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Chelsea Flower Show 2021

September 26, 2021 1 Comment Filed Under: Gardens, Lifestyle, London, Shopping, UK

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The Chelsea Flower Show takes place every year in May, in Spring. This year, due to the pandemic, sees the first ever autumn Chelsea Flower Show. Pumpkins, fruit and vegetable harvests, a russet palette and dried flower arrangements were abundant. I was lucky enough to spend a September Indian summer day there on Friday.

When you arrive at Sloane Square station, it’s easy to find the way, just follow the ladies in flowery dresses to the Royal Hospital Grounds.

I was as entranced with the floral costumes and straw hats as with the garden displays. It’s a bit like Disneyland, there are huge queues. I was less impressed by the gardens you had to queue for such as the ‘eco’ RHS COP26 garden- a hackneyed theme, showing the progression from ugly city landscapes to ‘glorious’ sustainability. I live in a city. I see this all the time. Not interested frankly. And definitely not worth the queue. I found the ‘loneliness and depression’ garden really funny.

The stand at the back and try to push your way to the front gardens were better. I liked the ‘Best in Show’ garden, Guangzhou China: Guangzhou Garden, an elegant oriental garden with bent wood bowers, water features and cool grassy planting.

If you are star-spotter, as it seems most visitors were, you can see TV gardening presenters walking around and talking to the camera. I had a funny incident: I was trying to take a picture of the floral and festooned RHS letters and this woman stood in front to get her picture taken. I waited, but she didn’t move on. I was bewildered. Finally the woman said to me ‘Are you trying to get a picture?’

‘Er yeah, I would like to’ I replied.

She moved aside. She was wearing a purple floral jumpsuit.

‘I like your outfit, it goes with the display’ I said

‘That’s how I roll” she said

I noticed a few people looking at me agog. Then a woman came up and said ‘You obviously don’t watch TV’.

Turns out the woman in the floral jumpsuit was a major TV star in the gardening firmament and basically I’d told her to shift out of the way.

These are some of the things I liked at the show: 

Tomato, aubergine, vegetable growers Pennard Plants

Dahlia Beach

Vintage greenhouses

Different-sized alliums planted together

Saffron-coloured black-centred rudbeckias

Bent wood

Floors: either polished post ends or recycled metal from old fridges and fire escapes, laid in a herringbone pattern

Graffiti wallpaper based on Timorous Beasties pattern

Vegetable kitchenware from the RHS shop

Flowery dresses and hats

Doen dresses

Chelsea Pensioners

Coral bead plants (Nertera granadensis)

Pumpkins and lanterns

Hanging ferns ‘kokedama’

Dried pressed floral displays

Linen tablecloths, in yellow gingham with a frilly edge

Sedums planted in a kaleidoscope pattern in colanders and under shrubs

Paintings by Venetia Syms

Ceramic blooms by @chiveUK

Babylonstoren wine

The William Morris new colour ways

People who make an effort

English women with our dewy-rain-complexions, interest in gardening and floral dresses with cardigans

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  1. Pamela Blackwell Price

    September 27, 2021 at 10:42 am

    Lovely flowery everything. Thanks for all those very colourful pictures.

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
More bits done to my dining room. Painting the bar More bits done to my dining room. Painting the bare woodwork in @littlegreenepaintcompany, moving furniture around, building a spice cupboard. Tablecloth from @dunelmuk I’m off to Naples and Sicily today so it’s all a bit rushed. More tidying, painting organising on my return. Hey interiors people, paint companies, homeware and tableware companies- I’m up for collabs! #tablescape #crockery #kitchens #diningrooms #pantry #reclaimedwindows #spicecupboards #scallops #stripes #rawplaster #london
I went to an amazing @yenirakiglobal lunch today @ I went to an amazing @yenirakiglobal lunch today @ruyalondon a gorgeous Turkish restaurant just off Park lLne. It was hosted by the lovely drink expert @douglasblyde (Evening Standard drinks columnist). It was nice to see some old faces from the blogging world. I loved the ‘Istanbul- bull’ cocktail made from elderflower ginger beer and Rami with a sliver of cucumber. We had a demonstration on how to make khachapuri Turkish style. In turkey they say ‘let’s go for a raki’ meaning shots of raki with mezze. The sea bass with a pistachio crust was a great match as was the smoked salmon with pink peppercorns. Raki goes great with fish. I also loved the ‘lonely’ dip ‘rafik’ which is something you order when you are lonely- then everybody joins you.  Raki is sometimes referred to as ‘lions milk’ because it goes white when you add water and it puts hairs on your chest. Raki is made from wild fennel and grape way de vie. Fennel, like liquorice, is 13  times sweeter than sugar. First week of December is #worldrakiday #raki #turkey #turkishfood
Christmas present suggestions for foodies: a month Christmas present suggestions for foodies: a monthly subscription to @thetinnedfishmarket I love the packaging, it’s so useful to have in the pantry for last minute meals. The top three tins are from the November selection: tuna, sardines and mackerel. The bottom 3 tins are anchovies, stuffed calamari and smoked oysters. I recently used their tinned smoked tuna in a recipe- it’s a revelation. I often buy my daughter tinned fish for birthday or Christmas #christmasgiftsideas #subscriptions #christmasforfoodies #tinnedfish #foodpackaging
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I’ve been doing the tube game, no cheating, no c I’ve been doing the tube game, no cheating, no conferring. This score means I’m officially a nerd according to @helenlewisposts I’ve always thought if I were kidnapped and held in solitary Terry Waite style, that this is how I’d pass my time, remembering every stop on the London Underground. They should do one for the paris metro. I lived in paris for 5 years so I wonder how I’d do with that. This is the link if you want to have a go: https://london.metro-memory.com
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Put truffles into a paper bag with eggs, the scent Put truffles into a paper bag with eggs, the scent will penetrate through the eggs. Then bake the eggs with a little ghee. Finally shave a little fresh truffle on to the eggs. Eat warm with crusty bread. #pisa #tuscany #truffles #foodandtravel
Gelato in the shape of a rose. So pretty. Marron g Gelato in the shape of a rose. So pretty. Marron glacé and passion fruit. Kind of a weirdo combo but wanted to try each flavour. #breakfast #pisa #gelato
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