First visit to 100th Chelsea Flower Show is overwhelming ... din a good way
The B&Q Sentebale Forget-Me-Not Garden was designed by Prince Harry and others. The garden is a tribute to his mother Princess Diana and is intended to educate visitors the 'Forgotten Kingdom' of Lesotho in southern Africa. Photos by Doug Oster
I'd always dreamed of seeing the Chelsea Flower Show. It's the Super Bowl of garden shows. I had no idea what to expect and was blown away by the scope and size of the centennial show.
There are 15 show gardens which take three hectic weeks to construct. Acres of vendors selling everything you could possibly imagine to make a gardener happy.
There were many amazing sculptures on display at the show.
Tiny artisan gardens dot the edge of the perimeter of the show. There are more gardens around the Great Pavilion and even though my group was there on members day, the crowds were crushing. Often times they would be five deep standing in front of a garden. They are polite though. After a couple minutes a person would leave the front, providing room for another until you would finally be standing in front of a beautifully designed garden.
I fell in love with Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing' or cowparsley. It's airy white flowers are set off by purple stems. It was used in most of the gardens in the show. I hope I can find seeds.
Even though all the outdoor gardens were spectacular, the exhibits in the Great Pavilion took my breath away.
Imagine any plant you ever thought about growing displayed in its prime. Each vendor has a specialty, whether it's bulbs or lavender with an exhibit massed with their plant of choice.
Gardeners can take a look and buy the seeds, plants, bulbs or tubers on the spot.
It's probably the most incredible thing I've every seen.
I'll be posting more about my experiences there in the next few days. One thing I'll never forget was a display of six foot tall delphiniums towering over the biggest begonia blooms I'd ever witnessed.
This mass of giant delphiniums towering of huge begonia blooms was one of the first things I saw after entering the Great Pavilion.
The East Village Garden was one of the spectacular Show Gardens.
Don't let anyone tell you the English don't have a sense of humor.














