Alzheimer’s disease awareness with a garden Chelsea Flower Show – Genius idea from the Alzheimer’s Society


Michael Parkinson and Fiona Phillips

Michael Parkinson and Fiona Phillips

Award-winning garden designer Adam Frost designed The Homebase Garden – ‘Time to Reflect’ in partnership with Alzheimer’s Society at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show and welcomed Sir Michael Parkinson and the charity’s ambassadors, Fiona Phillips and Arlene Phillips to the launch of the garden at the start of this year’s show.

The garden has been awarded a Gold RHS Medal increasing Adam’s already impressive RHS Medal tally to six.

The garden was designed to celebrate memories and was hundreds of hours in the making with initial planning starting in July last year. Throughout the process, and to assist on the final stages of the build, Adam was joined by the Homebase Garden Academy students. The 11 students helped him to make his design a reality by putting into practice the skills learnt from Adam since joining the Academy last November.

The garden is home to over 4,000 plants including Foxgloves, Geraniums, Iris and Epimediums. As you move through the garden, the planting graduates from cool shade-loving woodland plants around the arbour into sun-loving yellow, white and blue plants reminiscent of English Springtime. Carved timber seats inspired by a seed pod are also located throughout the garden – providing the opportunity for people to sit and reflect in the colourful surroundings.

As celebrities descend on the show to marvel at the gardens we caught up with Fiona Phillips and Sir Michael Parkinson to hear what they thought about Adam’s Gold Medal winning creation for this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Fiona talks about the role gardens can play for people living with dementia.


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