Monstera deliciosa. So you've also got lovely things like the Aphelandra, which you don't see very much, the zebra plant. And what else can I see? Oh, Dieffenbachia we've got, of course, spider plants. Any other favourites here?

[5:48] James Whiting Actually, I mean, I refer to them as a croton, but I'm sure people have many names for them. I've never really liked these. But I think working on this project, I thought I can't not use them. And actually, I'm starting to appreciate them in a different way. I think I've always seen them as something that's been a bit tricky in a commercial environment when you're doing in your plant displays but in your home, I think you can monitor it more closely and give it the conditions it needs and it's a pop of colour. But it's still a foliage plant.

[6:17] Jane Perrone It's amazing. Well, I'm wish you luck with this, I think it looks stunning and it's certainly going to get people looking - you've got plants in disco balls you've got retro stereos and all kinds of retro bits and pieces that I'm absolutely loving. i'm going to put some pictures of this in in my show notes for people to enjoy because this you have to see as this how many times you've been at Chelsea now - three?

[6:43] James Whiting This is my third houseplant studio

[6:44] Jane Perrone Third one? Well it is a wonderful achievement so well done James and best of luck this week as as show week week begins.

[6:52] James Whiting Thank you Jane.

[6:53] Jane Perrone Why is it that whenever you record any audio at the Chelsea flower show on press day there's always a street cleaner machine that comes by at just the wrong moment anyway i'm sure you caught the gist of what James was saying there, and as i said do check out the show notes for a full transcript of this episode and lots of images from the show and links to James's Instagram and website.

[7:24] Jane Perrone Now, it's worth saying that these houseplant studios have only been in existence at Chelsea for a few years, and it's safe to say that the budgets involved in these projects are way, way smaller than the main Avenue Chelsea show gardens and probably the smaller gardens too. Finding sponsors is tough, and so that's why it was really ballsy of Gemma Haigh, aka the Plant Parlour, to go ahead with her houseplant studio without finding a sponsor. She teamed up with Grow Tropicals, the Leeds-based online houseplant seller for this studio but she's raising a lot of the money herself and is estimating that it's going to cost four to five thousand pounds for her contribution for this garden. It's entitled Hope After Humanity and it's all about sustainability. So if you're a regular listener, you'll probably know that this is a garden that would catch my attention because that's been a regular theme on this podcast too. Let me set the scene - it's 2099 and humanity is done for, but the houseplants are thriving over to Gemma to explain a bit more.

[8:39] Gemma Haigh So this houseplant studio has been set at the end of the world, it's been specifically set in the year 2099 and that's because by 2099 scientists estimate. The temperature is going to have increased by at least 4 degrees centigrade on average in the world. So the problem with that, of course, is that things will go extinct. Plants will go extinct. Tropical plants will start to thrive in places previously that they hadn't. So the whole concept of this studio is that humans have caused the end of the world. And though we haven't kind of told anybody how humans have gone extinct, there's definitely suggestion that humans don't live here anymore and plants do so plants have taken over and all that's left is this lone mannequin in a London boutique.

[9:31] Jane Perrone The vision is real here - we've got the ceiling coming down and there's a big hole in the ceiling here, we've got plants everywhere I love the little touches you've got a little beer can crushed on the ground, you've got cotton reels coming out of the haberdashery cabinet: you've really paid attention to the detail here. Why did you decide to go this route rather than just a few pretty houseplants?

[9:55] Gemma Haigh Yeah i think it's a really good question. I think for me i'm quite conceptual, I like something that has a good idea and a good message and a good story. love to kind of curate things so my background was in museums and i did exhibitions and I love to curate things that make people think about the world differently and really challenge people's perceptions. So this whole idea really challenges people to think about sustainability and climate change in a different way. I think it gives them an alternative future, an alternative universe which actually could become reality if we're not careful. So really it's about presenting that in a way that it is beautiful and we're really enjoying nature standing in this and it really smells quite earthy in here.

[10:42] Jane Perrone it smells delicious i have to say, the apocalypse smells great - what can i say?!

[10:46] Gemma Haigh Yeah I mean these plants definitely think so, and we've got our own kind of little micro cultures that have like moved in we've already got insects in here and everything so um it really does feel like the end of the world but yeah it's I think it really makes people think about things differently and this whole concept was very much kind of influenced by the apocalyptic genre um in particular the g ame version of The Last of Us and also uh you know like The Day of the Triffids for example where plants rule take over the world, yes so...

[11:18] Jane Perrone It's really cool - I'm glad to see that Hoya linearis has survived the apocalypse we've got that trailing down around this mannequin. Does she or he have a name? Who is she? Sorry I've just seen that it's a female mannequin.

