Friday 30 May 2014

Chelsea Impressions

I didn't watch much of the TV coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show this year as I was lucky enough to visit there last week with Jane from the flowerhouse.



What little I did see made me realise that what I saw, absorbed, loved and came away with from the Show is somewhat different from the images and impressions you get from the coverage, which, understandably, focuses very much on the wider scheme of things so to put it all into context for the viewer - the garden designs, the clever designers and their thought processes and inspirations, the flower growers and nursery experts and their passions, the amazing water features, incredible structures, the hard landscapings and design frameworks of the gardens, and the Show itself, this year and compared to previous years. The macro view rather than the micro.



When you are there in person, once you've got a handle on the scale of things, the 6 people deep crowds surrounding each Show garden, the excitement of just being at Chelsea, and once you've patiently shuffled carefully, waited your turn, and edged your way politely to the front of the crowds to the garden itself, and found a little space in which to actually see the garden as whole, all that other stuff falls away and you are left alone in a little world of your own, oblivious to the sounds and bustle around you, to take in the breathtaking loveliness of all that lies before you - the most important bit to me, the flowers themselves, their setting and the planting schemes. The details.

this lovely David Austin rose is Jacqueline du Pre

So my post here shows just a random scattering of photos of many of the beautiful flowers, plant groupings and gardens that I found on my visit. I hope it gives you a different perspective of what was there to see and enjoy. Forgive my indulgence in sharing so many!

Apologies if some of the photos don't load, one or two seem to be struggling, I think it's all too much for Blogger!



























woven meerkats amongst the flowers!

above and below, the garden "From the Moors to the Sea" designed by Alan Titchmarsh to celebrate 50 years of Britain in Bloom




















Below, the stunning King Protea, the national flower of South Africa, in a display indoors





I hope you enjoyed your trip with me to Chelsea, and that it's given you a few planting ideas and inspiration for your garden.

Thanks for all your comments on my last few posts, and welcome to my new followers!

Hope you've all had a good week, have a great weekend wherever you are, with, hopefully, some sunshine!


19 comments:

  1. Lovely. I almost feel I was there. I always come away with ideas for my garden. Xx

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  2. Stunning. Absolutely. Thank you for sharing these pics - you're so right, the TV coverage gives certain aspects and opinions, but it is wonderful to see your favourite snippets, those special floral groupings that strike your fancy, and to see them in still life close up - I've spotted a few here that I'd love to add to my garden! Chrissie x

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  3. Lovely pics Gill and some great close-ups of planting schemes. It was such a lovely day and now we've got a really good record of it between us (Blogger stuggled a bit with my photos too!). Have a lovely weekend.
    Jane xx
    PS I'd completely forgotten about the meerkats - cute!

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  4. No problems with your photos at all Gill, they're simply gorgeous. I adore the riot of colours, especially the pinks and oranges. The lovely lady who does my ironing was surprised with tickets to the Flower Show for her 60th birthday and was telling me all about it last week. Her eyes were positively sparkling with excitement.

    Have a super weekend.

    Hxx

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  5. Your pics are wonderful Gill, you did a great job with them and thank you so much for sharing them - I almost feel like I've been there! What a wonderful experience it must be to take in so much beauty all in one place - it's almost unbelievable! Hugs, Joy xo

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  6. Although I watched a lot of the coverage, it is lovely to see Chelsea through your lens! It looks as though it was truly beautiful, all of the different flowers, and gardens and all kinds of beautiful things to see. Thank you so much for sharing this, it really was delightful! xx

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  7. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! The pictures all loaded and what an absolute treat they were too. Thanks for sharing these, I thoroughly enjoyed them.

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  8. oh what a pretty colors and lovely flowers very pretty pictures
    hope you had a lovely day the photos are so pretty leon10

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  9. Lupines and delphiniums--two of my favourites. Just beautiful

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  10. Thank you SO much! I will probably never make it there so I really appreciate seeing all that gorgeousness!

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  11. Beautiful, beautiful pictures. Takes you into a world of sheer English summer.

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  12. It all looks really beautiful. I'm sure I will never have a chance to go, so thank you for sharing these photos.

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  13. The photos look beautiful, I never wanted to visit Chelsea before but as each year passes I feel more of an urge to go. The snippets I see on TV never seem enough now.

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  14. An amazing tour. Thanks for spending the time loading them all up. Lovely to see all the blooms. I especially like the name of Alan's garden, very organic and evocative at the same time. I'm just off to the greenhouse now to pot on a few more seedlings. Have a lovely weekend.

    Jean
    x

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  15. hey Gill that Jacqueline du pre rose is on my must have list after I saw it on Chelsea!!
    Now back to your pictures!!

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  16. How lovely it must be to be there! Maybe one day I'll be there. Thank you for sharing. xxx

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  17. Gorgeous pictures, Gill! What a wonderful day you had! Thank you for sharing, it is such an inspiring show :)
    Happy week ahead.
    Helen xox

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  18. I am soooooooooooooooooooo envious it has been on my list of events to vist for years, I have not even managed to get close to visiting, thank yoy so much for sharing your pictures, they are lovely :-)

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Thanks for visiting and for taking the time to leave a comment - I love to read them!
Gill x