Chelsea Flower Show Press Day
- 18th May 2015
As Editor of Flora International magazine, I was privileged to be given a press pass for this, the most prestigious of gardening shows in the world.
Arriving just after 7 a.m. it was wonderful to be able to see the various exhibits in relative peace and quiet without too many crowds also jostling to take a look.
And, as ever, there were some incredible displays.
I was obviously especially interested in the various floral design exhibits, and the NAFAS stand was this year undertaken by a team of nine arrangers from the South West Area of NAFAS, with Anne Bartlett and Diane Clark being the team leaders. Sir Ian McKellen visited their stand during press day, and the BBC showed his interview with Sophie Raworth on Monday evening. In fact, I can be seen in this particular footage!
Come Tuesday, the SW team were ecstatic to discover that they had secured a Gold medal for their efforts - a well deserved accolade for an impressive display.
The most talented florists from the UK's professional floristry industry were also competing for the titles of RHS Chelsea Florist of the Year and RHS Young Chelsea Florist of the Year. The theme for 2015 was Alice in Wonderland and three hotels and two colleges also took part with renowned florist Simon J Lycett dressing the entire area to make one large floral installation. I will confess that I was especially smitten with this!
As if all this wasn't enough, the new Floral Design Studio on Main Avenue was very impressive indeed; light and airy with lots of space between the exhibits. This popular competition is open to a mix of NAFAS clubs and individuals with four themes this year; Heritage, Bizarre, Reflections and Limelight. Two sessions take place during the week and when I attended, there were several familiar names taking part including Linda Porrett who clinched Gold and Best Floral Arrangement Exhibit, Helen Sinclair who achieved Silver, Ann J Sinclair who got Bronze and first timer Debbie Harris who came away with no award but plenty of experience and lots of precious memories to treasure.
The show gardens on Main Avenue received lots of attention of course (and having a soft spot for Chris Beardshaw I was pleased he achieved Gold for his fabulous Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities Garden) as did all the other slightly smaller ones. I for one was so pleased to meet and speak to Sean Murray, recent winner of The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge, especially as he is a NAFAS Area Demonstrator to boot.
I have never seen so many celebs in one place before so that too was a novel experience and despite the early rain on the day, I never once saw a face that wasn't smiling. And when I chatted to BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood, she did promise that the sun would come out around lunch time, and it sure did!
Chelsea Flower Show ROCKS!