It’s a funny thing, but getting involved in the Chelsea Flower Show is a bit like getting bitten by a mozzie that you can never cure the itch of. If you’ve been involved once, you can’t help but figure out how you can be involved again the next year – it becomes a bit of a beast that is exciting, challenging, frightening and rewarding all at the same time.
The Chelsea beast was recently celebrated at a lunch that was attended by 150 people and held both to launch the 2011 garden, and to share with an audience what the Chelsea experience is all about. Past medal winners Dean Herald (2006), Mark Browning (2007) & Scott Wynd (2010) all spoke about their own involvement & achievements at Chelsea, and I felt (and feel)a great sense of honour and humility to be following in their footsteps as next year’s designer. While I was incredibly nervous, at the same time it was really exciting to be presenting my design to an audience of my peers and try to get across what it means to be involved in the Chelsea Flower Show.
Despite the nerves I managed to enjoy the day (once the speeches were out of the way). Wes (Fleming) was doing his best impersonation of a social butterfly, while the boys from Apex Landscapes (who are constructing my garden at Chelsea next year) built up some Dutch courage before taking the podium to announce and introduce the whole Chelsea team.
This journey is really starting to gain momentum now, and with such a dedicated team from Fleming’s Nursery and Apex Landscapes, I’m confident that it will be smooth sailing!
But of course, this is where you can read all about it over the coming months.
Stay tuned,
Ian
