Chelsea Flower Show 2015: A Restorative Retreat with a Writer's Cabin

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show sets the gold standard for garden design. This year, Jo Thompson's M&G Garden generated buzz as a quintessentially British restorative retreat—a lush, magical hideaway with romantic plantings, a natural swimming pond, and a fairy-tale writer's cabin. It earned a silver-gilt medal. Take a tour.

More 2015 Chelsea coverage: Award-Winning Gardens | Jewel-Colored Wildlife Garden | Outdoor Living Ideas | Great Garden Ideas

Photos by Victoria Harrison

Garden at a Glance

• Garden: The M&G Garden
• Designer: Jo Thompson
• Location: RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2015
• Highlight: Natural swimming pond hosted synchronized swimming on opening day.

Nestled in a tree glade, an oak-framed two-story writer's cabin offers a magical escape for quiet contemplation. Inspired by Vita Sackville-West's writing room at Sissinghurst Castle, it's accessed via a rustic ladder with a circular window for garden views. Pitched roof and stone/wood pillars reference Kent and East Sussex architecture.

The cabin was too large to deliver whole—it was built off-site, disassembled, and reassembled at Chelsea.

A screen of trees and rich hedgerow, plus lush ground plantings like giant hosta 'Empress Wu', create a dense green backdrop. Soft cottage-garden plants—scarlet plume thistle, pale pink foxgloves, blue catmint—add a relaxed, cottage feel.

The natural swimming pond winds through the garden, edged with water-loving plants and accessed via a wooden walkway. Synchronized swimmers performed on opening day—proving the compact pool functions as a real swim space. Cool, inky water stays clean naturally, no chemicals.

A gravity-defying Purbeck stone sculpture at the pond's end creates a striking focal point—traditional stone wall with a contemporary twist, curling like a snail shell or fossil.

Under the writing room, a sheltered deck with two chairs offers peaceful garden views. On warm days, the deck edge is perfect for trailing feet in the cool pond.

A sunken seating area at the garden's end provides another sheltered, romantic spot with tumbling roses, peonies, and cottage plants. Positioned in sun with warm stone and honey gravel, it has a Mediterranean feel for balmy summer days.

More 2015 Chelsea: Award-Winning Gardens | Jewel-Colored Wildlife Garden | Outdoor Living Ideas | Great Garden Ideas