The first Royal Horticultural Society Great Spring Show was held in 1862, at the RHS garden in Kensington. Before this date the RHS had held flower shows from 1833 in their garden in Chiswick [GoogleMaps is your friend if you want to know where these places are!]
The Great Spring Show was held at Kensington for twenty-six years, but in 1888 the RHS decided to move the show to the heart of London. The site chosen was the Temple Gardens, situated between the Embankment and Fleet Street, which had a recorded history dating back to 1307 and which were said to date from the time of the Knights Templar [fun fact: Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades.]
In 1912, the Temple Show was cancelled to make way for the Royal International Horticultural Exhibition. Sir Harry Veitch the great nurseryman, secured the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, for this one-off event. It proved such a good site for an exhibition that the Great Spring Show was moved there in 1913, where it has taken place almost every year since.
The Chelsea Flower Show receives a lot of publicity. It is attended by 157,000 visitors each year (limited by the capacity of the 11-acre ground), and all tickets must be purchased in advance. In 2005, the show increased from four days to five, with the first two days only open to RHS members. The show is extensively covered on TV and several members of the British Royal Family attend a preview of the show.
One last thing. The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for former members of the British Army. There were a few roaming the grounds during the show and they let me take their photo. Very cute!
My friend, Pam, and I went on Friday evening to the show and it was PACKED! This is my first time. It kind of reminded of going to a HUGE craft festival, but here, everything is themed to flowers and gardening. Best way I know of how to give you a glimpse of it is to show off my photos, so here you go: |
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