Chelsea Flower Show

How bad am I?

Nary a blog post since the middle of May. Sorry about that. To say hectic and its friends descended is an understatement. Instead of doing one huge post updating you on stuff, I figured I'd take one topic or event at a time. Break that big old task down into bite-sized chunks.

So, as the title of this posts suggests, I went to the Chelsea Flower Show!! So exciting. I've never been before, and then I found out that my 82 year old mother-in-law had never been but always wanted to so that was that. Eighty-two is not an age to put things off, and Martin and I were determined she would go.

I booked the enormously expensive tickets (£57 each) plus the enormously expensive parking (£28 per car), we packed enough food and drink to sink a ship and were heading down the motorway at 5:30am one Saturday morning. We wanted to get there well before the crowds so we could see the majority of the show gardens in peace, because once the crowds descend it gets tough to walk around a garden, especially the big 'famous' ones.

The grounds were fairly easy to find, even without a satnav, and by 7am we were in a parking spot in Battersea Park and eating breakfast. The Show lays on shuttle buses to take you to and from the parking to the grounds and there really isn't much waiting around considering how many people were using it. Very well organised.

There was a small queue waiting for the gates to open at 8am, and once in we headed left and straight for the top of the show gardens (and toilets), rather than to the right at the start of main avenue, or straight ahead into the main floral marquee. By 10am, just as we finished the gardens and were pulling out the old flask of tea, a huge number of people poured in through the gate. From then on progress was slow but steady (below is last year's map which we used to plan our route in advance. It proved to be pretty spot on and an incredibly useful to be able to plan our way around instead of buying a show catalogue on the day and trying to plan on the fly).

My mother-in-law suffers with her hip and back so we took with us a tripod camping stool, which folded up and could be carried over a shoulder. Every time she looked the slightest bit tired, we stood somewhere out of the way, whipped out the stool and broke out the refreshments. Despite being up at 4am, she made it right the way through the day like this until we left at 5:15pm. Seating is at a premium at Chelsea and there are no benches or seats in the grounds unless you are either a) in a refreshment area or b) can talk a good game on a trade stand so you can sit on a garden seat/bench.

The floral marquee was stunning, and brisk business was being done putting dibs on plants to collect when the bell went at 4pm. If you've never heard about this, Saturday is the final day of the Chelsea Flower Show and most of the exhibitors sell off the plants on the stands. They usually allow you to reserve a plant as long as you pay for it then and there, and come back at 4pm to collect.