SA takes gold at Chelsea Flower Show
- Thread starter mlou
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My wife was offered two complimentary tickets to Chelsea. It was a tough decision wether to go or not as I usually wash buckets on a Friday and wouldn't want to see this important task fall behind, but in the interests of broadening my knowledge i've decided we will attend. We live about forty miles from the show and have never been before!
Have a wonderful time... let the buckets take the hindmost!
Mikey the Flower Guy
It's a GREAT DAY to live, and love!
- Nov 10, 2002
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I REALLY NEED to go with Mary Lou...just to make sure she does this right!!,...for the SAME reasons....mlou said:
Chelsea, 2005
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We decided to take the train to London rather than drive as it's a real hassle driving into London these days, what with the price of fuel, the traffic jams, congestion charge and parking fees. With a return ticket costing £13.50 each it's a lot cheaper and a lot more relaxed. Unfortunately a couple of navy ships had docked at Portsmouth and filled the train so it was standing only all the way. Not so bad as I’m quite used to standing all day in my job.
When we arrived at Waterloo station, do we get a cab to Chelsea, take a bus or walk it. It was such a lovely day, hottest day of the year so far and we don't get to London that often so decided to walk. Fifty minutes later, hot and sweaty, arrived at Chelsea. Apparently, ticket sales are capped at 157,000 and it appeared that they had all decided to go on Friday. Yes it was heaving. There were hundreds of stalls all with something related to gardening. We had a look at the outdoor garden first. It seems the trend is now towards cottage/wildflower gardens and as much as I can appreciate they would have taken a fair amount of work to create, the end result is akin to what you would see over your fence if your neighbor was not at all interested in his garden. Then there was the other extreme, given enough cash for a project, you can create some very unusual designs. Whether they are at all practical in an everyday sense is I suppose up to the individual. Tried to get into the floristry tent but was told an emergency had forced it to close for a while. So we ventured into the Grand Pavilion. This is where all the nurseries and bulb growers put on their displays. What a fantastic sight. Every conceivable variety of flowers in all their glory in abundant displays. Now that would make a super florist shop. This is where I took about a hundred photos. We then went back to the floristry tent. After the Grand Pavilion, I'm sorry to say I was a bit disappointed. I had expected some lavish displays from what are presumably the top floral designers. It appears the brief was to decorate a fireplace and we saw about 18 identical settings decorated in different themes. I can appreciate that they would have taken ages to complete as they were all quite intricate designs but in some ways I could not see the point. I could not envisage recreating the designs for a customer, corporate or private. I did not feel that the end justified the means. There was no 'wow, I'd love to be able to do that' factor. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, after all the designers had very little space to work in and would have been restricted by the requirements and setting. Just my initial reaction and my reluctance to take any photos. We then moved on to the NAFAS tents where the flower clubs had their displays. Now, this is what I call impact. Yes they were large designs, but hey, they've got about 11 acres here, why not! I could visualize any of these being a centerpiece at a wedding or gracing a company foyer. This is what I call flower arranging. If you've got it, flaunt it! Then it was time for an ice cream. Being a bit tight I always resent paying £1.70 for a cone when you can buy a whole tub at Tesco for £2.99, but that's life. The train journey home was an absolute nightmare, with one train cancelled and the train we were on being taken out of service half way home due to brake problems. Two hours for a fifty minute journey. Then again, that's life. All in, a great day out.
Let me know if anyone wants to see the photos. May have to upload them to my website unless someone’s got another idea. 139 images are a bit much to email.
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We decided to take the train to London rather than drive as it's a real hassle driving into London these days, what with the price of fuel, the traffic jams, congestion charge and parking fees. With a return ticket costing £13.50 each it's a lot cheaper and a lot more relaxed. Unfortunately a couple of navy ships had docked at Portsmouth and filled the train so it was standing only all the way. Not so bad as I’m quite used to standing all day in my job.
