Chelsea Flower Show
Jacqueline29
Posts: 393
Hello, well it is nearly that time of the year again. I hope that you have circled the dates in your Calender's for the coverage on the tv for the Chelsea Flower Show. At least we get nearly a week's worth of gardening coverage on the TV. Hopefully with no distractions or cancelations.
I am going to be going there again this year, I hope that the weather stays nice, as I have been a few times in the past when the weather has not been as kind.
The weather looks good for the rest of this week. Hopefully all of my seedlings will make and even bigger spurt. Some sunshine and warmth makes all the difference to the lovely flowers and myself.
I have a problem with my right arm, I have a ganglion on my wrist that is giving me pain. All that hard work planting over 700 seeds probably did not help. Off to the doctors tomorrow to see what they can do. The old wives tales were to hit it with something heavy. Do not want to do that as could end up with a bruised wrist that hurts even more.
Anyway have a lovely time in your gardens this week, I will certainly be in mine. 
Posts
Love the coverage from the bbc.
I've never been, not really considered it, I assumed the tickets are unobtainium?
I've done the Hampton court show. Complete with ferry ride down the river, it was an exhausting day.
I was spellbinded by the Fernatix display
And had a brief obsession with follies .
I am very unimpressed by the BBC's coverage of Chelsea, I will record it so that I can fast forward through the boring bits such as celebrities, flower arranging demos, and footage of the construction of the site.
I don't like the constant switching of subject - I would prefer each programme to be devoted to one aspect of the show, instead of making them into magazine programmes like Gardeners World, with shallow coverage of everything.
I will also mute the sound and use subtitles because the background music is so annoying - why would anyone think that people want jazz and loud drumming when they are looking at a garden?
The producers need to put more thought into it.
I'm going to both Chelsea and Hampton Court flower shows this year. I'm super excited!
I decided I could do a holiday this year or those two days and it is clear what won! I'm turning 30 next year so it will be interesting to see whether I decide to do the same again, or perhaps a big garden related holiday.
I'm starting out with my garden and allotment this year and starting to study for an RHS course so I'm hoping that I will be super inspired at Chelsea and perhaps come back with a million photos of things to research and develop my understanding
We are driving up and I am packing lots of drinks and food... any tips for the day? I'm thinking light waterproofs even if it's sunny, and sunscreen even if it's foul.
Natbat - wear comfy shoes and be prepared to wait and wait and wait and wait if there is a particular garden you want to see properly. Also be prepared to be exhausted at the end of the day.
And don't forget to charge your phone and / or camera for taking snaps of 'good ideas' and plant labels.
Enjoy
I am off to Chelsea and taking OH this year. His first and probably last visit but he has to do it at least once. Whilst we're on we're going to see Beth Chatto's garden and Harlow Carr too.
Good advice to wear comfy shoes. I also take a plastic bin liner to sit on as there is never enough seating in the picnic/drinks area. I take a bottle of water and sandwiches as choices are limited and expensive on the day and there are queues.
The show opens at 8:30 and it's easy enough to get to see the gardens before the crowds get too thick. People are generally polite and patient about moving aside to let new arrivals see the gardens - more so on members' days than the public days. They are also friendly and chatty if you like.
You can get all day tickets with 12 hours of access or ones valid from 3:30 to 8:30pm which is when it gets more crowded. Show gardens, artisan and city gardens, floral marquee filled with displays from nurserymen and women and special displays, goods and materials and tools and seeds and art and sculpture stands. Floral art, water features, environmental features etc etc.
Tickets go on sale in autumn and it's first come first served with the Tuesday and Wednesday being members only. Worth joining just for that but you get a monthly magazine and free access to the RHS gardens and lots of partner gardens around the UK and some in mainland Europe.
What's not to like?
Its so relaxing and comforting- perhaps it L's the titchmarsh effect?
Alan Clark, I know what you mean.
Z list celebs showing us round their , usually uninspiring, gardens. Film of some designer " getting inspiration" in some far off land. One year we had Jamaican florists having a meeting with their prime minister!!!! Really? is that why we tune in to watch Chelsea?
If these things are deemed of interest, stick them in a programme of their own and leave Chelsea coverage about the gardens, and the plants.
I'd say last year was better at showing more show gardens . Usually we get endless coverage of just a handful.
Hopefully the presenters will be chosen for their gardening knowledge and not just for being pretty . Sorry to the lovely Sophie Rayworth.
What annoys me is how the Zzzzzz list celebrities get to view and be viewed before the real gardeners get a chance to get a look in.
They now limit the numbers so it isn't as crowded but, obviously, there can be a bit of a crush at some exhibits. It is a world class event and at 12 hours for a full day ticket and with so much variety is certainly better value for money than a premier division English football match lasting 90 minutes.
B-list celebs get everywhere but are avoidable at the show. Not so, unfortunately, on the TV coverage unless you record and FF.
All the 4 big RHS gardens have undergone huge changes and improvements in planting, layout, facilities and activities for kids and adults plus there's a 5th under construction at Bridgewater, Manchester so always something new to see and do plus the various outdoor shows from Cardiff through to Malvern in autumn and the monthly shows in London. Then there's Britain in Bloom and all the schools projects and apprenticeships and research. Great value and a worthy cause.