Royals and celebrities to enjoy sneak peak of Chelsea Flower Show – including quirky garden gnomes
Royals and a host of famous faces will have an exclusive first look at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show today; Here gardens and communities celebrating British landscapes share the spotlight with an unexpected, interesting guest: the garden gnome.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), organizers of the prestigious annual event, have made the rare decision to lift their long-standing ban on dwarfs for only the second time in the show’s history.
Stars including actress Cate Blanchett and Queen guitarist Sir Brian May showed off their artistic talents to decorate quirky figurines that will be auctioned to support the RHS’s school gardening campaign, which aims to enable children to enjoy the benefits of gardening.
Potential sightings of these popular ornaments could also occur at the RHS and the King’s Foundation Curious Garden. Designed with input from the King, Sir David Beckham and Alan Titchmarsh, this central exhibition aims to attract public interest in gardening.
Clare Matterson, chief executive of the RHS, said “with so much uncertainty in the world, we have never needed the joy of gardening more” and promised a show that will inspire everyone to grow.
Tickets for the world-famous event sold out before opening to the public for the first time since before Covid.
Visitors to the show and those watching the TV will be able to see the Curious Garden, designed by Frances Tophill and supported by Charles, King’s Foundation ambassador Sir David and leading gardener and TV gardener (RHS and King’s Foundation ambassador) Titchmarsh.
The exhibition does not feature man-made materials such as concrete and features features such as an oak building representing a “museum of curiosities” and seven raised beds referencing Sir David’s famous No. 7 jersey for Manchester United and England.
The garden will also feature delphiniums, one of the King’s favorite flowers, and roses named after three champions.
Other gardens include law firm Addleshaw Goddard’s Flourish in the City, inspired by London’s overlooked green spaces and hidden rivers, featuring water features and walls made from oyster shells recycled from the capital’s restaurants.
Another project that focuses on environmentally friendly materials is the Eden Project Bring Me Sunshine garden, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Eden Project in Cornwall, and the new waterfront project in Morecambe, Lancashire, where the exhibition will be the center of attention after Chelsea.
The garden features border panels created from mussel shells and terraces crafted from mussel shell byproducts, as well as Austrian pines, sea buckthorn, green olives, coastal-inspired plants and “axial plants” such as sea kale, samphire and artichokes to support productive and sustainable gardening.
Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project, said designer Harry Holding’s design “beautifully captures the magic and possibility of the Eden Project Morecambe, a wonderful combination of horticultural prowess, technical challenge, great design and a great deal of love and belief in the future.”
Elsewhere, exhibitions focus on the Woodland Trust’s fight to save the UK’s “forgotten forests” – ancient woodlands buried under timber plantations, as well as “fringe areas” on urban edges that connect people with nature, supported by the Campaign to Protect Rural England and designed by Sarah Eberle.
Designed by Baz Grainger, the Killik and Co A Seed in Time garden celebrates traditional crafts from Britain’s natural wetland heritage and the need to respond to climate change, while an exhibition for Asthma and Lung UK is a woodland edge garden designed as a restorative “breathing space” for people living with lung conditions.
Other gardens include a space for Parkinson’s patients and their supporters that will move to John Radcliffe Hospital after the show, and a garden that reimagines female anatomy to open up conversations about gynecological health.
Anti-poverty charity Trussell’s Together Garden aims to highlight the power of community and people working together by moving the garden to Strabane Foodbank in Northern Ireland after Chelsea’s work is finished.
Ms Matterson said: “With so much uncertainty in the world, we’ve never needed the joy of gardening more and we can’t wait to share the many gardening highlights with the nation during RHS Chelsea week.
“From the thousands of breathtaking floral displays of roses, clematis, peonies, vegetables and more in the Grand Pavilion, to spectacular large and small balcony and container gardens, home plant studios and artisan shopping, there is something here to inspire growth for everyone.”
He added: “And for a final splash of even more gardening fun, check out our gnomes.”