When we arrived at Waterloo station, do we get a cab to Chelsea, take a bus or walk it. It was such a lovely day, hottest day of the year so far and we don't get to London that often so decided to walk. Fifty minutes later, hot and sweaty, arrived at Chelsea. Apparently, ticket sales are capped at 157,000 and it appeared that they had all decided to go on Friday. Yes it was heaving. There were hundreds of stalls all with something related to gardening. We had a look at the outdoor garden first. It seems the trend is now towards cottage/wildflower gardens and as much as I can appreciate they would have taken a fair amount of work to create, the end result is akin to what you would see over your fence if your neighbor was not at all interested in his garden. Then there was the other extreme, given enough cash for a project, you can create some very unusual designs. Whether they are at all practical in an everyday sense is I suppose up to the individual. Tried to get into the floristry tent but was told an emergency had forced it to close for a while. So we ventured into the Grand Pavilion. This is where all the nurseries and bulb growers put on their displays. What a fantastic sight. Every conceivable variety of flowers in all their glory in abundant displays. Now that would make a super florist shop. This is where I took about a hundred photos. We then went back to the floristry tent. After the Grand Pavilion, I'm sorry to say I was a bit disappointed. I had expected some lavish displays from what are presumably the top floral designers. It appears the brief was to decorate a fireplace and we saw about 18 identical settings decorated in different themes. I can appreciate that they would have taken ages to complete as they were all quite intricate designs but in some ways I could not see the point. I could not envisage recreating the designs for a customer, corporate or private. I did not feel that the end justified the means. There was no 'wow, I'd love to be able to do that' factor. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, after all the designers had very little space to work in and would have been restricted by the requirements and setting. Just my initial reaction and my reluctance to take any photos. We then moved on to the NAFAS tents where the flower clubs had their displays. Now, this is what I call impact. Yes they were large designs, but hey, they've got about 11 acres here, why not! I could visualize any of these being a centerpiece at a wedding or gracing a company foyer. This is what I call flower arranging. If you've got it, flaunt it! Then it was time for an ice cream. Being a bit tight I always resent paying £1.70 for a cone when you can buy a whole tub at Tesco for £2.99, but that's life. The train journey home was an absolute nightmare, with one train cancelled and the train we were on being taken out of service half way home due to brake problems. Two hours for a fifty minute journey. Then again, that's life. All in, a great day out.
Let me know if anyone wants to see the photos. May have to upload them to my website unless someone’s got another idea. 139 images are a bit much to email.
Fly2hi, would love to see the pics and so would my other half (she says better half!). Jane is an avid (to say the least) gardener and we plan a visit to the UK in a couple of years, so Chelsea is on our list as well as Kew, and others!
Connie
New Member
Might take a little while to sort out pics as I think I should go through them and blur out all the faces. You know what people can be like if you start sending their photos around the world. BTW. if planning to visit Chelsea, bear in mind that tickets must be bought in advance, they sell out very quickly, you cannot pay as you go. I think they would have been about £36 each, but luckily free this time.
Finally got around to sorting out the images and they are all on the website at
http://www.haslemereflowers.co.uk/html/chelsea_2005.html
http://www.haslemereflowers.co.uk/html/chelsea_2005.html
Rhonda
Well-Known Member
Absolutely Stunning........And I've only viewed about 30 designs....
Bravo on the photos!! And sincerest Thanks...
Bravo on the photos!! And sincerest Thanks...
flower show
These are incredible photos. Thanks for sharing them. Do you happen to know who the designers were? Were they from England or all over the world? Some of the design work is world class.
Carol Bice
These are incredible photos. Thanks for sharing them. Do you happen to know who the designers were? Were they from England or all over the world? Some of the design work is world class.
Carol Bice
I just wish I had been a bit more prepared. I had not envisaged taking that many shots and with hindsight could have catalogued them all with name of designer etc. I kept thinking that my memory card would fill up at any moment so I skipped a lot of things that would have been worth shooting (always carry a spare card!). I was a bit overawed myself.
Sher
New Member
names
Loved the one that I envision could be named "NESSIE"..looks like it just popped it's head up to look around.....thanks for sharing. Wonderful shots and interesting to see such a variety.
Loved the one that I envision could be named "NESSIE"..looks like it just popped it's head up to look around.....thanks for sharing. Wonderful shots and interesting to see such a variety.
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