Chelsea in Bloom 2022 – British Icons and a Floral Feast For the Eyes

Every year at towards the end of May, Chelsea comes alive with the scent of flowers.  Pavements are littered with petals, women in floral frocks and men in pastel shirts pour from Sloane Street station, and every which way you turn there are flowers of every shape and colour to be seen.  This can only mean one thing, the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show is in town.  For many this is the start of the London summer season.

For those not able to get to the actual flower show, and let’s face it tickets can be hard to come by and a little expensive, then the next best thing is Chelsea in Bloom.

Chelsea in Bloom is an event in it’s own right, and definitely one, in my humble opinion not to be missed.  It is an annual floral art show and London’s largest free-to-attend festival of flowers.

This annual competition in conjunction with RHS brings together Chelsea shops, restaurants and other businesses.  They are  are adorned with fabulous floral installations as they compete to be winners.  Competition is fierce and the standard is very high.

Every year sees a different theme.  For 2022 unsurprisingly the theme is British Icon, and many of the installations are more than a nod to Queen Elizabeth and the forthcoming Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Each year there is a chosen charity, and rather fittingly this year it is the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal

There are organised walking tours, which take a visit to many of the installations.  I have never done this, preferring to get up early and use the downloadable maps available on the website to find the installations I really want to see.

As with so many London things, early is best.  This is the time before the streets are full of shoppers and there is much more space to enjoy and of course take pictures.  It is also the time when the installations are being refreshed and perfected for another day.  It is not unusual to see florists carrying buckets full of fresh peonies and roses  along the Kings Road or Sloand Street, and it is a lovely time to watch these talented floral artists at work.

Sadly this year it all ends on the 28th May.  But do put it in your diary for next year.  In the meantime here are a selection of  photographs taken this week of some of my favourite displays.

 

 

8 Comments

  1. Karen
    May 27, 2022 / 5:20 pm

    Beautiful Angie. I was just talking about this yesterday 🌸 🌺

    • angiev@blueyonder.co.uk
      Author
      May 29, 2022 / 1:48 pm

      It’s so lovely to be able to see all of this for free. Such a spectacle

  2. Mum
    May 28, 2022 / 9:27 am

    Amazing. Lovely pictures. xx

    • angiev@blueyonder.co.uk
      Author
      May 29, 2022 / 1:47 pm

      Thanks mum. They are a real work of art.

  3. Sonya Bradbury
    May 28, 2022 / 9:28 am

    Really lovely thanks for the beautiful flowers
    Wish I was there xxx❤️

    • angiev@blueyonder.co.uk
      Author
      May 29, 2022 / 1:47 pm

      Wish you were here too
      Next year….. xx

  4. ruth whitney
    May 29, 2022 / 2:33 am

    I am usually in London at this time of year, staying on Sloane Avenue. The Chelsea in Bloom displays are so much fun. You never know what you are going to encounter when you turn into a side street. On the last day of the Flower Show, you see people lugging huge plants up to the Sloane Square tube, or a bus goes buy and you see what appears to be a plant sitting on a seat by the window. Covid has kept me in the US for the past three springs, which means I am missing all the Platinum Jubilee events as well, but I have high hopes of London in September.

    • angiev@blueyonder.co.uk
      Author
      May 29, 2022 / 1:50 pm

      You are right, the are so much fun and so creative. Sloane Ave is a great place to stay during Chelsea week. I love seeing everyone struggling home with huge plants and pots of blooms on the Saturday. Really hope you can make it to London in September. It’s a lovely time to be here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.