If you're ever traveling to England in May, you won't want to miss the Chelsea Flower Show in London, considered one of the best in the world. This world-renowned, venerable flower show has a very long history. Originally called the Royal Horticulture Society's Great Spring Show and first held in 1862 at the RHS garden in Kensington, it has been on the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea since 1913. It has evolved from a three day show to the current five days, with the Show open to RHS members only on Tuesday and Wednesday and the public on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
This is certainly England’s most celebrated garden show, still considered one of the most important events on the horticultural calendar. Garden designers from around the world compete for space and hundreds of thousands of visitors attend – even the Queen usually makes an appearance. Everyone lines up at the entrances, waiting for opening time to rush in to see the wonders within...
This is a very popular event, so the crowds are dense, even on rainy, member-only days. Raised viewing platforms are built in front of some of the gardens to allow people to actually see them, but everyone has to keep moving on those walkways – and the lines to get there can be long.
Every year for five days the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea are transformed into a botanical paradise with thousands of wonderful plants and blooms, a selection of spectacular show gardens and the finest examples of horticultural excellence in the world. Incredible views abound both indoors and out.
The annual event attracts leading garden designers from around the world, with only the very best designs selected, so the gardens at Chelsea are always special.
The Show Gardens are mirror the latest enthusiasms of garden designers and horticultural fashion – from the Japanese and topiary gardens of the early days (Japanese dwarf trees, now known as bonsai, were seen at the first Show in 1913), through the rock garden craze during the war years, the paved back yards and cottage gardens of the 1980s, to the contemporary sculptural gardens of the present day.
The gardens are different every year, with different designers and themes, but always spectacular.
One of my favorites at the 2005 show (and a lot of other people's favorite, too – it won Best in Show and the BBC People’s Choice Award) was the Ecover Chelsea Pensioners Garden. They even had real former soldiers enjoying tea in the garden!
These large-scale gardens are beautiful, but not necessarily what the average person might want to recreate at home!
The smaller gardens provide additional inspiration for visitors to take home. These gardens are split into three different categories: the stylish and bold chic gardens, courtyard gardens, which are for rural or semi-rural settings, and city gardens, for urban spaces.
Many of the concepts or plantings in these smaller spaces offer ideas that can fit into any sized plot.
Innovative ideas in water features, sculptures, and hardscaping were showcased along with the plants.
The outdoor gardens are beautiful and interesting, but if you want to be amazed by flowers, the place to be is inside the Great Pavillion. This "jewel in the crown" is where exhibitors introduce their newest varieties and overwhelm visitors with dazzling displays. More than 100 displays feature thousands of the finest, most impressive cultivars of flowers at their pinnacle of perfection.
Every flower is perfect in every detail, with magnificent specimens of almost every imaginable type of flowering plant, from orchids to clematis.
The exhibitors prepare for the show for months in advance, nurturing and preening plants, keeping them under precise temperatures regimes and even wrapping blooms in cotton fluff, to make sure they are at their very best for event.
Display spaces are filled with banks of chrysanthemums, amaryllis, tulips, giant delphiniums, sweet peas, and more.
Numerous exhibitors vie to include their displays here, including Hillier Nurseries, David Austin Roses, Notcutts and Blooms. Borneo Exotics, from Sri Lanka, the Trinidad and Tobago Horticultural Society and the Barbados Horticultural Society are a few of the exhibitors from around the world who help provide a taste of the exotic and an international gardening experience.
Here you can find a world created in miniature, a realistic-looking rocky outcropping filled with blooming alpine plants or lush, sweetly fragrant roses.
Visitors can focus on roses, lavender, or lupines...
unusual orchids, iris and alliums, or many other specialties.
Various plant societies also have fantastic displays of their passions, along with educational materials, to introduce visitors to such diverse groups as pitcher plants and other carnivorous plants to semperviviums...
begonias, cacti, and Japanese maples...
bonsai, alpine plants in trough gardens, and dwarf conifers...
More cactus and succulents, water plants, and African violets and other gesneriads!
Vegetables also star here, competing with the flowers in showiness!
Seed dealers promote their products through incredibly creative presentations using ordinary varieties that were grown under special conditions to create the perfect harvest presented here.
Here produce masquerades as art!
In addition to the Grand Pavillion, there is also a smaller indoor exhibit of arranged flowers, which is interesting but not as overwhelming (or as crowded) as the displays in the main venue.
And since most people can't resist buying the latest, best plants and products, there are numerous vendors offering a wide range of horticultural sundries and many new gardening products that make their debut at the show. There are stands selling everything from English 'wellie' boots to priceless botanical prints, floral tea towels, bowls of potpourri, and rare gardening books.
Many exhibits along the lane of vendors are educational exhibits promoting everything from plant societies (including the Black Plant Society, below) to compost.
There is a wide range of sculpture and garden art available for almost any taste and price,
although many of the items offered weren't portable enough to bring home in the suitcase!
In 2006 the show is May 18-26. The show runs from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Full day tickets are £26 (about $49) and must be purchased in advance through the Royal Horticultural Society. Lower priced tickets are available for late entry.
– Susan Mahr, University of Wisconsin - Madison
