Chelsea Flower Show
This week I went to the press day at Chelsea Flower Show, and thought it would be a great idea to get there really early and make use of the morning light for (what I imagined would be) stunning flower photos. The pouring rain didn't put me off my stride - it's just a shower, I told myself! Cut to 8am in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea where the show is held, and it's still raining. And so grey that I'm surprised any of my photos came out half decent at all. Of COURSE it got sunnier later in the day when I'd left. That's just me and my brilliant timing as ever.
Anyhoo, the show has been held annually at the hospital since 1913, and running since 1862; it's a British institution and a must-see. Even in the rain. There are prizes to be won for the best garden, best plant, etc, and it was interesting seeing the judges shuffle around with their clipboards, muttering to one another. You can see all this year's winners on their website. There was also an exciting assortment of VIP guests alongside the press and bloggers - including Prince Harry, Ian McKellan, Joanna Lumley, and Mary Berry. Oh, and the Queen arrived at some point, but I didn't see her.
I would love to enter a garden concept in the show, how do you do it? Not that I can garden. I don't even have a garden of my own, just a communal one at the block of flats where I live. It usually just has kids playing in it, though one bizarre time a group of guys in their early twenties infiltrated the garden and started throwing potatoes at people's windows. I also doubt I could do anything as creative as this badger-themed 'woodland' (above) or this casual waterfall (below).
You'll spend a good deal of time looking at the stunning detail on flowers and plants. I loved the sugar-plum leaves (below).
The spectrum of colour that hits you all day is also quite something! No photo-shopping whatsoever has gone on with these vibrant beauties (below).
It's quite overwhelming just how beautiful and strange flowers are. And so fragile. No wonder the gardeners were nervously tending to their babies before the judges came over to their space.
Spending the whole day at the Chelsea Flower Show is not hard when there's so much to see. You can also have a fancy lunch or afternoon tea, pop into the Pimms bar, or there are plenty of picnic tables too.
It's also a shopping paradise for lovers of gardening tools, furniture, and plants, plus flower and garden-themed art and objects. There's everything from summer houses with gin bars to unusual garden lights (below) to look at and maybe purchase. My favourite thing was a giant dragon made from driftwood that can sit on your garden shed. I want it so much! When I get my own garden.
The odd and the not-so-beautiful are also celebrated - with many weird looking specimens on show. I got as close as I could to these mini Venus Fly Traps. I could almost feel them twitching with anticipation.
There were also wild flowers on show - some beautiful meadow and woodland 'looks'. If look is the right term for a flower show. In my mythical garden I would definitely want wild flowers in the mix.
Chelsea Flower Show is a must for Londoners and tourists alike. It's a firm fixture in the London calendar, and such a visual feast. The show runs until Saturday this week, so catch it if you can. Tickets for non-members of the RHS are £99 for the whole day, but you can save money if you book to go after 3.30pm or 5.30pm. Enjoy!