[11:30] Gemnma Haigh She does! She has been been very affectionately named Flora during this project.

[11:35] Jane Perrone Oh, perfect.

[11:36] Gemma Haigh Flora was living in my garden for a little while before she came here and she is your standard kind of plastic shop mannequin but she's been coated with calico to try and encourage plants to root and stick to her when she gets wet and obviously at the end of the world when the roof has collapsed you know the rain is just going to pour down on her so she's covered in a bit of mud, brick dust, algae and she's also got a Philodendron scandens climbing around her clothing her because she's not wearing any clothes and the idea behind that is to suggest that she maybe is this imprint that humanity has left she's very human-like and human-figured but she very much doesn't move she's very still. But she uh yeah she she's very much an imprint of humanity or possibly even you could interpret but she's mother nature herself.

[12:26] Jane Perrone O very nice! Now you, anyone who listened to the podcast we did a while ago will know that you love your anthuriums and we do have some anthuriums in here. Tell me how much you're enjoying seeing these lovely luscious leaves.

[12:41] Gemma Haigh They're beautifu! So Grow Tropicals who i've worked with on this project do have a huge collection of specimen plants They have a grow tent at their Leeds HQ and they have a number of different types of anthuriums, and philodendrons and other different plants in there as well, specifically aroids. So they've been able to get hold of the Anthurium balaoanum for this project, which is kind of like curtaining behind flora. She's got this kind of beautiful backdrop of huge, voluptuous leaves.

[13:16] Jane Perrone They are very voluptuous. Which one is that? Is that this one here?

[13:19] Gemma Haigh This one here, the really big leafed one.

[13:21] Jane Perrone With the interesting sort of - it's kind of a shield heart-shaped shield Iguess is the way i describe it, it's beautiful. Yeah there are some really stunning plants in here Imust also mention the sofa - the upholstered so, I can tell that you've got um the eye of somebody who's uh you know studied art and things because this is beautifully done.

[13:54] Gemma Haigh Oh thank you so much Jane! And I think that's it you know it's about for me it's about kind of representing a really important concept and having that narrative and storytelling behind it but also doing it in a way which visually really is quite eye-catching and grabbing and Iwanted this display to grab people's attention, to be something different and to be a bit unique within the house plant studios, you know as an area of Chelsea, so that but people see it and really think, wow, that's different. I've never seen anything like that before.

[14:23] Jane Perrone Well, I have moaned about lack of edginess, and so you've brought the edge. This is amazing, Gemma. Thank you so much for sharing it with us, and best of luck this week.

[14:34] Gemma Haigh Thanks so much. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the judging. They came yesterday, but...

[14:39] Jane Perrone Tense.

[14:40] Gemma Haigh Watch this space.

[14:42] Jane Perrone So the judges awarded Gemma a silver gilt medal for her garden, in collaboration with Grow Tropicals. So congratulations to them. What a great achievement. And if you want to see some images of that mannequin and that incredible sofa and more from the studio, do go and visit the show notes. I'm going to keep saying that because lots of people just don't bother, but it's really worth it to see those images.

[15:09] Jane PErrone And next up, something completely different, but also glorious. Holly and Nikki are...

[15:18] In the garden, a plant shop based in London. They are the Planting Combo Queens. Something displayed to perfection in their Maximalist Verdure houseplant studio. This one was purple and everything in it was absolutely exquisite. So let's find out more about this studio. Holly Barsby and Nicola Barsby, a mother and daughter team designing Chelsea House Plant Studio. I'm loving that already. Take us on a visual journey via words of what you've created here, because it's rather gorgeous.

[16:00] Holly Barsby Thank you. So inspired by Victorian plant style. So we started with the humble Aspidistra and we've gone for a big specimen in the middle. And all the furniture and all the staging is things we have collected over the years and from independent market traders that's how we started our business independent shops for a high street shop in NW6, so it's very very personal and if you're having a little look there's a couple of photographs of when we first got the shop and a little doggy little doggo so um and there's things from home as well, like the little props. So, this is our living space, a space that you can come to and relax after a hard day's work, and it's set in an apartment, West London apartment, and you've got a little balcony there where you can wander out, have that extra outdoor space, bring it inside out and outside in, and just enjoy Plough.

[17:02] Like Mr Michael Perry, he's not photobombing, he's audio bombing - hi Michael!

[17:05] Michael Perry I just wanted to say hi to you! if you haven't talked about it already talk about Nikki Cam - that is iconic. Bye bye!

