Award-Winning Garden Designer Jo Thompson To Create a Sylvan Retreat For M&G Investments At The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2015

14 January, 2015:  M&G Investments, the sole sponsor of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and a leading international investment management company, has commissioned award-winning landscape designer Jo Thompson to create a sylvan themed garden retreat.

The M&G Garden will feature a two-storey oak framed building inspired by the writing room of poet Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst Castle, a large natural swimming pond edged with water-loving plants, a woodland of river birches, acacias and acers, and a garden with tumbling roses and peonies in a palette of greens, punctuated by soft pinks, lavender blues and creams, with a touch of orange.

Partially covered by trees and lush planting, The M&G Garden design for 2015 draws on Jo’s local influences: from the vernacular architecture features synonymous with the Sussex and Kent countryside where she currently lives, to the use of Purbeck stone at the far end of the swimming pond owing to her childhood in Dorset.

The romantic garden will represent a quintessentially British restorative retreat, where visitors will be able to unwind away from the hustle and bustle of city living.

Jo Thompson, garden designer, said: “I wanted to create a special garden for M&G that is a retreat, yet follows the principles of traditional British gardening: local materials such as oak and limestone surrounded by typical cottage planting with more than a hint of the woodland.” 

Jacqui Haskins, M&G Marketing Director, commented: “The M&G Garden will mark Jo’s sixth Show garden at RHS Chelsea and we have always been impressed with Jo’s beautiful creations in the past. It is also fantastic to be working with such a well-regarded female designer, along with her all-female gardening team.

“Each year The M&G Garden is an example of how British garden design has developed, but with many recurring trends that have stood the test of time - an approach that reflects M&G Investments’ own company values. We are confident that Jo’s creative design will once again create a show-stopping garden for all to enjoy.”

In addition to the all-female gardening team, Jo will once again work with Roger Platts, a multiple gold medal winner at RHS Chelsea and twice the designer of The M&G Garden in previous years, to ensure that the 2015 garden has only the best in trees, shrubs and flowers timed perfectly for the Show.

2015 is M&G’s sixth year as the sole sponsor of RHS Chelsea. M&G has been managing investments for individuals and institutions since 1931.

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from 19 to 23 May 2015.

 

Twitter: @MandGGarden
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MandGGarden

About Jo Thompson 
Jo Thompson is an award-winning landscape designer, creating inspired and inspirational spaces, which sit beautifully and easily in their location. Over the years, she has also designed several show gardens for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, winning numerous awards including Gold medal and Best in Show, as well as Best New Rural Garden.

Jo Thompson has a reputation for exquisite planting and understanding of space and place.  In 2014 the Society of Garden Designers named Jo as their Future Designer.
www.jothompson-garden-design.co.uk
Twitter: @gardendesigner1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoThompsonGardenDesign
Instagram: http://instagram.com/jothompsongarden

About M&G 
M&G is an international active asset manager, investing on behalf of individuals and institutions for over 80 years. M&G offers investors a wide range of funds across equities, bonds, property and multi asset.  
Headquartered in London, M&G employs over 1,800 people worldwide operating from offices across Europe and Asia. 
For more information on M&G Investments and its sponsorship of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, please visit www.mandg.co.uk/Chelsea

About the RHS
As the world’s leading gardening charity, we help to bring gardening into people’s lives and support
gardeners of all levels and abilities, whether they are expert horticulturalists, beginners, or children who are planting seeds for the very first time. Gardening improves the quality of life and the RHS believes everyone should have access to great horticultural experiences.

RHS membership is for anyone with an interest in garden 
ing. Support the RHS and secure a healthy future for gardening. For more information call: 0845 130 4646, or visit: www.rhs.org.uk

RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262

Issued by M&G International Investments Limited (Registered office: Laurence Pountney Hill, London EC4R 0HH, United Kingdom.) Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and registered with the CNMV in Spain.

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