Chelsea Flower Show Virtual Views

Horticulture from home

Thanks to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and its 520,000+ members, the world’s most famous flower show opened online earlier this week. This is only the third time in the history of the Chelsea Flower Show that it had to be cancelled — the first two was World War I and World War II.

Virtual Chelsea runs through May 23rd and features talks by famous garden designers and experts, behind-the-scenes tours, activities for kids and more — streamed throughout the day along with its usual BBC broadcasts. Just some of the segments so far:

• Florist Simon Lycett (Garden’s Live presenter, Guest Judge on Netflix The Big Flower Fight)
  Plant and arrange flowers


• Chef Raymond Blanc (self-taught Michelin star rated French chef)
  Balcony herb garden


• Garden designer Adam Frost (BBC’s Garderners’ World presenter, 7-time Chelsea Gold Medal winner)
  Lincolnshire garden tour

Ironically, this year’s show coincides with Mental Health Week and perhaps now more than ever people are realizing just how important gardens and green spaces are especially during lockdown. RHS is encouraging people to share images of their favorite flowers and green spaces. Even the members of Royal Family, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have all shared their favorite flowers #mychelseagarden.

With the opening of local garden centres, there is no better time to stop and smell the roses — and perhaps even plant one too!

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