Chelsea Flower Show is amazing…surprise!

Walking into the Great Pavilion at the Chelsea Flower Show is jaw dropping, even the second time around. I first visited four years ago, and returning to this stunning show is a gardener’s dream. Imagine every plant you’ve ever wanted to grow in its prime. Roses, lady slippers, tomatoes, hostas and everything else looks perfect. There are giant delphiniums towering over fat tuberous begonia buds. Every turn brings with it something dramatic, unusual and wonderful.

My first stop was to see my friend Micheal Marriott, senior rosarian at David Austin Roses. I recently interviewed him for a story about growing roses. This was his 36th show and the exhibit was packed with fragrant, beautiful roses. “It’s a lot of hard work, he says with a laugh. It never fails to excite me, it’s wonderful” he adds. “It’s still pretty nerve wracking, but we know pretty well what we’re going to do. The main challenge is getting the roses to be exactly the right stage for the day.

The roses are grown in greenhouses and he carefully monitors the temperatures to get the roses to bloom at exactly the right time. There are two of everything growing there just to make sure that designers have what they need for the Chelsea show. The company has been displaying here since 1983 so in some ways they have it down to a science. But when everything is installed, Marriott sees something he doesn’t like. The picket fence shouldn’t be painted green, it should be white, you can’t see it,” he says laughing.

I brought a group of gardeners here and we arrived early in the morning when the crowds were light. It’s almost impossible to explain everything there is to see. As the day goes on the crowds build and it gets hard to be able to navigate the show.

There are many beautifully designed gardens outside to view, but there was one that stood out. Ishihara Kazuyuki’s “No Wall, No War,” was spectacular. It’s his attention to detail that makes everything about it special. What was most incredible was that he carefully designed and planted the back of the exhibit too. Something I never would have known until a fellow traveler from Australia pointed it out.

I could go on and on about Chelsea, it’s something every gardener should see once in their life. I feel lucky to have seen it twice.