The Past is Another Country

Anthony Samuelson

I first met Anthony Samuelson at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2007 where he showed Patio Povera! - a garden proving that anything can be a plant pot and anything can be art. For the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show he has chosen to hang, in his words, "like a discarded coat", an extremely rare James Young 2-door Coupe version of the Bentley T-series, of which only 30 were ever made. Samuelson struggles to throw away anything and has had this car since 1967. Unfortunately it has been parked in his son's garden for the last 25 years and Samuelson wanted to solve the dilemma of what to do with a "gas guzzler" by hanging it up and planting festoons of plants inside.

Samuelson hopes this showpiece will be picked up by a London gallery to be further displayed to the public. When I saw him he was contacting the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park which would be a great setting but I wonder if a royal park would accept this as artwork? But then again, who would have thought the RHS would ever have accepted this?! They even gave Samuelson his own category as this couldn't really be called a 'show garden' so it was the 'Show Feature'.

At 77, Anthony Samuelson has completed his short career as a garden designer; two shows in one year having never visited a flower show before. I wonder where life will take him next.

For more about the man himself: www.samuelson.co.uk

• RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Visitor Guide
• Hampton Court Palace Visitor Guide