Chelsea Flower Show - Exhibitor’s Diary
by Nan Quick
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| Outdoor panorama at London’s Chelsea Flower Show. |
| Since 1862, England’s Royal Horticultural Society (www.rhs.org.uk) has mounted London’s Chelsea Flower Show, which they describe (accurately) as “The Ultimate Event in the Gardening Calendar,” although I like to think of it as the refined Disney World of horticultural extravaganzas. Last fall, the managers of the Flower Show invited me to exhibit my garden furniture at Chelsea, and I accepted ... how could one not? |
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| L. to r.: White floral hat; Artichoke still life. |
| Saturday, 16 May 2009 My sister Pam Quick and I flew overnight from Boston to Heathrow. Every aspect of our journey was faster than expected: Virgin Atlantic’s arrival; the not-horrible Saturday morning queue at British Customs; our trip with Naeem (www.theairportcars.co.uk) who drove us to London in record time as he described his family’s recent pilgrimage to Mecca; our ready-before-check-in-time-room at the newly renovated and well-run Sloane Square Hotel (www.sloanesquarehotel.co.uk) . So, although we were utterly jet-lagged, we were totally unstressed; travel’s never been this smooth. |
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| Gargoyle at Flower Show entrance. |
We dump our bags, and by noontime are walking down Lower Sloane Street to The Royal Hospital Grounds to meet Alex and Colin Hayes--here ahead of schedule--who’ve driven up from the Southampton warehouse with a huge boucle carpet and two dozen pieces of my garden furniture (Colin, of his son Alex: “I said, never smoke or drink, and don’t go into transport.” Alex shrugs: “did all three.”)
My Chelsea Hat Tent’s facing south, the wind off the Thames is whipping the canvas walls, and the weather’s changing from rain to sun every 15 minutes. It’s cold, it’s hot, it’s wet, it’s dry ... feels just like New England. I’m wearing many layers under my raincoat and acid green hazard vest, and look like an immigrant, right down to my babushka. Low airplanes roar overhead every several minutes, preparing for landings at Gatwick; the Flower Show grounds look bucolic, but the din is urban. The configuration of my Tent’s support poles is NOT as expected, thus my carefully-laid plans about how to hang the canvas backdrops which’ll decorate the display must be rethought. My brain-- which has flawlessly handled the logistics of getting several thousand pounds of metal furniture across the Atlantic--freezes, but Pam goes into her usual improvisational-genius-mode, digs through the toolbox I packed, and yanks out black duct tape, picture wire, and pliers. I used to wonder about her graceful ability to create order from chaos, but now realize that her skills as a mother, as an equestrian--and as a jazz pianist--make her supremely qualified for these riffs. She charms a ladder out of a neighboring exhibitor, spends the next three hours finessing my canvas backdrops, and by dinnertime, she’s hung them to transform this 5-meter-square-space into an intimate octagonal display which looks as if it was planned that way. We’re a good team. |
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| L. to r.: Pam, David, Anne ... Pam and Nan at the summit of the London Eye ... |
| Sunday, 17 May 2009 Anne and David Guy meet us on the Royal Hospital Grounds at 9AM. Anne’s the erudite and dryly funny British garden designer I met last September when Pam and I showed my furniture in Birmingham (www.anneguygardendesigns.co.uk). The Guys drove down from their Midlands home with a vanful of greenery and flowers to decorate my Tent, and have been up since 4:30 this morning, so all four of us feel jet-lagged. After a morning’s work, Pam spirits me off for the only tourist-activity that’s likely during our trip: a “flight” on the London Eye. I dislike heights, but the Eye is engineered to move so subtly and smoothly that no vertigo kicks in. It’s a marvel. |
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| Coming down from the London Eye. |
| After the Eye-flight, we catch a Black Cab back to the Flower Show grounds; the driver tells us he used to be a florist but gave it up for driving. I hope this doesn’t augur poorly for the Flower Show. We find Anne and David tweaking their work: boxwood topiaries fill my Chalice Planters along with every spare cranny of the tent, ivy tumbles from a hand-made wire planter suspended over my Tiara Table, honeybees have already found the fragrant white lavender, and are busy pollinating. We’ve polished the furniture, which is perfectly complemented by my wall hangings and by Holly Alderman’s garden banners. We’re ready for tomorrow: Press Day, Royal Viewing, and Gala Preview. |
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| My finished Tent display. |
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| Monday, 18 May 2009 This morning’s the first time we’ve been able take turns strolling around the Flower Show to see the spectacle. Anne warned us to look now, before the crowds of May 19th choke every inch of free space on these many acres. The Display Gardens, built at unimaginable expense by garden designers and their corporate sponsors, look as if they’ve always existed. Ponds have been dug. Waterfalls have been plumbed. Mature trees, boulders, buildings, grass, soil and gravel have been trucked in and carefully built up from the sheets of heavy plastic which protect the permanent dirt of the Royal Hospital Grounds from the temporary wonders above. |
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| Scenes from the show ... |