[17:14] Jane Perrone Okay now i'm intrigued okay we'll get on to Nikki Cam but I just want to talk about your wonderful plant selections and the way that you've got a real talent clearly for matching containers to the plants within. I'm loving the oxalis and is it Muehlenbeckia there in the tin enamel basin, blue and white, that's gorgeous. I'm loving the succulent arrangement in, I guess, what would have been a flower arranging vase. That's just gorgeous. I mean, I struggle with this stuff. I'm not very good with detail, but you guys, attention to detail is clearly your middle name because this everything is perfect in here. And you've also got just some beautiful ideas that you could take home - that succulent container, you could do that yourself couldn't you at home.

[18:03] Nicola Barbsy Definitely

[18:03] Holly Barsby Yeah and actually even though there is a lot loads of little succulent containers whether you've got one space for one plant why not have a mixed plant arrangement whether it is for a sunny position or shadier position but actually in the studio we've gone for three larger containers. There's a pet friendly mixed house arrangement around the corner on the marble table. Shade tolerant bread bin and on our balcony, we've got a big euphorbia and succulent for sunny so people can see. So they've got a particular light position. That kind of style would suit your home. All planted by you Nikki.

[18:40] Jane Perrone And how is it working as a mother and daughter team? I mean, you must get on pretty well to make this work through the stress of Chelsea.

[18:50] Nicola Barsby We've always done everything together since you were a tot anyway.

[18:53] Holly Barsby Yeah.

[18:54] Nicola Barsby And we have our moments. I'm not going to deny that. Yeah. But generally, yeah. Just move on. We know how each other work and we've kind of got slightly different jobs to do, don't we? And then we come together towards the end and it kind of comes good, doesn't it? We're always on the same page, but we just have different methods on how to get there.

[19:16] Jane Perrone And what would you advise people who are used to planting their houseplants individually, one in a pot, in terms of working out what works well together? This is a skill, isn't it? Some tips on that, please.

[19:31] Nicola Barsby It is right plant what's compatible together. Same watering requirements. I mean, obviously, you wouldn't have a succulent with, say, a Muehlenbeckia, would you agree?

[19:43] Holly Barsby I would agree yeah, compatible planting so right light um right position and also the depth as well you wouldn't put the oxalis in a shallow mantel vase. Mantel vases, they don't have drainage holes they've got plenty of drainage.

[20:00] Jane Perrone oh yeah that's a good tip actually yeah so the water just goes in there and then it is not in the roots.

[20:06] Holly Barsby So the watering is different so it's little but often.

[20:07] Nicola Barsby I was just about to say that - it is little but often, say like a shot shot glass directly onto the soil,and if the soil is really compact then aerate with a toothpick or a pin so you can get the little droplets. So you don't don't want it running off the top, and also you don't want to drown it either.

[20:26] Jane Perrone Well I mean i'm loving this i'm going to be heading to my nearest junk shop and charity shop looking for those now because those it just looks amazing i'll get up some photos from my show notes i'm just really...

[20:38] Holly Barsby We've done a saying actually... I don't know if you've seen it.

[20:39] Jane Perrone Let's have a look at this.

[20:41] Holly Barsby So um we've done 'repurpose the past, plant the future'

[20:44] Jane Perrone Love it, absolutely love that message.

[20:47] Holly Barsby Charity shop, market traders, high street shops.

[20:48] Jane Perrone Because i'm always people spend a lot of money on pots and I'm always like I don't have the budget for that! i nIed to go to the junk shop, charity shop and find something, repurpose something.

[20:57] Holly Barsby Or find something in the kitchen...

[20:59] Jane Perrone It's such a great message well I really wish you the best of success this week, and congratulations on this. This is your first Chelsea.

[21:06] Nicola Barsbby It is.

[21:07] Jane Perrone Any sort of life lessons here? How have you found it?

[21:10] Nicola Barsby Challenging...

[21:12] Holly Barsby It's very challenging just the whole process. I'd say now we're digesting it getting enjoyable as well. The time pressures are crazy, the days absolutely disappear. Preparation is absolutely key.

[21:25] Nicola Barsby Yeah, it is.

[21:25] Holly Barsby TGry and get a bit of a head start.

[21:27] Jane Perrone Well, well done. It's a real triumph.

[21:30] Nicola Barsby Thank you.

[21:30] Jane PErrone And yes, I'm going to be taking lots of photos now.

[21:34] Holly Barsby Please do. Yeah, enjoy it.

[21:36] Jane Perrone Oh, tell me about Nikki Cam.

[21:37] Holly Barsby Oh, Nikki Cam! Okay. Go on.

