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Event Information:
The
RHS Chelsea Flower Show, officially
the Great Spring Show, is a garden
show held each year on five days in
May by the Royal Horticultural
Society (RHS) in the grounds of the
Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea,
London. It is the most famous such
show in the United Kingdom, perhaps
the most famous gardening event in
the world and part of London's
summer social season. Popular parts
of the Chelsea Flower Show include
the show gardens designed by leading
names and the centrepiece of the
floral marquee.
The
RHS first became involved with the
Chelsea Hospital in 1905. Three
years before, it had leased the
grounds of Holland House in
Kensington to hold what was first
advertised as a Coronation Rose
Show, but which turned into a more
general show (with not many roses)
by the time it actually opened in
June. Two further two-day summer
shows took place at Holland House in
1903 and 1904, but then, to the
general satisfaction of exhibitors
and press, a three-day Summer Show
was staged in the Hospital grounds,
a more spacious site than Holland
House had allowed, with room for
five tents. The Summer Shows
reverted to Holland House for the
years thereafter, except in 1911,
when both it and Chelsea proved
unavailable, and the Show was held
at the Olympia exhibition hall.
The
Royal International Horticultural
Exhibition of 1912 demonstrated, at
a time when the complaints from the
Temple were increasing annually,
what an excellent site for a show
the grounds of the Chelsea Hospital
provided. Accordingly, for 1913, the
Great Spring Show was moved there,
while the Summer Show reverted to
Holland House. Despite the First
World War, the show was held 1914 -
1916, but was cancelled in 1917 and
1918.
By the
roaring 1920s, the Chelsea Flower
Show was back in full swing, the
famous Chelsea tea parties were
established and Royal visits
resumed. In 1926 the show was held a
week late due to the General Strike.
In
1937, King George VI and Queen
Elizabeth celebrated their
Coronation Year, and to mark the
occasion, a superb Empire Exhibition
was staged. It featured wattles from
Australia, pines from Canada,
brilliant gladioli from East Africa
and even a big prickly pear from
Palestine.
The
show was cancelled during the Second
World War, as the land was required
by the War Office for an
anti-aircraft site. Some doubt arose
as to whether the show would resume
in 1947. The majority of exhibitors
wanted a postponement, as stocks of
plants were low, staff much depleted
and fuel for greenhouses was
obtainable only with special
permits, but Lord Aberconway (then
RHS President) and the RHS Council
felt strongly that the show should
resume as soon as possible. As it
turned out, the show went ahead in
1947 and it was a great success.
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