Since 1913, the Chelsea Flower Show has been a showcase of the very best of English gardening and one of the leading events of gardening and horticultural season. Attended by royalty, celebrities and a very keen public, it is a treasured tradition each year at the end of May. The show actually started quite a few years earlier than this, in the late 1880’s, but was in a different location – it became the Chelsea Flower Show when it moved to the current premises at the Hospital.
There are many photographs and analyses of this most famous of all flower shows, each year seems to get more media coverage and promotion. This year there seems to be a glut of internet reviews, complete with pictures, video and pages of text, written by experts and laymen alike. You don’t even need to be there any more to have seen all the exhibits, enjoyed the scenery and even bought that special plant that caught our eye!! But what is this really all about? Why the big deal about Chelsea? Maybe because it is put on by the Royal Horticultural Society, that venerable institution that all serious gardeners are required to aspire to belong to someday. The RHS is revered around the world for its research, seedbanks, training facilities, demonstration gardens and library, and Chelsea is definitely the jewel in the crown of its horticultural year.
The exhibits are by much sought-after invitation only, so right there you know you are seeing a privileged selection of the best nursery and tradesmen showcasing their products and expertise. And tens of thousands of pounds are spent on each exhibit area, so this is not a cheap spectacle, not to mention the months and months of planning and meticulous preparation. This year showed an expanded selection of international exhibits which was a nice and very welcome change.
Leyhill prison’s award-winning garden at Chelsea yesterday. The design shows nature’s ability to heal scars on the landscape caused by industry
So why haven’t I been suitably impressed with all the pictures that I’ve seen so far of the show? I must acknowledge that there is no way that any media coverage can substitute for the real thing – a walk around the show – but it seems to me that all the exhibits are trying just a little too hard to be perfect, and every gardener knows that a real garden is far from perfect. These little glimpses into different worlds, loosely based on a theme which varies from year to year seem like still life paintings somehow, and not like someplace that I would ever feel like I would want for my own garden! Maybe my tastes and styles are just too simplistic to appreciate them, but any garden that requires so much explanation and reasoning isn’t my style. Far too much symbolism to figure out, who wants to work that hard? Especially after a long day working at a job, the last thing I want from my garden when I get home is more work (of the mental kind). Something basic and soothing to the soul where I can simply and mindlessly putter around and relax is my idea of a garden, and none of the fancy displays at Chelsea made me feel like I could do that. But it is always a great place to go for ideas and inspiration – just pick and choose the elements that do appeal to you and incorporate them into your own garden or plans.
Here are some examples from Chelsea this year:
 The Gardens Illustrated entry called Evolutions is, along with many other of the more conspicuous gardens, brimming with post-millennial symbolism and novel interpretation |
 ‘Evolution’ garden at the Chelsea Flower Show |
 The Garden of the Night |
 A man models a defribulator in the Lifesavers garden |
———
Some of the best Chelsea coverage this year is by The Times newspaper of London – check their online special for reviews and photographs at:
http://www.the-times.co.uk/onlinespecials/britain/chelsea/
———
There are other major flower and garden festivals held regularly all around the world, and they all have their own loyal following. Although it seems like it’s been around almost as long as Chelsea, the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show first took place as late as 1990!
 |
Another new one that draws a national and loyal audience is the BBC Gardener’s World Live Show in Birmingham, only 6 years old. |
The biggest local event in Vancouver is probably the VanDusen show, held in late May/early June. This outdoor extravaganza is based loosely on the same principles as Chelsea, but much less formal – anyone can buy themselves a booth and set up a display, no invitation needed. Many smaller companies band together and share the tiny cubicle-like spaces, usually creating more chaos than creative space management!
I decided at the last minute to attend the Gala Preview Night, and it was a great party, hosted this year by my good friend David Tarrant. Lots of delicious food and drink, every ‘gardening celebrity’ that this town can muster (plus a few from out of town as well), music, speeches, charity auctions and more. But what about the exhibits, the real reason for the show? The preview night is always a good night to have a snoop around since you can beat the crowds and everything is still at its finest and freshest. This year’s theme is ‘Evolution’ and there were a few vague attempts to portray the idea, but as was to be expected with such a loose and undefined theme, there was lots of room for interpretation and pretty much anything went! All this would have been just fine if anyone had actually shown any creativity and imagination. While Chelsea is renowned for innovation and creativity, these exhibits were, for the most part, rather boring and pedestrian. As I looked around, it seemed like everyone was using the same few plants placed around in very mundane ways. I’ve noticed this in the last few years also – one year it was the lovely Corydalis ‘Blue Panda’, I swear every booth had some of these beautiful blue flowering plants displayed! Last year it was Geranium ‘Pink Spice’, a sweet, dark foliaged hardy geranium with abundant small pink flowers. A couple of years ago, at the Victoria Flower & Garden Festival, it was the pretty pink version of the familiar white baby’s breath. While all of these are great plants, does everyone there need to show it at the same time, and in the same way? I suppose this is how ‘plant fashions’ are determined: someone decides arbitrarily that one particular plant is ‘it’ this year and everyone follows along blindly like sheep! One notable exception was a couple of nurseries that had a lovely display of native and unusual perennials, using dried grasses to make trellis-type screens was particularly inspired. I’ll patronise that creative and unusual display every time! You didn’t have to think very hard or interpret anything, it was just done beautifully, simply and with flair – excellent.
There is definitely a lot to be learned from attending one of these shows, and you’ll always get something out of a day walking around, observing. Take a notebook, wear comfortable shoes, dress in layers and hope for good weather. Enjoy the show!