WA native plant wins gold on the Chelsea Flower present in London | USAEMALL.com

As Queen Camilla walked around the Chelsea Flower Show in London this week, she was particularly taken with the sight of a striking blue sun orchid.

Its appearance at the world-famous flower show was remarkable for a number of reasons. It was the first time native Australian bushland orchids had been displayed at the show, and it was only possible due to a months-long international collaboration which nearly came unstuck at the last minute.

Renowned Perth botanist Kingsley Dixon played an integral role in the Orchids in the Wild – The Orchids of Asia and The Pacific exhibit which won a gold medal at the prestigious show.

The exhibit, a partnership of more than 25 global institutions including the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens and the University of WA where Professor Dixon is Professor of Botany, displayed orchids from Hong Kong, South China, Singapore, Hawaii and Australia.

The blue sun orchid flowers in Australia between September and December, meaning months of planning and help from a contact of Professor Dixon’s in Germany were required to make the display possible.

While the plants couldn’t be transported from Australia due to the differing seasons, Professor Dixon’s friend in Germany happened to have some and after months of paperwork and preparation they were flown to London late last week.

“It was on a knife edge, there was paper work and road blocks, it wasn’t for the faint-hearted. It was like the plant Olympics,” Professor Kingsley recalled.

“The display looked beautiful, it was amazing, we managed to get hold of some native plants and sand, and it looked just like WA’s landscape.

“It was wonderful to win the gold, and Camilla was quite taken with the West Australian plants, she spent quite a lot of time looking at them.”

Also in the display are banksia cones salvaged from Professor Dixon’s renowned garden at Cypress Farm in Waroona, which was devastatingly destroyed during a bushfire last year.

“The garden is looking sensational and the forest has recovered,” he said.

“There is a little bit of Waroona on display (at Chelsea) and it shows something nice has come from the ashes.”