Show Spectacular
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| Posted by: Articles Editor |
01/05/2007 |
Andrew Fisher Tomlin gives a preview of what is best at the Chelsea Flower Show this year
The arrival of May is always one of the most exciting times in the horticultural year with the most spectacular event being the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It’s a show I’ve been visiting for over 25 years now and it never ceases to inspire me.
The show has been held at the Royal Hospital since 1913. This year’s will be the 85th show to be held on this site and for the first time will be sponsored by Marshalls. It covers 11 acres and during show week 8,000 bottles of champagne, 20,000 glasses of Pimms, 110,000 cups of tea and coffee, 25,000 bottles of water and 35,000 rounds of sandwiches are sold.
.JPG) It’s best known for its show gardens but there is a lot more to interest and inspire. My favourite, and apparently the most popular, feature is the 12,000m2 Great Pavillion where over 100 floral exhibitors show off their best and often launch new varieties – 300 in the last five years! First-time floral exhibitors this year include the City of Durban but some exhibitors such as Notcutts and Kelways have been exhibiting since the RHS Chelsea Flower Show began.
There are around 600 exhibitors at the show including 20 show gardens and 27 small gardens in the Chic, City, Courtyard and Roof categories. Among the top garden designers creating show gardens this year are Jinny Blom, Chris Beardshaw, Andy Sturgeon and Diarmuid Gavin with the renowned Swedish designer Ulf Nordfjell exhibiting for the first time with his special ‘Tribute to Linnaeus’. These guys are amazing! They produce the most exacting gardens in just three weeks for 157,000 visitors to see and all in search of a prestigious RHS medal.
This year’s Chelsea Flower Show Charity Gala Preview will be in aid of the Royal Horticultural Society and Britain in Bloom. The Britain in Bloom campaign encourages communities to create long-lasting improvements to their local environments, focusing on year-round horticultural good practice, community involvement, local environmental quality and sustainable development.
The Chelsea Flower Show is one of the ways in which the RHS, as a charity, generates revenue to support its charitable activities. Each ticket purchased helps to fund the many activities undertaken by the RHS to promote horticulture and help gardeners. These activities include undertaking scientific research into issues affecting gardeners, holding plant trials and education events and activities. So it’s not just a social event but it has great underlying credentials as well.
For the first time ever there will be a series of talks in the new Design Theatre at Chelsea. You’ll be able to get lots of advice from the experts including some of the world’s leading plantsmen and listen to how some of the designers have put together their gardens. I’ll be speaking there on opening day with an introduction to what’s in store and what’s happening in the world of gardening. We’re also launching a new range of planters with the Oxford Planter Company so we’re going to be busy. I hope you’ll join me but you’d better be quick as tickets sell like hotcakes!
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