THE Cumbria Group of the Hardy Plant Society is going to Chelsea Flower Show this year.

Group members are not just going to look at the plants on show, they're building a display garden that will be seen and appreciated by the thousands of visitors who attend this prestigious event.

The Cumbrian gardeners have been chosen to represent the Hardy Plant Society, which is a nationwide group keen to promote the use of hardy plants in our gardens.

It is quite an achievement.

It is also quite a task! All the members live more than 300 miles from London, where the show takes place.

The materials to build the garden, including local slate paving, wood for a pergola, a stone cairn and all the plants, have to be transported from Cumbria in time to construct the exhibit.

There will be no chance to nip back home for anything they have forgotten.

The theme of the garden is to be 'The World in a County', illustrating the large range of plants that grow well in Cumbria because of the diverse microclimates that we enjoy here.

It will incorporate plants such as New Zealand phormiums, grown in Grange where they thrive in gardens warmed by the Gulf Stream, and ferns from Seathwaite, which has the highest rainfall of any settlement in the country.

Using local stone for the hard landscaping, the L-shaped garden will have soft plantings of heucheras, blue and variegated hostas, and frothy green-flowered Alchemilla alpina.

Taller plants include white foxgloves, cimicifuga, and white and mauve clematis to decorate the central pergola and six wooden obelisks.

For the specialist, there will be arisaemas, trilliums and blue poppies.

Most of the plants have been grown by Cumbria group members, with supplementary material from local nurseries.

One of the most difficult aspects of showing plants is having everything at its best for a particular date.

Some plants will have to be hurried on by warming them up in greenhouses, while others will have to be slowed down by keeping them as cool as possible.

All of them will have to be portable, and exhibitors generally have to grow many more plants than they will need on the day, to account for flowers appearing too early or too late and for some damage in transit.

I am full of admiration for the folks who have undertaken this project.

I have no doubt it will be a huge success and hope it will show visitors to Chelsea what a great deal of horticultural talent and commitment exists in this county.

For those of you who would like to see the HPs garden but can't make the trip to Chelsea, they will be recreating the garden at the Holker Garden Festival later in the month.