Chelsea Flower Show

Callistemon21

Fleurpepper

Off for a big walk with the dog to admire all the amazing wild flowers, cowslips, orchids, and all the rock plants, bistort, spiked veronicas, and the amazing tree. Real nature- and then will spend the afternoon tending to my large cottage garden, as all the peonies, tree and herbaceous, are bursting open, and the meadow full of poets narcissi, campion and so much more. A real garden, it even has weeds and I love it.

Some of us can like both.

Looking at Chelsea on tv and the weeds in my garden and lawn and finding out which ones are best to keep for bees and pollinators and which not.

Of course, I do, in fact. But not Chelsea Show style- as Bazza says, so crowded, false and unreal.

Watching the bulldozers and what happens before, and after- makes me feel very sad.

I love gardens- RHS or not, all over the world, be it Wisley, or Hidcote, ot Coton Manor, or so many others. They do change and evolve, and are real show cases, but they are real. And surrounded by birds and other wildlife. Chelsea and such shows, for me, represent all that is wrong with this world, I feel it deeply.

Not important if some of you don't get it, but perhaps you could try and see why I am saying it.

I’m not a fan either, having been persuaded to accompany my keen gardener DH. SO crowded, and just false and unreal. I suppose the clue is in the name, it is very much a show, and I expect the small gardens will give people ideas. When I got home and looked at our garden, I just felt like a wanted to bulldoze it for a second until I realised what I had seen at Chelsea was not real. I’m also aware that it gives a lot of pleasure to many.

I'm off to the Garden Centre
👋

This year some gardens have rubble and weeds and homeless theme. Will it get a gold medal? Will be interesting to see...

I love it highlight of my year and I’m glued to it. I really like the format proffered Alan presenting it though.

Fleurpepper

Off for a big walk with the dog to admire all the amazing wild flowers, cowslips, orchids, and all the rock plants, bistort, spiked veronicas, and the amazing tree. Real nature- and then will spend the afternoon tending to my large cottage garden, as all the peonies, tree and herbaceous, are bursting open, and the meadow full of poets narcissi, campion and so much more. A real garden, it even has weeds and I love it.

Some of us can like both.

Looking at Chelsea on tv and the weeds in my garden and lawn and finding out which ones are best to keep for bees and pollinators and which not.

Vanillasky

^It is a shop window, nothing more or less where everything must look it’s best to attract custom.^

That's probably why I like it, but then I have just had a new kitchen too.

We went to the Ideal Home Exhibition too.
And a kitchen exhibition which was on in Torquay years ago, where we saw the first induction jobs. They seemed very scary!

I need a new kitchen so I might look for another exhibition.

I enjoyed my visit to Chelsea on the day that the plants were being sold to the public. People were walking along carrying huge plants and loading cars with trees.
I don't understand what you mean by real nature and real gardens, fp. Do you mean untouched by human hand? If so, can I call my garden real if I am cutting my grass?

It's a "show", an opportunity for professionals to introduce themselves to the paying public and for many, it's the shows that keep them afloat for the rest of the year. I went to the RHS Malvern Spring show recently with friends and it was a lovely day out. Although it's not all about the plants, another friend is a regular gold medal winner at all the shows says they are crucial to her business.

Katie59

“It’s definitely not all about pot plants Katie59, I’m guessing you’re not into gardening or you wouldn’t say that.”

That’s a peculiar thing to say Casdon .

I’m clearly into gardening, I’m an RHS member and visit a lot of other gardens, we also have a large garden of our own that I try to keep as I want it to look, despite the weather challenges.

I don’t think it was a peculiar thing to say Katie59, because you said ‘ Sorry not keen on flower or garden shows, just a collection of pot plants’, which is a massive generalisation, and dismissal of everything else that happens at them all.

I don’t go to Chelsea these days, it is too crowded, the marquee is always packed so you can’t see what you’re interested in, and it’s just too ‘showy’ compared with the others. But - I’ve never known any gardener dismiss all shows, which are all completely different, as ‘just pot plants’ until you did.

I like watching Chelsea, I’ve been a couple of times but Hampton court is easier for actually seeing stuff up close , I had a pump for my water feature bought at Hampton , till I cut the cable when pruning !
Peonies and delphiniums and rhododendrons and lots of other plants were introduced so long ago that we forget they are not local , but how we would miss them

It is a shop window, nothing more or less where everything must look it’s best to attract custom.

That's probably why I like it, but then I have just had a new kitchen too.

Off for a big walk with the dog to admire all the amazing wild flowers, cowslips, orchids, and all the rock plants, bistort, spiked veronicas, and the amazing tree. Real nature- and then will spend the afternoon tending to my large cottage garden, as all the peonies, tree and herbaceous, are bursting open, and the meadow full of poets narcissi, campion and so much more. A real garden, it even has weeds and I love it.

Thank you Katie, and I feel the same. And I am not assuming anything about Chelsea- I am very aware.

Yes, we visit many gardens, amazing, fabulous,- RHS or not, in the UK or not, but real, as in they move and change with the seasons- just like mine- but of course so much better, and serve as inspiration.

Chelsea is about fashion, trends, creating unrealistic and un-attainable desire for constant change, and for business and money.

Some people change their gardens as they change their kitchen - as said above. ecological nonsense, to my mind.

Chelsea is about designers, horticulturalists and everything in between selling their wares.

It is a shop window, nothing more or less where everything must look it’s best to attract custom.

I don’t mind Chelsea, but it bares nothing to the reality of real gardening.

I used to go regularly-ish, but the crowds do not make for a pleasant day out which ever day you go.

“It’s definitely not all about pot plants Katie59, I’m guessing you’re not into gardening or you wouldn’t say that.”

That’s a peculiar thing to say Casdon .

I’m clearly into gardening, I’m an RHS member and visit a lot of other gardens, we also have a large garden of our own that I try to keep as I want it to look, despite the weather challenges.

Were you not interested in the Donkey Garden, Fleurpepper.

I love watching Chelsea. Much of it is unobtainable for me nowadays due to health issues but I can dream

It’s recorded, so I’ll be watching later. I always go to the RHS Hampton Court flower show in July. So looking forward to it.

I can't post the image but it's in the link.

We have a couple of flower farms near us; one uses glass jars for displays, so recycling jam, coffee jars etc. so they get a second lease of life!

This is interesting:

We are pleased to announce that this year’s winner of RHS Chelsea Sustainable Gardening Product of the Year 2023 is Lindum Wildflower Turf. The judges reflected on the sad reality that the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and that the nation’s biodiversity is under serious threat. Lindum’s Wildflower Turf goes some way to help address this
www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show/news/2023/sustainable-garden-product-of-the-year

Callistemon21

Is it a terribly British thing, do you think?

Probably - I don’t like imported flowers, they are so expensive to produce, and there’s nothing more beautiful than locally grown flowers in season. I try to grow as many as I can myself, and Jonathan Moseley does the same, and supports Flowers from the Farm, so he gets my vote.

Grandma70s

A cousin of mine used to specialise in wild flowers, and won several gold medals at Chelsea. He’s retired now..

Creating a wild garden is quite difficult and hard work, Grandma70s.

My neighbour has succeeded, I've tried with part of ours but not very successfully!
Some plants want to take over.

A cousin of mine used to specialise in wild flowers, and won several gold medals at Chelsea. He’s retired now..

Is it a terribly British thing, do you think?