(FORTUNE Magazine) – As if designer clothes, jewelry, and perfume weren't enough, now we've got couture plants. Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel has weighed in with his idea of what Coco Chanel--who spent the last half of her life in the wilds of the Paris Ritz--might have grown had she bestirred herself to tend a garden.

Unveiled at London's tony Chelsea Flower Show, Lagerfeld's garden is filled with white flowers, particularly the camellia, Coco's favorite. At its center stands hedgework in the form of Chanel's trademark, two intertwined C's. The company isn't selling gardens, but if anyone wants one, "that would be wonderful," says Tom Stuart-Smith, who was hired to implement Lagerfeld's plans. Rather, the point is to promote May and June as Camellia Month at Chanel, which is pushing camellia jewelry, swimsuits, and perfume.

Except camellias don't have much scent, so what's in the perfume? And why are May and June Camellia Months, considering that camellias flower in January and February? Chanel's camellias were kept in cold storage to delay flowering and their leaves washed with milk and water to keep them shiny. "If the camellias hadn't made it," says Stuart-Smith, "I had roses on standby."

--Janet Guyon