Chelsea Flower Show Archives

Chelsea Flower Show

The Royal Horticultural Society’s Great Spring Show May 20, 1913 On this day, the first Chelsea Flower Show was held at Chelsea General Hospital. Originally called the Royal Horticultural Society’s Great Spring Show, the first Chelsea Flower Show was held in 1862 at the RHS garden in Kensington. Staged in a single tent, the first…

May 20, 2021 Garden Stairways, Honoré de Balzac, the Chelsea Flower Show, Rikki-tikki’s Garden, Petal by Adriana Picker, and National Pick Strawberries Day

Today we celebrate a prolific French writer and poet remembered for his realism and in his little home and garden – now a Paris museum. We’ll also learn a little history lesson about the Chelsea Flower Show. We hear an excerpt from a beloved children’s story. We Grow That Garden Library™ with an artistic look…

Celebrating English Gardener and Writer Frances Perry and Her Life With Plants

“There is nothing static about a garden. All gardeners know this and are constantly devising different features. Yet it’s easy to let sentiment or inertia spare plants that have long since past their prime. Too often, also, a design suited to younger gardeners sticks, even though age has made it more and more difficult to…

February 19, 2020 Making a Bean Teepee, Protecting Mature Trees, Charles de l’Écluse, Daniel Solander, William Francis Ganong, Winter Bee Poetry, Gardens in Detail by Emma Reuss, 4-Tier Mini Greenhouse and Frances Perry

Today we celebrate the man who introduced tulips to Holland and the botanist who was supposed to become Carl Linnaeus’s son-in-law — but didn’t. We’ll also learn about the botanist who loved New Brunswick. Today’s Unearthed Words feature words about winter – and bees in winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that…

January 15, 2020 Scent in the Winter Garden, Top British Garden Shows, William Starling Sullivant, Nathaniel Lord Britton, Frances Benjamin Johnston, Sarah Plummer lemon, Cultivating Delight by Diane Ackerman, Buffalo Plaid Garden Apron, and The British Museum

Today we celebrate a bryologist who Asa Gray called, “a noble fellow” and the botanist who, along with his wife, helped found the New York Botanic Garden in the Bronx. We’ll learn about one of the first and most prolific professional female garden photographers and the female botanist with a mountain named in her honor.…

May 20, 2019 Knives in the Garden, National Pick Strawberries Day, Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, Chelsea Flower Show, Paul Martin’s Lazy Salad Days, John Milton’s Song on a May Morning, Wild Fruits by Thoreau, Edge Gardening, and Ludwig Leichhardt

Have you ever used a knife as a garden tool? Serrated knives are my favorite to use in the garden. The word serrated has Latin origins meaning “saw shaped”; think of the serrated edges of Maple leaves. If you are a thrift shopper, at Goodwill, they keep most of the donated knives in a case…

May 20, 1913: When Chelsea Became the Capital of Flower Power

A 1913 Chelsea Flower Show winners trophy

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 20, 1913 On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, we find ourselves transported to a moment of horticultural history that would blossom into one of the most prestigious flower shows in the world.…

Silver Salad Sensation: Paul Martin’s Chelsea Triumph

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 20, 2003 On this day, dear horticultural enthusiasts, we find ourselves transported to the hallowed grounds of London’s Chelsea Flower Show, where Irish garden designer Paul Martin achieved a most splendid triumph.…