London Breaks – Chelsea Flower Show
London Breaks
** Book London Breaks to the Chelsea Flower Show **
The Chelsea Flower Show, that’s not a London theatre break. Sh, don’t tell my partner but not all the London breaks you take have to be about going to the theatre! I’m going to do an occasional series suggesting other fun reasons to take London breaks.
rhs-chelsea-flower-show
The Chelsea Flower Show
Thursday 21 May – Saturday 23 – (open till 8 pm Thursday 21st & Friday 22nd 5:30 Saturday 23rd)
The Chelsea Flower Show – what does that make you think of? For me it conjures up images of spring sunshine, beautiful flowers, interesting garden inspiration and a bit of celebrity spotting. A lovely seafood lunch and nice bottle of white wine, or even a glass or two of bubbly (well, we were good and had a light lunch!) followed by a bit more gentle strolling round laughing at the sillier entries and sighing over some of the best gardens you’ll ever see. Then a nice cup of tea and cakes (well, we did have a light lunch!) to keep us going, remember, the show is open till 8 pm if you go on Thursday or Friday. Then there’s plenty of time for one last wander round and it’s all over for another year.
What to Expect at the Chelsea Flower Show This Year
According to the RHS site in the Show Gardens:
- Designer Robert Myers is creating Cancer Research’s seventh Chelsea show garden, to represent the charity’s theme of ‘Impact’.
- Laurent-Perrier is returning to the show with Italian designer Luciano Giubbilei, who has designed a large city garden, which will be framed by tiered evergreen hedges and a monolithic stone wall.
- Chetwoods Architects is bringing a garden that takes its inspiration from a hill-top retreat, and will be Chetwoods’ second Chelsea garden.
- Following the success of his Gold Medal winning urban garden at Chelsea last year, Thomas Hoblyn is returning with a show garden designed for Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust.
In the Great Pavilion:
- Bloms Bulbs showing 13,000 cut flower tulips, with varieties ranging from the 17th century to the present day;
- Winchester Growers creating a bold statement with a magnificent display of dahlias;
- Tynings Climbers is displaying its National Plant Collection of Passiflora.
- David Austin Roses – four new cultivars, including Rosa The Wedgwood Rose (‘Ausjosiah’) with a grapefruit scent, and Rosa Tam o’ Shanter (‘Auscerise’) which boasts cerise pink double blooms.
- Broadleigh Gardens is launching Iris ‘Broadleigh Fenella’
- Hillier Nurseries is launching the latest in the Sweet Delights range, Heuchera ‘Tiramisu’.
A Water Theme at Chelsea Flower Show
Water is to be the major theme at the Chelsea Flower Show this year.
Amongst the more spectacular exhibits Gateshead Council and fashion designer Wayne Hemmingway are to create a display that highlights the importance of water recycling and the role of water as part of a healthy lifestyle. I love Wayne’s work so this should be really interesting.
The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism with Newington Nurseries is creating an underwater display to represent the marine life of the Caymanian waters.
The Wessex and Jersey members of the National Association of Floral Arrangement Societies (NAFAS) is creating a floral arrangement that will appear to be floating on water.
After the Chelsea Flower Show – what next?
You’ve walked what feels like, and actually is, miles. Wouldn’t it be lovely if you could just repair to a comfy hotel room and look forward to a pleasant dinner chatting about everything you’ve seen? Instead you have to battle with the rush hour trains or, worse yet, the London traffic!
Well, here’s great idea. Now for just £125 each you can book your ticket to the Chelsea Flower Show, followed by a night in the 4* Holiday Inn London, Kensington Forum. You can even add in your rail fare, with up to 40% savings, and not take the car to London at all.
The Chelsea Flower Show is open from Thursday 21 May – Saturday 23 May, but tickets are strictly limited. Only 157,000 people are able to attend each year, so booking with a package can be a good way of making sure of a ticket.
