Posts Tagged ‘Blodeuwedd’

I can’t really believe that it’s two years since I built my show garden at the RHS Cardiff Flower Show.  This year’s show took place over the weekend and, as if by magic, the Amelanchier that took pride of place on my garden, came into full bloom.

We popped into the show whilst we were in Cardiff on Saturday and the stand out garden for me was designed by Chris Myers and won Gold and Best In Show.

There weren’t many gardens this year, but Cardiff show isn’t really like the other RHS shows because it’s such a small show ground in comparison.

Chris Myers garden was inspired by the legend of Blodeuwedd, who was a woman created from flowers to be the wife of the hero Lleu.

According to the myth, while her husband was away, Blodeuwedd fell in love with a neighbour and together they hatched a plan to kill Lleu. Protected by his mother, Lleu’s life could only be taken by improbable circumstances while he took a bath under a thatched roof by a river.

Receiving a well-aimed spear, Lleu thwarted death and turned into an eagle, and with the help of magic was turned back to human form. As punishment, he turned Blodeuwedd into a tawny owl and banished her to a solitary life in the woods.

For me the garden was a outright winner – it looked as though it had been picked up from a woodland and repositioned on the showground – not an easy task!

(Images: Lisa Cox, reference to legend of Blodeuwedd: The RHS)