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| Today I truly realized that we’ve set up shop in somebody’s front yard. The Queen’s Chelsea Pensioners, who live on these grounds, retire here after having devoted their lives to military service. The pensioners, including two women (recently-admitted, after much brouhaha), survey the exhibits, resplendent in their dress-scarlet and medals, and graciously pose for me. I appreciate this lovely setting and then recall the VA hospitals I’ve seen in America: we should do better by our veterans. |
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| Chelsea Pensioners in dress-scarlet, with workers. |
| Tuesday, 19 May 2009 The Chelsea Flower Show is officially OPEN: 8 AM to 8 PM, through Saturday. The hours are punishing, but Pam and I have been rescued from tent-tending during the evening hours by the extraordinary Ruah Donnelly and Woody Goss, who’ve flown over from Massachusetts expressly to cover my 5 to 8 PM shifts. I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve my peerless sister and these superb friends. |
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| L. to r.: Pam at instant-dooryard-garden with blue bicycle; Woody and Ruah. |
| But I know you’re wondering, “What about the Queen?” Yes, the Royals paid their visits yesterday evening (sorry, we took no pictures ... would have been rude). Each Exhibitor was allowed only one body onsite during the Royal visitation and since Pam wanted to be able to tell her children about the Event, I left my elegantly-attired sister in our tent and walked up to Philip Treacy’s (www.philiptreacy.co.uk) nearby studio on Elizabeth Street to buy myself a SERIOUS HAT (about which, later). That night, as Pam and I collapsed into our comfy beds, she told me how she’d stood and watched, from twenty feet, the arrivals of the Queen’s party. First in were Charles and Camilla, followed by Anne, and then assorted Windsor/Mountbattens who Pam vaguely recognized but couldn’t name, but who were all clearly related. Finally, the Queen, and Philip, disembarked from what Pam described as the largest Bentley she’d ever seen. Pam reported that Elizabeth was diminutive and wore a spring-green suit, had a lovely smile, and looked genuinely happy to be at the Flower Show. Oftentimes people who are constantly photographed look surprisingly different in the flesh, but Pam reported that the Royals looked exactly as they do in print; perfectly pulled-together, and ready for the lens. The Royals made a beeline for the Great Pavilion’s displays of produce and blossoms, and left after making the rounds for 45 minutes. Here are photo highlights of the Great Pavilion, with veggies and flowers fit for a Queen! |
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| Delphiniums and Ruah. |
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| Roses.
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| Heather. |
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| L. to r.: Clematis; Strawberries. |
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| Eggplant. |
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| L. to r.: Tomatoes; Still Life in White. |
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| Allium. |
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| Exotics. |
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| Daffodils. |
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| Cacti. |
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| Bell Peppers. |
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Mr. Treacy was there when I arrived, smiled quietly, and said Gee had told him about the American lady who’d rather shop for his hats than look upon his Queen. Mad Hattery is a uniquely British Art. Here’s my HAT (and I DO think I wear IT, rather than the other way around): ... along with the floral millinery on display in the Flower Show’s Great Pavilion, devised by England’s premier florists, and (except for some ribbons) all constructed of organic materials. Since judging true artistry is impossible (and silly, in my opinion), I won’t say which floral hat earned the RHS Gold Medal: |
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| Floral hats in Great Pavilion ... |
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| But the SHOW’S on IN EARNEST. The mass of visitors is daunting. In the past several hours I’ve spoken with people from Chile, Australia, Japan, Norway, Jamaica, Italy, New Zealand, Germany, the U.K., and Canada. Few Americans are in evidence. I always keep a journal on hand at Shows, and Pam makes this entry today: “Everyone’s ice cream looks really good. People are peaceful, though I just caught someone blowing his nose—blasted pollen!” (note from Nan: we learned that this “Chelsea Pollen,” as it is called, is infamous.) “Walk much? A lady nearly fell over into our display. People are smiling. The sirens sound just like at home, as if I’m sitting in a café in Boston. The city life is so alive. But---where are the children? Certainly not at the Flower Show. I think children still are seen and not heard here. No one wears socks; only stockings or barefoot in their shoes. Lots of flats, pumps ... proper shoes. NO SNEAKERS! Lots of middle aged people. I guess that’s what happens to you when you hit 50 in England: you garden. We saw about 16 fabulous horses walking down the street this morning. They were brownish-black and big. They moved by twos and most had a rider, although some had the reins of the next horse in their hands. Whose horses are these? Do they need help at the stable? It looked kind of like a male group, NFA: no females allowed. Never a dull moment in Sloane Square!” Pam and I are continually tickled by Brits who tell us, “We love your accents; talk some more!” Too bad most folks won’t be able to SEE these displays without a crowd. Here are my photos of what they might miss: |
