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Press releasePENNIES FROM HEAVEN IN CHELSEA05 May 2006National Savings and Investments teams up with Heavenly Gardens for Chelsea Flower Show A beautifully designed geometric garden featuring a variety of rare and unusual plants with a commissioned sculpture as its centrepiece is set to be one of the star attractions in the city gardens category at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show (23 – 27 May 2006). The NS&I Garden, designed by Freya Lawson of Heavenly Gardens, Bristol, for a young, professional couple seeking a sophisticated space that reflects the interior of their modern urban apartment, is sponsored by National Savings and Investments (NS&I). It will feature a bold sculpture cast in bronze resin, ‘The Architect’, designed and created by renowned sculptor Jilly Sutton, who has produced works for the National Portrait Gallery and many collections around the world. Click here for - The garden design Freya’s modern roof garden design features four raised planters, seating and adjustable tabletops for entertaining or work and a rectangular pond in which ‘The Architect’ will sit, looking out over a planting scheme that incorporates rare and unusual plants and the pale Portuguese limestone which forms the paved area of the garden. Unusual plants Much of the planting is from the Restionacae family. Commonly referred to as Restios they are the main genera of the Cape Reed family originating mostly from South Africa. Their upright reed-like habit provides a striking architectural quality and a hedge of Pseudopanax ‘Trident’ an unusual evergreen shrub with attractive glossy leaves, provides a contrast in form to the Restios and balances the sculpture. Various Iris species (including: I. ‘Rajah’, I. ‘Attention Please’) provide flamboyancy with rich tones that unify with the subtle tones in other plants. In addition, the garden will include Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’, Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Ruby Port’, and Heuchera ‘Chocolate Ruffles’. ‘The Architect’ This impressive sculpture by Jilly Sutton is a bold focal point in The NS&I Garden, the design representing order out of chaos. The sculpture was inspired by Jilly’s architect husband and it explores the journey from the frenetic activity of construction to the serenity of the finished building. The original sculpture, three and-a-half feet tall, was carved from a softwood construction, and has been cast in bronze resin for The NS&I Garden. Jilly’s outdoor sculpture is normally cast in bronze, but for a roof garden the lighter bronze resin was recommended. She is known mainly for her large, grainy, bleached wooden heads, recently exhibiting solo in Venice and Antwerp. Her next one man show is with the Rebecca Hossack Gallery, who represents her in London. Modern and flexible This is the second year running that NS&I has been involved with the Chelsea Flower Show. John Prout, National Savings and Investments sales director, said: “Freya’s garden design is exceptional and we are very proud to be supporting her this year. The NS&I Garden, designed to create a relaxing space for busy, young professionals, represents the very best in compact city gardens with an array of clever features, beautiful plants and a magnificent sculpture.” Freya Lawson added: “The NS&I Garden is designed to be modern and provide a degree of flexibility for people who like to use their relatively small urban gardens both for entertaining and as an extra room for working outdoors. The uniformity in the planters and paving contrasts really nicely with the plants, and with the sculpture which creates a fascinating showpiece.” Jilly Sutton added: "The grain of the timber, the tactile surface texture and often bleached colouring of my carvings are all important to me, they stem from my beginnings with the silvery driftwood I used to collect with my children, the ancient trees around our house, and a love of the warmth of wood." ENDS Notes to Editors Heavenly Gardens Heavenly Gardens was founded by garden designer, Freya Lawson with the dream to create stylish and practical gardens. This flourishing business combines skills and experience within a dynamic team to offer a complete service from design through to construction and maintenance. The company prides itself on creating unique gardens to the highest standards. Drawing on the expertise of trusted in house landscapers with 16 years experience and talented local tradesmen to bring innovative designs to life. By combining bespoke features, unusual plants and high quality natural materials we make stunning gardens that mature gracefully. Freya, 27, has designed and constructed gardens for Channel 4’s ‘The Great Garden Challenge’ and has won a number of accolades including RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2005 (bronze medal), Royal Bath & West Show (silver medal), Taunton Flower Show (silver medal), National Amateur Gardening Show (gold medal) at which Heavenly Gardens was awarded ‘Matt’s Choice’ by Channel 4’s City Gardener Matt James as his favourite show garden. Freya graduated with a distinction in Landscape and Garden Design, and was also awarded the Institute of Horticulture Award for Progress. She has an RHS Certificate in Horticulture from the RHS. Freya has had designs selected for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2005 and 2006 amongst other prestigious events. Freya also worked with BBC Radio Bristol looking after their Organic Allotment. Her work experience includes working for the National Trust, the University of Bristol Botanic Gardens, landscaping, organic marketing gardening, domestic gardening and working with the Bristol City Council Parks Development Team, helping to regenerate urban parks. Jilly Sutton – sculptor Jilly Sutton RBS, born 1948, is a full time sculptor, mainly carving wood, with many pieces being cast in bronze. She originally trained as a nurse in London before moving to Nigeria where she gained enormous inspiration from the art work there, also researching and working with Indigo dye for many years. After a degree in fine art, bringing up a family, and teaching art part-time, she now works in her beautiful studio on the banks of the River Dart in Devon. It is often commented on that the serenity and peacefulness of her surroundings is reflected in the work. Her father, Bonham Bazeley, was a nurseryman exhibiting at Chelsea Flower Show for many years. Jilly especially loves the connection that he did things with trees (propagating, budding and grafting) at the beginning of their long lives, and now she uses the tree at the other end of its useful life, giving it a new raison d'etre. Commissions include Portraits of the Poet Laureate for the National Portrait gallery, the poet Brian Pattern for the Museum of Liverpool Life, Ilaria Bulgari of the jewellery family, Mary Wesley the writer, an Angel's Wing for Cornworthy Church, a bronze for Leatherhead Shopping Centre, work for the RIBA, she has appeared on both television and radio. National Savings and Investments (NS&I) NS&I is one of the UK’s largest savings and investments providers with around 26 million customers and £72 billion invested. It is best known for Premium Bonds which give away some 1.1 million tax-free prizes every month worth around £70 million, including two jackpots of £1 million each. NS&I offers a 100% capital guarantee on all of its savings because it is backed by HM Treasury
Media team The numbers below are for media use only. Customers wishing to contact NS&I can find details here.
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