The Chelsea Flower Show

The 99th Chelsea Flower Show opened last week in brilliant sparkling sunshine and that is how this first event of the London Summer Season carried on all until the doors closed on Saturday. It is just as much about people watching as it is about the plants, everything is beautiful!  Chelsea in Bloom inspires the shops to join in with the floral themes and this year everyone had worked so hard to give the area a right Royal feel!

Photos:  Martin Pope

The Queen, many members of the Royal Family who have a very keen interest in all things gardening and a number of our celebrities visited Chelsea on Monday evening before the show opened to the public on Tuesday 22 May.

The Show is staged In the extensive grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea which was founded in 1682 by Charles II as a retirement home for veteran soldiers.  So the legend goes, he was persuaded by his mistress Nell Gwynn to find a way to help old soldiers after she had seen an old man begging on the street in the King's Road. 

Chelsea Pensioners add a bit of colour to Diarmuid Gavin's Westland Magical Tower Garden AP

The Hospital was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and the first Pensioners took up residence in 1689.  The 420 men and women who have been injured on active service must wear a blue uniform at all times when they are within a mile of the hospital and the distinctive scarlet uniform is worn for special occasions.

Every year the grounds of the hospital are transformed for the world famous Chelsea Flower Show which is the equivalent of a catwalk show of the horticultural world.  Trends are launched here for the gardening world to choose and adopt, or in some unfortunate cases they are quickly forgotten about.

Furzey Gardens win a top prize with their first ever entry. Photo: BBC

Contractors work all hours for weeks before the event to ensure stunning show gardens are completed on time for the first day of the show.  This year conditions have been particularly difficult with torrential rain across much of the country in the weeks leading up to the show.  Ironically, there was a strong theme of water conservation running through the show gardens, following the two very dry winters many of us in the UK have experienced.

The world’s most famous flower show is an exciting, bustling, frantic experience which attracts major sponsorships due to its world wide coverage, giving charities a fantastic marketing opportunity.  The next local flower show will be Hampton Court, where the pace is a bit more relaxed in the vast  acres of Henry VIII's back garden.