Together with the show gardens the big draw was the Great Pavilion. Photography was, if anything, more difficult in here; not least because of the crowds who, like ourselves, had rushed in to avoid the rain. The pavilion is full of amazing displays of plants of all colours shapes and sizes. I particularly loved these aliums both on their own and with amazing displays of Amarylis (?)

Looking up was amazing

Not all the exhibits were natural however, with a ceramic tulip installation by Paul Cummins who was responsible for the poppies at the Tower of London last year (see previous post) His new collection Tulipmania references the rise of popularity of tulips in 17c Holland where they became a national obsession. The tulips are available for purchase on Paul's website

Also impressive was the large stand of carnivorous plants - especially to someone such as myself who went to see the Little Shop of Horrors only a couple of weeks ago. ( I now just call them all Audrey!) Here is a selection for your delectation.

I really think this lot are talking to each other!

Signing off with this image of some of our fellow flower show attendees - I think we may have been underdressed!

This week for the first time ever my husband and I went to the Chelsea Flower Show . The primary reason of this, other than it was on my bucket list, was to get inspiration for planning our tiny courtyard garden (somehow it seems much more difficult to plan a small space than a large on as there is no room for mistakes). Naturally I took my camera as well.

The challenges of taking photos at Chelsea are immense. First there are the crowds which mean that you are lucky to get close enough to any of the exhibits to see them never mind photograph them. Then there is the fact that you can't spend half the day fiddling with your camera settings as you will (a) annoy those people jostling for position to view the gardens and (b) annoy your companion who is, after all, here to look at the gardens himself. If you then throw into the mix difficult lighting conditions around some of my favourite exhibits ,it seems a wonder that I took any pictures worth sharing at all! But here goes.

I'm going to start off by sharing one of my favourite gardens in the Fresh gardens category which represents the cutting edge of small concept gardens

This is the World Vision Garden inspired both by the beauty of the rice fields of Cambodia, and the fact that many children are existing on 2 bowls of rice a day. The golden rods represent the rice and the dark water the fear of hunger.

Other dangers lurk beneath the waters for those who work in the paddy fields and these are represented by bowls of cacti

Hope blooms in the garden too, represented by the Irises and other delicate flowers that are able to thrive, as Cambodia's children must.

This Garden appeals to me on multiple levels. I love the colour and the visual impact, but I also travelled to Cambodia a couple of years ago and visited Honour Village, a children's centre founded by a friend of mine. This foundation is doing much good work to help children and families in Cambodia.

Post Card from Chelsea - Two

Postcard from Chelsea - One