Chelsea Flower Show

Today I went to the Chelsea Flower Show - Gavin asked me to get tickets for us to go to it but then he was unable to come with me due to work so a friend took his place. The flower show was moved from May to September due to the Covid restrictions we had in May, which caused many challenges for the gardeners. The usual spring flowering plants could not be used and so the gardens were full of pretty grasses, echinacea, and asters which are suitable to this time of year but it did mean that most gardens used the same kind of flowers so they all looked similar. The indoor exhibition of clematis was achieved by the plants being kept refrigerated to delay their flowering - see the first extra. It did go on to win gold and the President's award for this fine display.

It was not as busy as in previous years, and I felt there were definitely less displays in the main pavilion which is usually stuffed full of plants, many from all around the world which were lacking today. I always enjoy the vegetable display and while it was excellent as usual it seemed smaller than usual, but take a look in the extras at the size of those veggies, especially those enormous onions! 

My favourite garden was this one, the Bodmin Jail 60 degrees East garden. There is a bit of a crowd to view the gardens but the accepted practice is to view the gardens and to move on so the people behind you get a chance to see them - however at this garden one woman took ages to view the garden and was not moving on, and then she proceeded to take a phone call and start chatting to her friend while blocking others from getting to the front to see the garden. I politely asked her to take her phone call elsewhere so others get a chance to see the garden, which was quickly supported by people behind me! Anyway the designer of this garden saw my frustration so very kindly came over and let me over the ropes into the garden to be free to walk around and look at it properly which was very kind of her. If you want to know more about the gardens you can read this.

Tommy and Inca went to West Wittering beach today and took Xena with them, so she has had a grand day out so I did not have to worry about leaving her at home all day while I was out. In other news, yesterday I got contacted by the courier to say they were still checking to see what had happened to my missing parcel - imagine my surprise when I got home from London today to find the parcel lying outside our gate! I have repackaged it up, removed the offending bottle of perfume - which btw is not on the UPS list as a prohibited item - and hopefully it will go off tomorrow. The courier fees and the customs duty exceed the cost of the parcel, which is just ridiculous - and that is before I add in the cost of the second courier fees.