Spotlight Magazines Spotlight on Mansfield North May 2015 | Page 10

Spotlight Magazine

The Chelsea Flower Show

Chelsea 19th – 23rd May

The Chelsea Flower Show is to gardening
what the Paris catwalks are to fashion.
Paris fashions may seem outlandish,
but they push certain trends, which in a
watered-down version end up in high-street
shops.
Likewise, though many of Chelsea’s
show gardens are fantasy pieces which
demonstrate outrageous ideas, the
horticultural trends on display will find their
way into our own more modest plots.
For example; did you know that bonsai
specimens and topiary gardens were
introduced at Chelsea in 1913? Rock
gardens were introduced in the 1940’s and
decking in the eighties. All of these can
now be bought in garden centres up and
down the land.
In 2006 James Dyson even produced a
water feature in which the water ran uphill.
Actually I’m still waiting for my garden
centre to stock one of those! Maybe one
day...
Chelsea isn’t just about high fashion
though; it reflects environmental trends too.
In recent years there have been hosepipe
bans in the great
Pavillion and many
of the gardens have
showcased droughttolerant planting
schemes.

Chelsea really is window-shopping at
its finest. It’s like walking through a reallife version of the best garden design
catalogue in the world.
And if you visit on the last day you
don’t have to restrict yourself to window
shopping. At 4pm precisely a bell rings
and the great Chelsea sell-off begins.
The poor designers, after all their hard
work,