Went to the Chelsea Flower Show last weekend. It was a glorious weekend filled with flowers, friends, laughter and champagne. Wasn’t without its challenges though. We decided on a coach trip for comfort and ease for the long trip from East Yorkshire to London. We boarded the coach to find the air conditioning had packed up which wasn’t a problem at 7 o clock in the morning, but by 10 o’clock it was thirty degrees. proper hot. The sort where your sunglasses slide off your face and everyone starts talking about hydration like they’re elite athletes. We thought we were dying.
And then came the hotel. Now when someone says ‘London Hotel’, you don’t expect it to be located halfway to the Scottish border. Two hours outside of London, we finally pulled in, slightly delirious but still alive. Just.
Things looked up when we arrived at the flower show itself. What a place.
Even through the heat haze it was breathtaking. Everywhere you looked there were extraordinary pockets of nature overflowing with colour, texture and inspiration. Roses in impossible shades of apricot and crimson. Foxgloves dancing in the occasional and greatly appreciated breeze. Giant alliums bobbing up and down like purple fireworks. Oh i do love me an allium.
Elegant water gardens sat alongside wild cottage style planting, tropical gardens and architectural displays. the smell of the flowers was intoxicating and the whole experience was an artist’s dream. Every corner offered another subject. Light catching through petals, reflections on water, weathered pots and shadows beneath olive trees.
And it was hot. so we found a champagne bar and watched the world go by and it was glorious. Crowds drifted past, gardeners, artists, experts, enthusiastic plant buyers with their purchases, all equally wilted in the heat. and I loved it. Because that’s the thing about days like these. You can laugh at the things that went wrong because the things that went right were for more valuable and good for the soul.
And somewhere between the lavender borders and the champagne bar, I came home with far more than photographs.
I came home with painting ideas
Lots of them.
