Chelsea Flower Show 2024: Our Top Highlights So Far
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4 weeks ago
From Bridgerton-themed gardens to royal visits
While the weather in London might be looking a little moody, Chelsea Flower Show continues to flourish in full bloom as visitors flock to the renowned horticultural show to see the very best in garden design. Here, we round up some of our favourite highlights, as well as the moments from Chelsea Flower Show 2024 that you might have missed.
Chelsea Flower Show 2024: The Highlights
A Royal Appearance
What would the Chelsea Flower Show be without a royal visit or two? And, in-keeping with tradition, King Charles III and Queen Camilla joined the throng of horticulturally-inclined visitors on Monday. This marked the King’s first appearance at the show since the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the charity behind Chelsea Flower Show, named him as its new patron. The position had previously been held by Queen Elizabeth II, who served as patron for 70 years.
The King and Queen made the most of Monday’s sunny weather by touring a number of the gardens on display, including the Bridgerton Garden (which Camilla visited solo) and the No Adults Allowed Garden (which the royal couple had special access to).
The royals were also gifted badges from Sulivan Primary School students, dubbing Charles ‘King of the Compost’ (‘quite right,’ joked the royal) and Camilla ‘Queen of the Bees’.
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The Bridgerton Garden
Season 3 might already be out, but Bridgerton mania is yet to die down – and what better way to keep the hype going than with a surprise display at Chelsea Flower Show? Netflix teamed up with first-time designer Holly Johnston to bring to life the Bridgerton Garden, a private personal garden design inspired by show’s very own wallflower, Penelope Featherington. The garden, which features a moongate, water feature and sunken seating area, was awarded a silver medal by the RHS and was a hot attraction at this year’s show. A number of cast members from Bridgerton, including Hannah Dodd, Ruth Gemmell and Adjoa Andoh were also spotted paying the display a visit earlier this week.
And don’t worry if you can’t make it down to see the garden in person; it’s said that the garden will be moved to a courtyard within the grounds of Cambridge University Hospitals for staff, patients and visitors to enjoy.
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The No Adults Allowed Garden
Perhaps the most joyful display at Chelsea Flower Show, the No Adults Allowed Garden was designed by children, for children. A little adventurer’s paradise, the garden was created to allow for exploration through various terrains – including woodland, meadows and wetland – before ending at a natural den within a pool of water. Children were invited to slide down into the water and play to their heart’s content in their surroundings.
The display was made all the better when a number of famous faces – specifically Mary Berry, Tom Allen and Arit Anderson – tried to make their way in, only to be stopped by the students of Sulivan Primary School. They did eventually get a special exception to enter, but for the rest of us the ‘no adults allowed’ rule was still very much enforced.
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The Chelsea Flower Show Winners
And then there were the winners. Chelsea Flower Show is renowned for giving out plenty of medals, and this year it awarded 13 gold, 11 silver-gilt, four silver and three bronze medals – as well as additional prizes for the best garden and best construction in each category. The full list of winners is rather long, but some of our highlights included the Imagine the World to be Different garden by St James’s Piccadilly, The Bridgerton Garden, The Size of Wales Garden and the Octavia Hill Garden by Blue Diamond and the National Trust.
You can see the full list of 2024 awards here.
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The Chelsea In Bloom Winners
The floral fun continued outside of the official parameters of Chelsea Flower Show this year, with Chelsea In Bloom delivering yet another wonderful display of creativity. This year’s theme was ‘Floral Feasts’, and saw shops, restaurants and hotels all over the neighbourhood give their buildings floral foodie makeovers.
And, as expected, this year’s winners did not disappoint. The Conran Shop bagged the Best Floral Display award with ‘La Douce France’, a display inspired by the fields and lanes of the French countryside and outdoor summer dining. The Highly Commended Award was snapped up by Birley Bakery, which decorated its shopfront with honeycomb installation designed to aid bees in pollination, and the Innovation Award was presented to The Butchers Tap and Grill for its floral pirate ship display.
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Featured image: King Charles and Queen Camilla visit the 2024 Chelsea Flower Show (c) RHS / Lee Charlton
