Long-term Chelsea designer
Sarah Eberle
Sarah Eberle has been involved with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for more years than she cares to remember. Initially, her role was as design director at Hillier and, since 2006, as the creator of some exceptional gardens, including the so-called Life on Mars garden in 2007, an extraordinary ‘chill-out space’ for astronauts, which was named Best in Show.
“Every year is a thrill,” she says. “The spirit of this show is amazing – challenging, exciting and visually stimulating – and that has always been the same throughout the decades I have been involved with Chelsea. Fashions and themes tend to change and evolve but there is always the most tremendous camaraderie. I think it surprises some newcomers, who worry that everyone will be in competition, but we don’t actually get judged against each other. We are assessed according to a set of rules, although they do get tougher and tougher.
“Each year we
