Leonie and John Mason, our sponsors from ACS Distance Education, visited Chelsea Flower Show on May 21^st. Here’s what they had to say about their visit.

It didn’t disappoint – inspiration at every turn, and even after 50+ years in horticulture we were seeing plenty of things we had never seen before.  

The show gardens were the stand out attraction, but there were plenty of other things that grabbed our attention, particularly plant varieties, garden art works and garden buildings that we would love to sneak into our suitcases and bring home. The prices amazed us though with sculptures everywhere displaying price tags  well north of 10,000 pounds. Clearly someone is buying them for the exhibitor to afford to mount a stand at this show.

Plant of the year was Prunus Starlight, an exceptionally attractive flowering cherry tree with pure white star shaped flowers, was hailed to be adaptable to a wide range of soils, and a prolific winter flowering cultivar. The third prize for plant of the year was an unusual Agave that took our eye.

One of our favourite gardens was the Bridgerton Garden (images below), created as a reflection of the popular TV show,  but perhaps we are biased because we also like the show.

Having heard so many horror stories about crowds, we were there around 8am when the gates opened, weather was clear, and we saw a lot before the crowds started getting a bit overwhelming late morning.

We left in the middle of the day when it was becoming difficult to move with increasing crowds and wet weather settling in, but we were content, inspired and brewing all sorts of ideas for our garden back home.

The Australian Institute of Horticulture is organising a UK and France garden tour for 2025 which will include the fabulous Chelsea Flower Show.

Find out more HERE more information will be available on our events calendar.