What does Agrumi have in common with artists Eduardo Paollozzi, Peter Blake, Howard Hodgkin, Bridget Riley and Michael Craig-Martin? Answer: they have all had work commissioned by the Ivy.
Time was when the Ivy was a lone, but legendary restaurant in the heart of London’s theatre land. It played host to regulars Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Marlene Dietrich and Noël Coward. Time has moved on though and the original restaurant has been joined by sister restaurants around London.
This Easter Agrumi was honoured to join the pantheon of illustrious British artists associated with the Ivy by providing the Chelsea branch with a bunny appropriately made out of small-leafed living Hedera (or Ivy) and planted in a specially-commissioned terracotta pot from the Whichford Pottery. The figure stands over two meters tall and, as you can see, it is balancing meter high pink egg on its nose. The egg is made of dyed natural moss and the bunny’s whiskers are made from natural brush bristles. For a finishing touch we put a pink bow tie on the figure to match those worn by the Ivy’s waiters.
Our efforts for Easter and the Ivy chain didn’t stop there. We also made an identical bunny for the Covent Garden branch - except this one is fabricated from green dyed natural moss and, instead of a bow tie, it has silk daisy flowers as buttons down its front. A fetching combination as our photograph shows!
Finally, we made a couple of meter high bunnies for the Marylebone branch each standing in more specially commissioned Whichford pots.
Give us a call to see how we can help you connect with your customers in original ways. With lots of events coming up over the summer season now’s the time to think about using Agrumi’s topiary to make your business stand out.
Anyone for tennis?
Christmas 2015 and Agrumi was called on by RHS Wisley to lend some Fifth Avenue-style flair to their gift shop. The idea was to transform the shop’s frontage into the sort of high-end portal to a retail experience that you might find in New York.
The festive period is an important time of year for any organization looking to maximize sales and the RHS is no exception. Their gift shop needed to look enticing with the promise of desirable purchases inside.
Like many retailers in winter, the RHS also wanted to persuade customers to ignore the cold, dark evening and any temptation to head straight home after a day out.
Agrumi answered the brief by creating this stunning display out of artificial box, studded with hundreds of twinkling fairy lights. The finished structure was fitted seamlessly to the contours of the building beneath, yet lightweight and easy to install.
We look forward to working with the RHS again in 2016.
We were recently commissioned by NeosCreative to craft a series of iconic brand trademarks in topiary for an exhibition titled “Like me – our bond with brands” held at the Design Museum on the River Thames.
Curated by branding pioneers Lippincott, the exhibition looked at the power dynamic between people and brands and the roles consumers play in their creation. As leaders in our own field, we were asked to create 5 pieces of topiary representing iconic brand images that are recognisable to people across the globe.
Made from artificial Boxwood and placed atop our beautiful white pots our logos for McDonalds, Disney, Twitter, London Underground and Facebook are both emblematic of the famous companies they represent and the power of our topiary to create marketing impact.
This year Agrumi were present at the RHS Hampton court palace flower show 2015 with a special garden display.
With the backing of Pan Macmillan, and designs based on illustrator John Tenniel's drawings for Lewis Carroll's original Alice story, we'll be celebrating 150 years of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a fun fitting feature made in marvelous topiary!
The Agrumi “We’re all mad here!” Garden will feature living Privet figures, including the Cheshire cat, Mad Hatter and Queen of Hearts (her dress decorated in red sedums) and more!
Designed by Melanie Harper/John McGill and inspired by the altered perceptions of reality in the Macmillan Alice book, 
the garden plays with 3D perspective.
Placed on a giant chessboard made of turf and dried natural moss, that has been dyed organically in contrasting colours, the chess squares are made to appear as if they are receding into the distance.
Buy your tickets to the show here
We're hugely excited to be a part of such a prestigious event, and look forward to seeing as many faces as possible!
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The RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2015 has come to a close! We've had a fantastic show and the public reception was exceptional; our display had people stopping and smiling all day long!
Thank you to everyone that came along, saw our display, and joined us in the sweltering heat; we're incredibly grateful!
It's not the end for our topiary Alice garden, however, as you'll be able to find them on display at RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall and Wisley over the Summer; so, if you missed out, they're worth a visit!
We’ll work with you to create something truly unique and personal to you both:
It will be eye-catching, distinctive and unique to the special relationship you share.
And after your event your topiary can live on in your home or garden as a permanent reminder of your perfect day – so it’s environmentally friendly too!
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This beautiful wedding peacock was the result of collaboration between Agrumi and a talented local florist. We built the frame and the florist did the rest.
