Chelsea - A Monaco Garden

This Mediterranean-inspired garden, complete with a pool built for the event, represents a landscape and design that reflects the Principality of Monaco -- interaction of architecture and garden. never having been to Monaco, I'll have to take their word for it. The designer of this garden was Sarah Eberle. working with gardener Peter Dowle. To see a 360˚ view, visit here.

It was a pretty hip, urbane and sophisticated urban garden. It was nice to see some large scale architecture incorporated. We don't all have forested glens, sunny meadows, sun-dappled riverbanks and wide open fields to work with here in the city.

The topography of the garden reflects the topography of Monaco from its pool, representing Monaco's bay, to the flat open space of the central garden to the rock face of the structure forming the hills of the principality.

The pool is naturally filtered and fed with rainwater collected from the roof of the structure. The cantilevered roof is planted with French lavender and sustainable with little water. The space below is partially closed in by with laminated glass panels inset with rose petals, representing Princess Grace's love for roses.

The cantilevered roof protects from the sun and the vertical green wall provides thermal protection. The vertical planted wall also reflects cascades of plant material that can be seen flowing down natural rock faces and balconies in Monaco.

Mike Shadrack, a friend from Buffalo, and hosta aficionado, working Celsea for one of his friends, shared that, at first, he didn't care for this garden. Mike likes to share. But then he looked at it as though it were a rooftop garden -- and it made much more sense to him -- and he grew to appreciate its design more.
This was one of my gardens of the dozens on display, just because it was urban, and incorporated some architecture. What can I take from this into my own garden, since not a single one of the plants would grow in my area? I guess it would be incorporating plants, like the lavender into the planning of the building. If I ever get to build the front porch of my dreams, I might consider a lavender "rill" along the top.

This entire garden is gone now. Plants and building materials not taken back by the builders get donated to groups that'll use them for community gardens in and around London. The pool is filled in by now and the whole area returned to a soccer field. All these gardens are ephemeral gardens. Was it really there at all?

I'm jonesing for the laminated glass panels to come into my life. We're redoing our bathroom currently and briefly considered using 3Form pressed glass panels. Alas we are not, but I was all set to use the bubble pattern throughout the bathroom, but we went in another direction instead. There are a stunning selection of pressed glass titled "Organics." Oy to have an unlimited budget to go with the unlimited imagination.

Wish those guys had moved out of my shot.
But they were cleaning the floor.

Hard to see, but the cantilevered deck was also the fountain
that fed the pool rainwater from the roof collection system.

Tangerines!

Small-scale vertical garden seems almost do-able.

This appealed to the graphic designer in me. Gimme' a wall and a sprig of ivy and
 about an hour and a half, and we could have this effect. Ivy's best when isolated.

Great mess of textures and colors. The pimpled pots are designed by a designer in Monaco.

Lavender-colored organic lounges made the space sexy chic. These would no fly in my garden.
Sexy chic are not words associated with my garden.

My two favorite features, the lavender-planted cantilevered deck
and the rose petals laminated in glass below it.