The site was a buzz of activity, but not with hi-vis clad contractors bent on completing projects, this time it was the sleekly attired "great and the good', celebs, guests and press milling around a site that had transformed in a matter of weeks to a stunning scene of marquees, restaurants, plants sales centres, giant ants on the horizon and bee-hive shaped toilets. Not to mention the 14 designer gardens, including Future Gardens and Ivan Hick's Leaf Gardens. Gone were the muddy tracks, in their place were newly laid paths and swathes of freshly seeded grass and wild flowers.
There was an air of expectancy and excitement as guests assembled for the official opening speeches given by Clive Farrell, the actress and project patron, Emilia Fox and Professor Dr. David Bellamy amongst others.
“The journey to Butterfly World begins with Future Gardens…fourteen of the world's most creative designers along with the inspirational and legendary Ivan Hicks, have laid the foundations of gardens that prove we can eat fruit cake and enjoy organic honey for tea, thanks to all those creepy crawlies.
Bring your families and friends and learn from the 'multi-coloured renaissance gardeners' how to bring the buzz of biodiversity back into your back yard and your lives. Then come again and see Phase Two's dome rise to the occasion. With 10,000 butterflies of every colour, creed and kind flying free to spread the good news that we can all help to save the world if only we care enough – just like Clive Farrell and his wonderful team!” was how David Bellamy referred to the event in his opening speech.
Once the speeches were finished, everyone was let loose to explore the gardens. Twelve talented designers from around the world have been hand picked from nearly 100 designs submitted, to excite and inspire us with gardens designed to be intentionally thought provoking, whilst showing sustainability can co-exist with contemporary design ideas that dare to break boundaries.
These twelve gardens will be there for one year and then the process will start again. Alongside these are the three leaf shaped permanent gardens that are the work of creative mastermind Ivan Hicks, the chief landscape designer of the Butterfly World project. The first of these is the Through the Flowerpot Garden, which is sponsored by Jacksons. Ivan chose our Jakoustic acoustic fencing as the boundary for this; the neat, flush timber boards are the perfect backdrop for an intriguing idea – You enter through a giant flowerpot into a world where everything is magnified, so everything is seen from an insect's perspective and scale.
Next the Spangle Gall Garden, once again surrounded by Jakoustic as the perfect foil for ten magical installations that push the boundaries of what is expected in a garden, and last but not least the Theater of Insects Garden, (also referred to in previous reports as the gabion garden). There's so much to see here, in fact one could return again and again and spot something new each time and see how it's all evolving.
And finally, as a company Jacksons have been very proud indeed to be involved with this exciting project and one of the proudest moments of all comes when approaching the main entrance to Butterfly World. The piece de resistance for us all, are the fantastic gates that were commissioned by Ivan Hicks and Clive Farrell for the project and brought to life by Jacksons, and installed ready for the opening. These bespoke gates are testament to all that Jacksons as a company strives for, and show just what can be achieved; they are beautiful – even if we say it ourselves!
Photographs by Mike Otley, www.screamingtalent.com
