Chelsea Flower Show 2013

[Stan da Prato]

The extraordinary  display  of alliums and amaryllis/hippeastrums from Warmenhoven of Holland which won the best exhibit  in the floral marquee,  a display of airplants, Taylors out of season but immaculate daffodils and colourful cacti.

[Stan da Prato]

A flower filled Thai temple, East Malling research station  shows what is under the soil and three shots of Birmingham Parks Dept's  large display linked to the city library.

[Corrado & Rina]

colourful cacti.

Who was showing the cacti? Is it Southfield Nursery?

Best

Corrado (& Rina)

[Maggi Young]

Who was showing the cacti? Is it Southfield Nursery?

Best

Corrado (& Rina)

May also have been Craig House cacti     - they got a Gold ,too.

[Stan da Prato]

the photo was Southfield

[Maggi Young]

the photo was Southfield

Well spotted, Corrado!

[brianw]

Judging from the tele reports I haven't changed my view that Chelsea is an overcrowded; overpriced; over design orientated; over "personality" orientated opportunity for the horticultural hoi polloi to be in "town". Situations all much loved by the RHS. Or am I just an old Yorkshire cynic

I have visited, or worked, at Chelsea more times than I can remember over the years, and I have never thought the TV coverage bears much resemblance to the parts of the show that I am most interested in. The stands in the main "Marquee" and the plants are much more of interest than the gardens outside, which is more or less the opposite of the TV coverage.
I spent Friday on the AGS stand, it was freezing. Often there is one plant that catches the imagination of visitors, this year it was Calceolaria 'Walter Shrimpton', quite sad looking by Friday, but still photographed many times. A couple of years ago it was a clump of Cotton Grass. 20 years ago we used to stand there wishing we had shares in photographic film making, now they shoot away endlessly. How things have changed.
Probably now more foreign visitors. You spend a lot of time on the stand discussing which plants, or the seed you are selling, will grow best in, Ireland, New Jersey, Norway, Italy, Germany, Spain, California, China etc. And that was just me on this one day. It is always interesting and only late in the day does it drag and you go off exploring.
My earliest memory of the AGS stand is standing in the middle removing plants and helping Michael Upward sell up. Now that was a long time ago.

[Maggi Young]

That's a long and honourable history of helping at the AGS stand, Brian - remember, they also serve who stand and freeze!
There shouldn't have been too many really cold Chelseas, can there? We think of May in London as being  like the Riviera!

[brianw]

There shouldn't have been too many really cold Chelseas, can there? We think of May in London as being  like the Riviera!

I can't personally recall another Chelsea when it has been so cold and wet all day. At the other extreme there have been times when it was warm and windy and many of the stands were covered in dust. Difficult to see the plants then. This was in the days before artificial tracks were layed down to walk on, and before wood-chip etc.
By far the best time to see the show, if you are working there, is between 7 and 8 in the morning, before it opens, although after 4 in the afternoon is good too as the coaches have all left.

[Tim Ingram]

It must be amazing having attended Chelsea over such a long time. Were you involved in that wonderful 60th Anniversary garden outside? We were preparing an exhibit at the Kent Garden Show over this last freezing Friday - I think the temperature high was 7°C and it quickly dropped to 4°C! No Riviera here - but very much nicer today. My most dramatic memory of Chelsea was in the old marquee when the wind was so strong that several of the 'telegraph pole thick' wooden connections in the roof began to snap. This seemed normal and before long some intrepid people (perhaps related to Fred Dibnah?) were up there replacing them.

[Stan da Prato]

a final snap of Scottish interest as the Scottish branch of  NAFAS (flower arrangers ) won gold with a display where plants represent  a coral reef.

..........................and now to Ingliston  to start building  the SRGC stand for Gardening  Scotland.

[brianw]

Were you involved in that wonderful 60th Anniversary garden outside?

Only ever worked in the Marquee for the AGS, and then only on an occasional basis. The final breakdown can be quite tiring, as security can be a problem with numerous trade lorries and vans onsite as soon as it closes. I helped with the breakdown when Edinburgh Botanic supplied most of the plants one year. I worked until 3 or 4 a.m before I gave up and walked across the Battersea bridge to find my car. In those days the parking fee was £6, now it is £25.