Royal Chelsea Flower Show 2014 - Part 2

As there was so much material to show you at the flower show,

 I have tried to post the highlights but please remember that if you are a gardening enthusiast you may want to read further and browse on the official website here.

The flower shows off the best of each type of plant such as these amazing lupins.  

My imaginary garden has loads of these.

But I can't help but feel sorry for some other plants.

Nothing wrong with topiaries and the lovely plants below 

but it is like being a vanilla pod in a chocolate convention.

There were a few stands that were a bit barren and 
lacked star power like the one below.  
Mind you if I had a garden that looked like this 
I would be ecstatic but this is THE show.

Long tall grasses and the bluey/purple color was seen everywhere and very much the trend this year.

I don't want people who haven't attended to think 
that every single stand is awe-inspiring.

Some stands didn't really have a theme and 

were just a combination of their best and healthiest plants.

Some stands were extraordinary such as this garden of irises but it doesn't translate so well in pictures as they aren't a dramatic flower like tulips. This stand was better appreciated in person.

The flower show is such a big event that the BBC did nightly one hour broadcasts about the various events and stands.  
So there was filming everywhere and you weren't to use flash photography near recording areas.

This was Carol Klein doing one of her segments.

There is the main BBC media and press stand below where they were broadcasting live every night.

Ironically it was across Alan Titchmarsh's garden.

Don't think it made news outside the UK but 

here in the UK the fact that Alan Titchmarsh was no longer part of the BBC presenting team was quite the story.

So instead he did a garden...

Sorry I couldn't get great pictures due to the crowd.

Interestingly, this was one of the few gardens that was not being judged.  

It was probably too political.

To watch Alan talk about his garden and get a better view -
 please click here.

The flowers with the strongest scent in the whole show 
were these lilies.  

This stand was one of the most impressive.

The blooms were full and healthy unlike some stands 

that were rather sparse perhaps due to the excessive rain 

we had over the winter.

Case in point was this one and only peony stand.

Through no fault of its own this stand won a silver gilt.
Peonies are hard to grow so while it was beautiful 
they didn't manage to win gold.

Another stand that was amazing but didn't quite match the standard last year and only won silver gilt was the tulips from Bloms Bulbs. 

I say "only" won silver gilt.

But last year this was probably one of the most popular stands 
there was always a crowd next to this but 
this year it was a bit sparse.

Despite going down one ranking, I still would have happily queued up to see if I could have nabbed a bargain 

on the Saturday where they sell off the plants at bargain prices.

I know that when people think of roses the automatic go-to nursery is David Austen but Peter Beales roses are also a superb quality.

Isn't that frilly cuff just so striking?
I love the mix of rose and peony like qualities.

As you can see, the stand was chock a block and
 I really thought traffic lights would have come in handy.

Don't you think these pink roses suit their name?

I will be frank and say that I am not convinced by this shrub rose below due its absence of rose like characteristics.

Now you tell me if a rose by any other name is apt now?
So many types of roses it is hard to choose!

It's funny because I actually stated that I would not take any pictures of anything cactus related and yet I had to eat my words.

Desert flowers are so pretty.

I hadn't seen bonsai trees with flowers before so took a snap.

I adore calla lilies.

Depending on culture, it can be a flower for weddings or funerals.

But calla means beautiful in Greek.

But did you know that despite its name it isn't actually a lily?

The most photogenic backdrop was this fairy tale door where so many people took selfies.

Did you know that not only is there a best show garden award 
but there is also a plant of the year award?

See all the people examining the plant up close.
Any guesses what it is?

The winner was the hydrangea macrophylla Miss Saori.

The second prize went to a rather less than photogenic iris 
called Domino Noir.

I took about twenty photos of it and it just doesn't show its beauty.
Apparently the unique quality was that it was black and white with a gold beard.

Third prize went to this Gerbera Gavinea Sweet Glow.

Well I shall now leave you with more random pictures of my highlights of the show.
Please enjoy.