We had a chance to speak to Ruth Gwynn who was the designer and dresser for the Festival Theatre at this year’s RHS Malvern Spring Festival, she gave us a fabulous insight into her inspiration and how she works.

The horticultural superstar and trained landscape architect Ruth was the genius behind the Festival Theatre decorations and arrangements. With the likes of Martyn Falconer and Alan Titchmarsh speaking on this stage the backdrop needed to be perfect. Ruth was the ideal designer to step up and deliver, which she did beautifully.

With over 10 years of gardening design experience, it took Ruth and two others to dress the theatre with both fresh and artificial flowers. With this crossover, it blurred the lines between real and fake that resulted in some people not being able to tell the difference. All of the artificial product that was used on the Festival Theatre were sponsored by Country Baskets, Ruth was thrilled and super appreciative of this.

With the theme of the theatre being the four seasons, the use of fresh flowers throughout wouldn’t have been possible, however, this became possible with the use of artificial. Ruth mentioned that many flower enthusiasts who commented on the theatre arrangements were pleasantly surprised to know they were artificial, apparently some couldn’t tell the difference between real and foe.

The other inspiration for the theatre decoration and arrangements were the Stately Homes located around the Malvern Hills. Ruth wanted to incorporate pieces of the local area in the theatre that would be specific to Malvern, as it was her first year dressing a stage at the show.

Each chair that represented a season was also influenced by one of the historical sites in the hills of Malvern. The Spring chair was the beautiful Madresfield Court which has been home to the Lygon family since the 12th century, and is only open to the public during the daffodil season. The Summer chair used inspiration from the roses of Britsmorton Court and Eastnor Castle, these complimented the sophisticated chaise longue perfectly. Percy Picton Gardens were the inspiration for the autumn chair as these gardens are some of the most beautiful in the country in the Autumn time. The Winter chair was inspired by the hills themselves and the gas lamps that are scattered across the picturesque area, rumoured to be the inspiration for the ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’.

It was lovely to see how Ruth used the artificial flowers that we donated and her appreciation for our support. She couldn’t thank us enough! It was amazing to see the flowers in action on such a large scale and the innovative way that they were used.