[21:40] Nicola Barsbyu Well, I didn't know it myself, but I'm normally at the back of the shop in a little dark corner, just planting up.

[21:47] Holly Barsby And I start filming. So it's like my view. Nobody else gets to see. And I'll just follow Nikki, my mum, around, whatever she's doing. She might be planting at the back. She might be doing window boxes at the front. And I just watch her. And she doesn't know.

[22:02] Nicola Barsby And it's the back of my head.

[22:02] Holly Barsby And it's normally the back of mum's head. And she's like the Stig. She's like the gardening Stig.

[22:06] Jane Perrone I love it!

[22:08] Nicola Barsby So no one knows who i am, the way I like it!

[22:08] Jane Perrone I love that - sounds good to me!

[22:10] Jane Perrone And I'm delighted to say that Maximalist Verdure won a gold medal so well done to Holly and Nikki and a bit of context - if you don't know who Michael Perry is he's M Plant Geek - he was the guy who decided to step in to my interview and tell me about Nikki Cam. He's been on the show before himself and is always a fixture at Chelsea. And also referenced was The Stig. This is a character, or I guess a person, from the TV show Top Gear, a car TV show here in the UK. And Stig was known for never revealing his identity and wearing a helmet at all times. And that's where the comparison to Nicky comes in.

[23:03] And our final interview is with Kali Hamerton Stove, now if you are a long-term listener, you may remember my interview with Kali talking about The Glasshouse,a charity whose mission is to offer second chances to ex-offenders in the UK via horticulture. It was their first time exhibiting at the Chelsea flower show and they too got a gold medal for their wonderful - you guessed it - glass house.

[23:33] Kali Hamerton Stove My name is Kali Hamerton Stove - I'm one of the founders and managing director of The Glasshouse and this is The GlassHouse Effect, our exhibit at Chelsea. So as you enter you can see these reclaimed tall gates that are meant to give the feeling of being in an enclosed environment, but as you enter the glasshouse which is this beautiful Malvern Garden buildings glasshouse, you can see some of the things that would have been in the prison glasshouse where we originally worked. Some of the second chance plants, we call them, and the women are really keen still. They always, they can't let a plant go. They try to bring them back. So we always have second chance plants. And these are in bean cans, which is what we actually did at the beginning. And seedlings, tea is super important to how we work. We have a lot of tea because we talk a lot. And you see the women have crocheted covers for some of the plants, so that's something that's really common in prison as well. You can hear the women's voices a little bit.

[24:30] Jane Perrone So tell me what your organisation does for these women, what are the challenges that you're trying to address and how do you go about your work?

[24:40] Kali Hamerton Stove So we basically built this around the disused greenhouses that existed in prison and we wanted to take horticulture and the opportunity to be working with plants and help women learn new skills, grow their confidence and find a new way of being successful after prison. And we train them. They get a horticulture qualification whilst they're with us. They learn about installing and maintaining plants in the office environment. We actually have an installation and maintenance business that they work in while they're with us. We have a shop, and we have a website, and they do absolutely every part of that. They do everything from retail to customer service to shipping and plotting and planning. They do everything, and the whole thing really basically is built. So they learn as much as possible, they leave with confidence and we help them make sure that they have the best chance after release. We have a 0% re-offending rate at this point.

[25:31] Jane Perrone That is amazing. I mean that alone is an incredible statistic and a credit to you. And what is it about working with plants that these women find special?

[25:42] Kali Hamerton Stove Well so many things, but I think initially a lot of women have had no experience with plants before they join us and once they join they might be a little nervous or scared or a bit tentative, but once they get to know the plants and they understand what they need, how they work, how to propagate them, you see them become really adept at propagating them and growing them and caring for them and they get so much benefit from seeing them grow and seeing them develop and even like sending them out to the public they love potting a plant and putting it in a package and sitting to someone knowing someone out there is gonna really love that plant and enjoy it something they grew and they nurtured.

[26:22] Jane Perrone That's fantastic, and what an amazing setting in this glass house you've got birdcage planters hanging from the trees above - this is a beautiful scene. I mean who wouldn't want to spend time in here?

[26:32] Kali Hamerton Stove It is really beautiful and very peaceful and I think that's one of the main things about the greenhouses in prison and where we grow generally, the women are surrounded by noise and and pressure and a lot of conflict in prison generally, and this work and our growing facility and in this greenhouse it's a place of peace and it's a place of reflection and where they can really focus on their work and think a little bit let their mind roll a little bit and be be a bit free.