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| More from the show ... |
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| Thursday, 21 May 2009 This morning a woman rushed into my tent and said, “I saw you on the BBC. Somebody there LIKES you.” (Since Press Day was a madhouse, and all reporters are equal in my eyes, I didn’t always find out who was WHO when they trooped by.) Susan Fairley, my efficient U.K. agent (www.whitepebbleinternational.com) traveled up from Chichester to see me this afternoon. Without this lady on terra firma as we planned the intricacies of getting everything HERE for the Flower Show, my lovely, tented display couldn’t have happened. And, speaking of lovely displays, they’re not confined to the Royal Hospital Grounds. Most of the shops in nearby Sloane Square have competitively pulled out the stops to decorate their windows with fresh flowers. Here are photos of my favorite shop presentations: |
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| L. to r.: Tiffany & Co.; Cartier. |
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| Basia Zarcycka. |
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| L. to r.: Lulu Guinness; Jo Malone. |
| Friday, 22 May 2009 Fatigue’s set in. As the week’s progressed, the crowds have become denser, and their dress less posh: today it’s strictly sweatpants, sneakers and backpacks. |
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| Sea of Visitors. |
| Coming from America, where class structure isn’t so obvious, it’s been interesting to see the differences in Flower Show visitors, depending upon the day. The tulip displays in the Great Pavilion are seriously drooping, as am I. Tomorrow evening after the bell rings to close the Flower Show, dismantling begins instantly and will continue into the night. Within a week, the Royal Hospital Grounds will again be the private domain of the Chelsea Pensioners. Photos follow of the Christopher Wren-designed world where the Pensioners live, in calmer times: |
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| Christopher Wren-designed world where the Pensioners live. |
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| The Pensioners’ Museum's Patroness and Wellington, their Hero. |
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| The Pensioners’ Museum: Model of the grounds. |
| Saturday, 23 May 2009 Surprise: I had time for a long walk yesterday afternoon and strolled up Sloane Street to Hyde Park and then over to Kensington Gardens. Hyde Park is a scruffy oasis in which a Blue Egret calmly paused for my camera, but Kensington’s more manicured. Here are some photos of those vast green spaces: |
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| The scruffy oasis that is Hyde Park. |
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| A Blue Egret in Hyde Park. |
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| Pam at Kensington. |
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| I’ve got serious hedge-envy. |
| We also had a late Friday dinner with Ruah and Woody and friends, up near King’s Cross. This fascinating group included a young woman—formerly a securities trader who’d just finished participating in a BBC-TV reality show (and now making plans to go to China to learn Mandarin) and her husband—just returned from leading a big game hunting safari in Africa. Nope ... Pam and I weren’t in Kansas anymore. |
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| Back row: Stuart Anderson Wheeler, Noreen Doyle, Anne Counihan, Woody Goss, Griselda Williams, and Ruah Donnelly. Front row: Margaret Rowe, Pam Quick, and Nan Quick. |
| So Was It Worth The Trouble? Yes! Indeed! To have been part of the “entertainment” at this world-class event; to have forged business relationships with owners of elegant shops and designers; to have met gardeners from around the globe; these are things not to have missed. |
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| My favorite Show Garden at Chelsea. |
| And the pleasure of NEVER eating a less than wonderful meal, no matter what restaurant we chose in the Sloane Square area, was an unexpected treat. Here are my recommendations: Chelsea Brasserie, at the Sloane Square Hotel www.chelsea-brasserie.co.uk Blushes SW3, on Kings Road www.blushessw3.com Manicomio, Duke of York Square www.manicomio.co.uk |
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| Basia Zarzycka. | Gwendolyn Carrie. |
| And Shopping? Did I ... other than at Philip Treacy? Well ... just a little. Here are the treasures of Sloane Square: Basia Zarzycka (handmade jewelry, hair ornaments, antiques) www.basia-zarzycka.com Gwendolyn Carrie (shoes to die for, if not necessarily to walk in) www.gwendolyncarrie.com |
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| Lulu Guinness. | Selina Blow. |
| Lulu Guinness (handbags to covet, and carry) www.luluguinness.com Selina Blow (hand-sewn clothing, in opulent fabrics) www.selinablow.com Peter Jones (for everything else you forgot to pack) www.peterjones.co.uk |
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| Chelsea pensioners walking with construction workers. |
| Note: I took most of these photos, but some were contributed by Anne Guy & by Ruah Donnelly, along with Allan Anderson (designer of exquisite lead fountains for the Stephen Markham Collection). |
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