It’s the largest flower show by area on earth and we love it. It just quite simply never fails to impress.

2017, of course, was no exception at all and you can see a full round up of the award winners and the gardens in general on the official RHS website here.

From our perspective as an exhibitor each and RHS Show brings something new but also gives us the chance to see some familiar faces and soak up the atmosphere in our own unique way.

Below are a few of our highlights from 2017 …

The Speckled Hen & the Hairy Bikers …

In the run up to the show we were contacted by Cactus TV who were filming the Hairy Bikers live from the Edible Garden for BBC iPlayer from each day of the show.

They needed two tables for the show and very much liked the look of our Speckled Hen Mosaic Tables – of course we were happy to oblige and were delighted at the response; in fact the organisers had that many enquiries about the tables they asked if they could keep them for use on their other roadshows around the UK.

Amazing what a storm a couple of tables can cause!

The RHS Clowns pop in for a visit and some fun …

The RHS Clowns are feature at many of the flower shows throughout the year and in our opinion don’t get enough publicity – they’re a genuinely amusing pair of characters who add that little extra dimension to the proceedings and at Hampton Court this year they popped in on a us for a visit with very entertaining consequences as you can see from the video above!

Another Award for our luxury furniture exhibits …

Once again the RHS Judges saw fit to give us a Three Star Trade Stand Award for the presentation – something we always take great pleasure in receiving.

As always the biggest highlight with the customers was the Apple Day Bed.

All in all yet another great RHS Flower Show was had by all.

What can we tell you about Chelsea Flower Show that hasn’t already been said before?

Yes, it is arguably the most prestigious flower show in the world. No, it hasn’t always been held in Chelsea – the first show wasn’t even called Chelsea Flower Show and was held in Kensington!

We could go on but all we’d be doing is reporting old news that can be read on countless places all over the digital news spectrum, (by the way, if you want a truly great round up of little known facts about the show you can read a great article published in the Telegraph just before RHS Chelsea 2017 here.)

Of course we could also just do the same old write up about the show gardens, their various meanings, the designers behind them, who won awards and for what, etc, etc.

But, again, this has already been done to death and we’re sure you’ll have read about this already – if not the RHS already have this covered in a live feed here.

rhs-chelsea-2017

RHS Chelsea 2017 – not all about the flowers!

What we can do is offer a unique perspective from a side of the show that isn’t often talked about, namely, the Trade Stands which are, in actual fact a spectacle in themselves but tend to get swallowed up and forgotten about in the ‘news noise’ from the main event around the show gardens.

And for many visitors to Chelsea Flower Show the Trade Stands are an integral part of their visit. We know this as we’ve had a Trade Stand at Chelsea since 2013 and this year we ran a Facebook Campaign themed along the ‘not all about the flowers’ idea and this got great results with many people commenting on the campaign to acknowledge the fact they would like to see more coverage from the Trade Stand areas …

A massive 4 STARS in 2017 …

You may or may not know that it’s not only the Show Gardens and Garden Designers who win awards at Chelsea.

The Trade Stand Exhibitors are also judged by the RHS and, believe us, competition is rife!

For us plans for our Trade Stand at RHS Chelsea 2017 started shortly after the close of our stand at RHS Chelsea 2016 and every attention to detail is covered.

You’ll see from the video above that the end result is pretty impressive and the RHS Judges obviously agreed with us as they saw fit to award us with a 4 Star Trade Stand Award – the best we’ve had in previous years is 3 Stars so a massive well done to the show organisers for their hard work and effort.

4 star trade stand award at RHS Chelsea 2017

No rest for the wicked though as the Bath & West Show starts in a few days!

Dave’s V-Log!

Every year at Chelsea we get a chance to catch up with familiar faces from previous years and that is a big part of the appeal for us – it’s hard work but there is a social aspect to the event as well.

But the best loved visitor each year has to be the Chelsea Pensioner – Dave Thompson – who’s been supporting us at the show since the very first year.

And for RHS Chelsea 2017 Dave really pulled out all the stops in his own very unique way by agreeing to do a V-Log live from each day of the show. In the truest British tradition he focused on the weather each day with a few little twists and turns thrown in for good measure!

All Dave’s V-Logs are great but our favourite has to be his ‘Happy Birthday’ spectacular …

Nice one Dave!