The colours were chosen to compliment the bride and groom’s wedding clothes.
The peacock is associated with fortune, compassion, kindness, and patience. It is an ideal symbol for couples embarking on a lifetime together.
Or what could be more appropriate for a classic English wedding than topiary hearts placed by the altar, lining the aisle under planted with flowers matching the bride’s bouquet or surrounding the wedding breakfast table?
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Together we’ll create designs to delight, surprise and inspire.
Animals, figures or objects – there is almost nothing we can’t make in topiary.
From traditional hearts or entwined initials to exotic birds and fantasy characters – topiary can make your event look extraordinary.
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Agrumi Topiary Art is fabricated on metal frames covered in living or artificial plants and flowers or natural, dried moss (which can be dyed).
We also have stock topiary figures and classic topiary shapes –including box balls, cones, spirals and lollipop bay trees – for sale or hire to dress your reception space.
Star Jasmine, with its lovely fragrant white flowers, makes an exceptional plant of choice for any wedding decoration – a huge variety of other plants and flowers are of course possible as well.
After the event, your personal topiary design can be planted in your garden as a memento of the occasion.
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Hyundai recently introduced the world’s first production model Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle, the ix35. Powered by renewable energy and zero-emissions technology it offers the first viable alternative to the internal combustion engine.
Looking for ‘green’ ways to promote their new product, Hyundai came to Agrumi to make a 1:2 topiary version of the hydrogen-powered original. We were all too pleased to help promote green energy in the greenest way we know; using dyed dried moss to create a dense , soft to the touch, detailed model.
We made our topiary car with the boot open to reveal bottles of water – symbols of the green, clean and renewable future that inspired Hyundai’s new model.
Conde Nast, publisher of Tatler magazine, asked us to create a life-size horse and hounds for their ‘Best of British’ edition and clients Jaeger. The animals were created in natural moss that was dried and coloured a vibrant green.
To see our Horse and Hounds in the studio, watch this video:
After the shoot, we modified the horse to fit a window display at Jaeger’s flagship store on London’s Regent Street. The display encourages shoppers to take a ‘selfie’ with our horse and share it to Instagram and Twitter to enter a competition.
Dobbies chain of garden centres wanted a giant topiary Easter bunny to mark the official start of spring and the gardening season.
Positioned in Greenwich Park, the bunny was used by Dobbies PR to encourage budding gardeners and al fresco aficionados to get outdoors and enjoy the predicted spell of great weather. Andy King, Managing Director at Dobbies said the bunny was an iconic symbol of Easter and would make people think about their outdoor spaces.
For a relatively small financial outlay the bunny helped Dobbies create a story that featured in print - including ‘The Times’ - and social media.
The bunny now lives outside Dobbie’s store in Shrewsbury where it acts as a beacon to customers for the green treats inside.
The Lady Gaga shoe was commissioned to launch a week-long event of floral and fashion themed festivities. This two metre high stiletto was positioned in St Christopher’s Place in London, just a stone’s throw away from the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street.
The design was based on a pair of similarly formed denim stiletto shoes purchased by Lady Gaga from Lungta de Fancy in St Christopher’s Place. The local traders wanted to commemorate the celebrity visit, and what better way than through the art of topiary!
St Christopher’s Place wanted the shoe covered in living plants and we used fast-growing Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), which offers the added bonus of seasonal, fragrant white flowers.
It took just a week to create this piece from scratch. The success of the project inspired St Christopher’s Place to commission another shoe from Agrumi, but this time covered in twinkly LED lights.
Paultons Park, the family theme park in Hampshire, first asked Agrumi to supply bespoke topiary in 2010. Since then we’ve made yearly additions to the park’s rides and gardens. Our sculptures have been a big hit with Paultons’ visitors – appreciated by adults and children alike for their sense of fun.
Paultons’ Jungle Falls gardens are now home to a magnificent topiary rhino, a family of gorillas, a pair of African cranes, a life-size giraffe, an elephant with her baby, and a two and a half meter crocodile.
By the Cobra Ride is a towering topiary snake head, just along from a pair of stalking topiary Velociraptors, and minutes away from a pair of windsurfers accompanying the Raging River Ride.
The Forest Friends area is home to a lifelike family of deer and numerous rabbits, hares, badgers and foxes.
Peppa Pig World offers younger children entry into a magical land based on the muchloved television characters and Agrumi has supplied many of the sculptures in this area.
Paultons’ most recent themed ride features a spectacular Victorian carousel, for which Agrumi supplied a huge range of circus characters in living topiary.