[26:59] Jane Perrone Well it's a fantastic exhibit and well done. And I'm sure that all your, the women you're working with past and present will be delighted to see you being represented at Chelsea. This is fantastic.

[27:14] Kali Hamerton StoveThey love it. The women are just so pleased to be here. And it's been such an inspiration to be here.

[27:19] Jane Perrone Thank you so much, Kali. Thank you. I'll say this one last time. Those show notes contain the transcript of these interviews, plus details of the other houseplant studios at Chelsea this year. So do go and check that out at janeperrone.com. So what was my overall impression of this year's houseplant studios? I thought the standard was definitely higher. And I like the fact that a couple of studios had a really strong message. They weren't just, oh, look at the pretty houseplants. James Whiting's display was amazing. As self-assured as ever. And I can see perfectly well why he won best in show for the houseplant studios. And it was interesting to see that for the first time, a structure other than a wooden building was used in the case of the glass house, because this hopefully opens the door to a few more different options and ways of displaying houseplants in interesting ways. There are still a few other things I would love to see at Chelsea. One thing that I think would be really great would be a houseplant area within the Great Pavilion. So the Great Pavilion is the giant tent at the middle of the Chelsea Showground, which contains the nursery stands. I think it would be great to group together the bromeliads, the cacti and succulents, the begonias and the streptocarpus into one area to make a buzz around those stands where houseplant people can congregate. This works so well at the Malvern Houseplant Festival earlier this month, and I think it would add an extra dimension to Chelsea. And I would emphasise that Chelsea is not the be-all and end-all of the UK show scene. I have to say I really enjoyed Malvern. I thought it was an amazing show. Hampton Court is totally different from Chelsea. There's much more room to move around and the Urban Show in Manchester is also an interesting new addition to the RHS show's calendar so things are changing I'll actually link in the show notes for a press release about how the RHS is changing its show's schedule Hampton Court Palace is becoming an every other year event with alternating venues in the in-between years so in 2026 there'll be a show at badminton rather than Hampton. So I'll link to that. It's interesting to see how these things are developing. The other thing I'd always say is, you know what? I did this, all of this amazing stuff at Malvern and at the Chelsea Flower Show. But you know what probably was the most fun in the last month to do with plants? Well, it was hosting an open day for the community herb garden that I helped to run and selling loads of plants, talking to people in the local community about plants and the fun I had raising those plants to sell. That is what it's all about, this grassroots activity. No, it's not going to probably get me racing up the social media following charts, but it is enormous fun. And that's what I always remember when I think about these shows is that oftentimes what's happening on a local level, your local show, your local plant fair is just as fascinating and valid as anything that's happening at Chelsea or any other show. And if you don't have a local show or planty event to go to why don't you start your own that's my top tip for today start your own planty event because if you don't do it who's going to do it and i'll be back next week in this busy growing season i'm reverting to a once a week schedule for a little bit so i will see you next Friday for another episode of On The Ledge, bye!

[31:20] The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by The Joy Drops, The Road We Used to Travel When We Were Kids by Komiku and Whistle by BenJamin Banger. All Tracks are licenced under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details.

[31:37] Music.

Check out Jane Perrone’s pick of her favourite Houseplant Studios at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Got a botany question?

I am going to be speaking to Derek Haynes aka The Chocolate Botanist on On The Ledge and I'll be putting YOUR botany questions to him, so pop your query in an email to theplantledger@gmail.com.

Chapters

2:04 Verdant Visions - the best in show houseplant studio by James Whiting

7:23 Hope After Humanity Houseplant Studio by Gemma Haigh and Grow Tropicals

15:14 In The Garden's Maximalist Verdure Houseplant Studio

23:03 The Glass House Effect

Check these notes as you listen…

See more about all the Houseplant Studios at RHS Chelsea 2024 on this RHS webpage. The RHS press release about future changes to the RHS shows is here.

All the images below are copyright Jane Perrone. Click on an individual image to enlarge it.

Verdant Visions by James Whiting aka @plantsbythere

Hope After Humanity by Gemma Haigh aka @theplantparlourgram and Grow Tropicals. You can support Gemma’s GoFundMe for her Chelsea costs here.

Maximalist Verdure by London-based houseplant shop @in.the.garden aka Holly and Nikki Barsby.

The Glasshouse Effect by The Glasshouse charity, led by Kali Hamerton Stove.

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If you prefer to support the show in other ways, please do go and rate and review On The Ledge on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen. It's lovely to read your kind comments, and it really helps new listeners to find the show. You can also tweet or post about the show on social media - use #OnTheLedgePodcast so I’ll pick up on it!