Chatsworth's rich history inspires floral creations

Leading floral designer Jonathan Moseley has spent six months’ working with the team of gardeners and volunteers at the North Derbyshire stately home to design, plan and build the 200 different arrangements that make up this year’s Florabundance Festival.

It is the ninth year Mr Moseley has worked with Chatsworth on the festival, which includes installations in many of the house’s rooms, the Sculpture Gallery and Chapel.

Many of the designs have been inspired by Chatsworth’s current exhibition The Grand Tour, which features treasures collected by former dukes and duchesses of Devonshire on their travels.

Others were influenced by the work of Capability Brown, who was born 300 years ago, and in 1760 transformed the parkland at Chatsworth.

The piece in Chapel draws inspiration from Leeds-born artist Damien Hirst’s Saint Bartholomew, Exquisite Pain sculpture.

Mr Moseley said: “Some of the tropical arrangements pull through the Grand Tour theme, including the plants they brought back to the greenhouses of Chatsworth, such as orchids, and the Pinetum, which was created in the gardens with pines brought from the Himalayas.”

Along with a team of 40 volunteers, Mr Moseley has spent two days carefully installing the creations amid the “beautiful artefacts and priceless artwork” of the collection.

Much of the plants and flowers were grown specially for the designs at Chatsworth, with others taken from the natural foliage in the parkland.

Mr Moseley will be hosts a series of talks and workshops over the festival period, which runs from tomorrow until June 28. For full details visit www.chatsworth.org

To see more of his designs, visit www.jonathan-moseley.com