Exclusive Product Launches …

And of course there was the launch of our Exclusive Fiji Rattan Range at RHS Chelsea 2017.

This brand new range of outdoor rattan is modern, contemporary, visually stunning and the New BIG CORE Weave is totally unique to us.

Seeing really is believing here and from the reaction we’ve had from customers so far we’re positive it is going to be a Fiji Rattan year in 2017 and beyond.

“This looks amazing. It’s almost like the thickness of bamboo as opposed to rattan and I can’t believe how well it just works!”

You can see the full Press Release live in the Newsroom here.

In fact, we even asked the manufacturer to weave some Fiji Rattan backdrops with planter baskets for the stand at Chelsea which has to have helped us win the 4 Stars as well.

All in all a really great show – now we can start planning the stand for RHS Chelsea 2018!

We’ve exhibited at RHS Chelsea Flower Show since 2013 and every year the sizzling atmosphere on our Trade Stand has been made all the more special by a visit from our favourite Chelsea Pensioner, Dave Thompson.

He’s a great character and we welcome his unique brand of humour on our stand every year so, this year in 2017, we’ve taken things one step further and managed to convince Dave to do a daily Video Blog live from our stand.

Who are the Chelsea Pensioners?

As the website of the Royal Hospital Chelsea says …

“The Chelsea Pensioners are the iconic faces of the UK’s veteran community. They reside at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, their 325-year-old home founded by Charles II, in the heart of London.”

Some 300 Chelsea Pensioners live at The Chelsea Hospital from all four corners of the UK. They have seen service in a range of conflicts from World War II to the Falklands.

Dave himself has been a Chelsea Pensioner for 5 years and, as he describes himself, is a Raconteur!

V-Log 1 – PRESS DAY:

Dave anticipates the upcoming show, the visit from the Queen and the forecast for some much needed hot weather!

V – Log 2 – the Opening Day to the Public:

Dave gives us some more pearls of wisdom from his time in Redditch!

V – Log 3:

Dave pontificates about the weather from inside the Apple Day Bed!

V – Log 4:

Dave lounges in the scorching hot sun, sings Happy Birthday to Jill and quotes Jerome K Jerome – perhaps his finest moment yet!

V – Log 5:

Dave chats about sweat fetishes and snow covered gardens!

V – Log 6 – The Final Day:

Dave rounds things off in style with a lovely lady on his arm and quotes from Dylan Thomas …

Until next year Dave – once again you’ve been a star!

Cardiff RHS Flower Show is always a great one there’s always a buzzing atmosphere and it kicks the RHS season off in great style every year.

And this year was no different – particularly as the sun shone all weekend meaning our 150 square metre trade stand was busy with show-goers all weekend making for a great atmosphere.

In fact, we even caught the eye of a film crew from Welsh TV!

The meaning of life – a Legacy Garden from McMillan …

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”

Nelson Henderson

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It was hot and the bubbly flowed at RHS Tatton Park 2016 – in fact it flowed that much that it became too much for a lovely group of women who visited our Trade Stand on Ladies Day …

Too much bubbly at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show!

We always aim to please but we can honestly say that no one has ever actually fallen asleep after a glass of bubbly and a relax on our trade stand – just goes to show how supremely comfortable our Pienza Range is!

RHS Tatton Park 2016 – last but certainly not least …

The annual Flower Show at Tatton Park is always our last outing with the RHS throughout the year and it may get slightly less exposure than the likes of Chelsea and Hampton Court but, never the less it’s always a great show.

It has that laid back, down to earth northern feel to it, as demonstrated perfectly by the wonderful group of ladies above!

A few highlights in 2016 …

A showcase for Rising Stars …

The RHS Young Designer competition its eighth outing in 2016 and the standards just seem to get better and better year after year.

It offers three young designers aged 28 and under the unique opportunity to show off their skills at an RHS Flower Show – a dream come true and a spring board to bigger and better things we’re sure.

Why not watch the video below for full details …

The experts reveal …

Certainly not a new feature but something common to all RHS Shows including Tatton Park is the timetable of talks given by well-known experts from across the gardening spectrum.

This year was no exception. One of our favourites was Matt Biggs pick of the 10 newest and most exciting plants from across the show at Tatton park in 2016.

Again, the RHS very kindly ran a video on this …

Category Archives: RHS Flower Shows

RHS Clowns, Hairy Bikers & another Award at RHS Hampton Court …