Articles Written By Members and Associates

Chelsea 2000

I was asked by Alan Holloway, owner of White Veil Fuchsias if I could help out on his stand at Chelsea. How could I turn down an opportunity of being able to meet many people from all parts of the world and talk about my favourite plant.

Monday morning is the last chance to dress the plants before the final judging. The judges make assessments as you build your stand so it is not only the final presentation that counts. During this time the celebrities make the rounds and we were fortunate that the Malaysian stand opposite employed photographers to spot and snap them. One was a lovely hanging basket fuchsia called Charlie Dimmock, I didn’t have my glasses on so perhaps it was the real thing. I had to leave by 3.00pm as only one person per stand is allowed for the Queen’s visit. She is a fuchsia lover but on this occasion she just sailed on by. I met up with Robin again at 6.30 for the Gala evening, champagne and canapes. This is the preview for those who can afford the tickets to look at the stands and pre book any plants they wish to buy. An eye opener and enjoyable experience.

Tuesday was to be an 8.00am start which was to be the norm for the rest of the week finishing at the earliest 8.00pm depending on whether the plants needed watering or not. A very busy day taking orders for the Chelsea collection and Spring orders. The Chelsea collection was a choice of eight plants from nine. The choice being from Anita, Dancing Flame, Devonshire Dumpling, Celia Smedley, Carla Johnson, Fountains Abbey, Marcus Graham, Quasar and Royal Velvet. It turned out that these were the varieties that were liked the best any way and most dropped either Devonshire Dumpling because that they already had it, or Fountains Abbey for no particular reason. Two other varieties that caught the public’s eye were Torchlight and Flashlight.

Wednesday as the rest of the week was very busy and because of the inclement weather the new style marquees became very crowded and many wanted the one way system re-introduced. The marquees are a vast improvement on the old having improved ventilation, better light and height. Two American ladies were gobsmacked by it all and were even enjoying the rain, not surprising as they came from Arizona. One morning a couple were viewing the stand in admiration, he was a nurseryman from Germany. He told me that fuchsias grew well in Germany but were not as popular as in England. He had waited twenty years to visit Chelsea and was most impressed as nothing in Germany could even start to compete. He also told me that his friends thought he was mad to take a holiday in England, so I asked where they took their holidays? Majorca was the reply to which I replied that I thought it most strange as they had tried their hardest to get here a few years ago. He saw the irony and left laughing remarking "That’s Germans for you". During the week out of all the many people I met there was only one that was obnoxious and we still managed to get £15 out of him for a collection.

Friday, final day when mayhem reigns when the show closes at 4.30pm. A mad scrum where you witness two old ladies fighting over a discarded piece of rhododendron and neither probably having the facility to root it. We sold all the plants and were cleared up by 6.00pm but by the time the lorry was allowed in it was 10.00pm before we left and had the task of two deliveries on the way home.

The only thing I dislike about Chelsea is the cost of refreshments, two tumblers of Orange Zest £5.20p., yes £2.60p each. I would sooner drink water. If you ever get the chance of manning a stand at a major show I can recommend it for the experience.

DL (Member)