The Chelsea Flower Show 2015

 "The first thing I've got to do", said Alice to herself, as she wandered about in the wood, "is to grow to my right size again; and then the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden.  I think that will be the best plan."  

I found my way into "that lovely garden" this week when I attended the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Wow! I can't find the words to express my wonder. I was so impressed with all the beauty, innovation, and creativity that I saw. I now understand why The Chelsea Flower Show is such a venerable event and so cherished by gardeners throughout Great Britain and the world.  I don't think anyone could attend the Chelsea Flower show and not be totally inspired to go home and garden, regardless of the outdoor space one may have.  I have a new appreciation for the English garden and for the joy that comes from growing something that is beautiful, edible, or both. 

I attended with a dear friend of mine who is a landscape architect and designer. She insisted in arriving early, when the gates first opened.  That meant a 6am departure from Oxford but I'm glad we did.  This gave us an hour or so to see the gardens before the crowds came.

The first thing that greeted us upon entering the park where these gigantic driftwood sculptures made by James Doran Webb.  Photos don't do them justice.  They are stunning.

                             

Next came the show gardens.  I wish I had brought my big camera and that I could have captured the scope of the gardens.  The best I could do was snap bits and pieces of the gardens.  It would be difficult with the best of cameras to capture the full scale, ingenuity and beauty of the gardens.  

The first garden on show was Sean Murry's, the winner of the BBC's Great Chelsea Garden Challenge.  Who knew that rusted tin cans could look so good in a garden.  

 

The M&G Garden "The Retreat" (This year's show sponsor)

 BBC commentator Joe Swift doing an early morning spot in one of the Show Gardens. 

The "Hope in Vulnerability" garden won the Peoples Choice Award. It was inspired by Sentebales' Manohato Children's Center in Lesotho, South Africa.  The Center provides health care, education, and psychological support to children and adolescents with HIV.  Britain's Prince Harry is a supporter of this center and was seen earlier this week at this garden. Designer: Matthew Keightley (He also won people's choice last year!)

 Another Gold Medal winner:  A Perfumer's Garden in Grass by L'Occitane.  

 The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Garden was designed by Ruth Willmott featuring a stunning sculpture which symbolizes the strength of all those fighting the disease.  

The Best in Show winner was the Laurent-Perrier Chatsworth Garden. The judges called it a "Game Changer" because it is such a different kind of garden. It celebrates the wilder side of gardening and simple naturalism. It was inspired by a small part of the 105 acre Chatsworth Garden, the Trout Stream and rockery. To me it looked like the most beautiful, ancient, natural meadow. I was amazed that gardeners created this on a small urban spot. 

Gold medal winner:  The Brewin Dolphin Garden which featured hand-cut slate platforms and and glimpses of an underground stream. 

The Scupltors' Picnic Garden by Walker's Nursery was the Gold Medal winner for Best Artisan Garden

I love this garden -- another Gold Medal winner called Trugmaker's Garden by Future Climate Info.  I learned that a Trug is an old fashion worker's basket.

 

A Medieval garden celebrating the 800 anniversary of the Magna Carta

Check out what is growing in the stone trough -- a dandelion!  It's the only weed I saw in the whole place and clearly deliberately planted there for charming effect. It works!  

There are Show Gardens, Artisan Gardens,  and Fresh Gardens which are more conceptual and contemporary.  The Fresh Garden  gold medal winner was called "Dark Matter".  I preferred this one.  I loved the surprise of a cactus garden in a mirrored hole in this pond.  As usual, my photo doesn't do it justice.  

 

In additions to the many small gardens on display, the grounds are filled with vendors, nurseries,  and interesting merchandise that would delight any gardener or nature lover.  

 The RHS Chelsea Garden Show is held of the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London.  The grounds are lovely, even without all the imported gardens and plants.  Here a designer added rope swings to one of the grand old trees.  The ropes were out of reach but the effect made the tree seem enchanted, as if a special breed of tree people lived there. 

Vendors' stalls lined a beautiful tree-lined avenue on the hospital grounds.  

The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement and nursing home for some 300 retired British soldiers. It is a true hospital in the original sense of the word – that is, a place where hospitality is provided. The residents in the Royal Hospital are referred to as "in-pensioners" and this red coat is their official retired military uniform.  

There is a large pavilion in the center of the grounds filled with all kinds of delights, namely nurseries that showcase the best of plants of every type and variety.  This year one part of the pavilion featured florists' interpretations of Alice in Wonderland like this giant tea pot and cupcakes.

 Even carnivorous plants are beautiful at the Chelsea Garden Show.

Both the Pavilion and the gardens don't just feature flowering and ornamental plants.  I was delighted to see an inclusion of edible plants in so many of the gardens. How I wish this could be the result of my patio vegetable garden!

Here is a short video that gives you an idea of the inside of the Pavilion and of the scale of the crowds.

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show has been held at Chelsea since 1912 and is the most famous flower show in the U.K. and perhaps in the world, attracting visitors from all continents.  I now know why.   Thank you K, K, and K for my birthday ticket. It was a day I will never forget and I know where I'll be going again this time next year. 

I will again "find my way into that lovely garden. I think that will be the best plan. 

Curiousor and Curiousor" cried Alice.