This year The Chelsea Flower Show will be taking place from 21st May – 25th May 2013 in the RHS and is celebrating it's 100 year anniversary. The show is not the biggest in the world but it is certainly the most prestigious with a global brand. This year is designated the centenary of Chelsea Flower Show and a glossy coffee table tome has been produced to celebrate an annual event that unites all walks of society in a mutual love of plants.
The Chelsea Flower Show is certainly an iconic event and it is hard to believe it has only been around 100 years, over these year, it has grown from a one-day wonder entertaining 2,843 visitors to a week-long spectacle admitting 40,000 people each day and its character has changed from enthusiastic amateur to professional.
Chelsea’s reach extends far beyond both geographical and herbaceous borders. Nearby businesses decorate their shop fronts with floral displays in homage to the great gardening festival and 2012 saw the first Chelsea Fringe Festival, a series of “horticultural happenings” taking place all over London to coincide with the show. Building Chelsea takes only three weeks. The historic contract between the RHS and the Royal Hospital won’t allow it to take longer. After the show, the site must be returned to its original state within five days.
Like the cycle of the seasons, Chelsea is comfortingly reliable yet full of surprises, and like the hardiest perennial, it blooms afresh every year.