I’m on the train home now and will upload some photos tomorrow.
I’ve been to other shows before but not Chelsea so I have no specific benchmark but many people have told me of their experiences and the big negative is how crowded it is. Well not today, it wasn’t. It was easy to see everything and get to the front for photos. Only the big COPD garden had a queue, and frankly I was not overly impressed by it. Others were easy to see in their glory, and glorious many of them were but the TV makes them look bigger and more dramatic than they are in real life.
I like the trade stands but, after your first show/country house Christmas fair, there is a sameness about the exhibitors - you can overegg the cashmere blanket and wrought iron ornament pudding. The benefit is I spent nothing.
Much has been made of the delights of the palette of Autumn colours. No doubt it is heresy to say so, but I definitely prefer the colours of May. The variety of plants was more limited than I expected and I was not bowled over by the displays in the main pavilion. Some were great, like Raymond Evison’s clematises, but others I scooted past. I thought the pavilion was possibly no more than 80% full, a benefit being that stands were well spaced and getting around trouble free. Those in wheelchairs could manage quite comfortably and, by 6.00 pm, it was really quite empty.
I stayed late to see if gardens were lit up in the twilight. A few were but it was far from being dramatic and not worthy of the wait.
Overall I had a great time. I enjoyed the experience and I’m very glad I went but I doubt I will go again for the next few years.
Thanks @chicky - gorgeous photos! Was your favourite garden the Russian one? My hubby is intrigued that it was based on a garden in Ekaterinburg because that's where he used to go every winter to teach English - and of course, never saw any plants because everything was covered in snow!
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
That was indeed my favourite @Liriodendron 😍. The planting was extraordinary 🥰. Will remember it for a long long time.
On the other hand Mr C was appalled that they had transported 70 massive, hugely heavy rocks from Russia to make a spectacle that lasts a week ….at the same time as the RHS is professing to care about CO2 emissions.
I would have loved that planting if it had been set in manmade hypertufa 😜
Only just catching up with the watching. What on earth were Angelica and Nicki wearing! Angelica looked like the thing we used to stick over the spare toilet paper roll
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Did you buy anything? That clematis stand is something else.
@Obelixx and everyone, thank you for the tips!
I’ve been to other shows before but not Chelsea so I have no specific benchmark but many people have told me of their experiences and the big negative is how crowded it is. Well not today, it wasn’t. It was easy to see everything and get to the front for photos. Only the big COPD garden had a queue, and frankly I was not overly impressed by it. Others were easy to see in their glory, and glorious many of them were but the TV makes them look bigger and more dramatic than they are in real life.
I like the trade stands but, after your first show/country house Christmas fair, there is a sameness about the exhibitors - you can overegg the cashmere blanket and wrought iron ornament pudding. The benefit is I spent nothing.
Much has been made of the delights of the palette of Autumn colours. No doubt it is heresy to say so, but I definitely prefer the colours of May. The variety of plants was more limited than I expected and I was not bowled over by the displays in the main pavilion. Some were great, like Raymond Evison’s clematises, but others I scooted past. I thought the pavilion was possibly no more than 80% full, a benefit being that stands were well spaced and getting around trouble free. Those in wheelchairs could manage quite comfortably and, by 6.00 pm, it was really quite empty.
I stayed late to see if gardens were lit up in the twilight. A few were but it was far from being dramatic and not worthy of the wait.
Overall I had a great time. I enjoyed the experience and I’m very glad I went but I doubt I will go again for the next few years.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
On the other hand Mr C was appalled that they had transported 70 massive, hugely heavy rocks from Russia to make a spectacle that lasts a week ….at the same time as the RHS is professing to care about CO2 emissions.
I would have loved that planting if it had been set in manmade hypertufa 😜