Chelsea 2015 Blog
Our Blog will keep you up to date on everything that’s happening on the Chelsea Project. Who’s building what, who’s having all the bright ideas – even what the Team has for lunch!…
Over the Garden Gate – Rehinged!
Now we know just what it takes to put on a display at the Chelsea Flower Show. We had all the details from the Chelsea Team at our meeting yesterday. And the hall was packed with cheerful members keen to hear the story.
Reflections on Chelsea 2015
I did promise one more blog after the Breakdown day post so at long last here it is! As you may know the Chelsea team are doing a presentation at Lower Hardres, near Canterbury, next Sunday, 24th January. This will be all about our experiences re exhibiting at...
Chelsea 2015 – Breakdown Day
We made it through to Saturday relatively unscathed, partly being buoyed along by adrenalin. A 6.15am train for me from Borough Green and in the third carriage I met Ali and Barbara, who had got on at Maidstone East. The wonders of mobile phone communications! At...
Postcard at the end of the show
Gate of The Royal Hospital,
Saturday 23 May, 9.30pm
It took us six days to build the display – but only three hours to demolish it!
Read moreSo thank you HPS for giving me a unique opportunity.
Chelsea 2015 …. some thoughts
Colin gives us his thoughts as Chelsea Flower Show 2015 comes to an end. I have to say I was - and, if I’m honest, still am - disappointed with our display not achieving a gold medal. Not just for myself but for the team, their effort, creativity and ingenuity. And I...
Chelsea 2015: Friday at the show
Just a short blog today. I will do a blog of reflections on Chelsea after we have broken down tomorrow. Breaking down? the stand and / or us! Manning the stand is a full on job and several of us are finding that we get rather hoarse and dry throated, partly also due...
Read more“By the end of Thursday I seemed to have become the resident expert on pruning wisteria.”
Postcard from Kent Group stand
Stand , Great Pavilion
Chelsea Flower Show
Friday 22 May
Gosh, it is exhausting talking to visitors to the Show! It was wonderful that so many wanted to ask questions . . .
Behind the scenes – a snapshot
Jeremy gives us just a small insight into how a 'Best in Show' is achieved. In occasional breaks from building the HPS stand, we did get a few opportunities to look round the show-ground, at the big display gardens being constructed. Dan Pearson's evocation of...
A day on the Chelsea stand
I went up to Chelsea yesterday to join the team in person rather than via the internet and it was a real pleasure. I got to see the stand in all its glory rather than through screen images - although I did spend rather a lot of time with my camera to my eye and you...
Chelsea 2015 – The Award
Well, if you have got to the blog, you probably know we were awarded a Silver-Gilt, which is super. It is a credit to all the hard work which the Chelsea team and HPS Kent members have put in. Lots of people growing plants and helping. We have had many lovely comments...
Read moreAnd now we just have to hope the judges agree with her!
Postcard from Chelsea
Chelsea Showground
Monday 18 May
One of the reasons for doing Chelsea is the publicity it brings the HPS. Happily, the media have been taking an interest in what we are doing. Their visits interrupted our work, but were very welcome. Andy Garland from Radio Kent
Chelsea 2015 – Judgement Day
Colin and I caught an early train and arrived at Victoria at 7.23am. We got a taxi to the Bullring, not in Birmingham, but on the Chelsea Embankment. Arriving at the stand at 7.45 we checked re security measures and went to our reporting point. After this we set about...
Listen to Colin being interviewed by Andy Garland on Radio Kent’s Sunday Gardening talking about The Hardy Plant Society and Kent Group’s exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Take a listen – it’s really good!
Chelsea 2015 – The Last Day of Build Up
An earlier start today with Ali and me meeting Colin at his house at 7.30am. Colin was being interviewed at 9.50 by Andy Garland for Radio Kent and we did not want to be late. I had forgotten to recharge my phone overnight and it had only 41% battery power. I must...
Read more“With the sun setting over the Thames as we walked back over Chelsea Bridge.”
Postcard from Chelsea Bridge
Chelsea Bridge
Saturday 16 May 8.00 pm
Today was the first day that the small group doing the ‘nursery’ and sales ends of the Chelsea stand had been together.
Chelsea 2015 – A Long Day
Today has been a long day for me, but not quite as you might imagine it. Normal getting up time and dog walk, but muggins here had been up until 2.15am rechecking the plant names of those plants which are (almost 100%) going to make it onto the stand. Yesterday we...
Chelsea 2015 – Training and Packing
Today started as usual, meeting Colin at the polytunnels to collect a few things, such as gravel, bark, a few plants and cling film roll wrap for the Danish trolleys, before driving up to the showground. Our main aims today were getting the clematis trained on the...
Yesterday at Chelsea
Karin’s photo album of the day…
Read moreAs a reminder of what it was all about, a delicious scent of roses filled the space
Another postcard from Chelsea
Deepest Kent
Thurs.14 May
Yesterday I arrived at around midday to a huge building site with lorries, four-wheeled buggies, vans, wheelbarrows and trees and plants everywhere.
Chelsea 2015 – We’ve Started Playing with Plants
Today was Day Three. Colin and I met at the polytunnels at 8am to find Linda already there. Alan and I had raided the garden before this for some chunky logs. We had a tree which had fallen down a couple of winters ago and it might come in useful for edging the path...
