These are blog posts that Bob Sweet has made.
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I'm Bob Sweet, and this is my first blog. As Head of Shows Development at the RHS, it's my job to make sure my team fills the RHS shows with fabulous gardens and nurseries. It can be a tough job at times, with many long days walking round fields, but when the shows are open and the visitors are enjoying themselves, it's worth it!
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We decided to opt for wristbands at the 2009 RHS Chelsea Flower Show with the hope that they will make the admissions process run more smoothly than ever. The wristbands have arrived finally arrived from China, to much excitement in the shows team, but we can’t send them out to exhibitors yet because we must first record each wristband number - a task that has been made much more difficult by the fact that they first need putting into order. So we’re knee deep in boxes of wristbands and an RHS taskforce has been set up to solve this Chinese puzzle!
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Myself and one or two colleagues were mooching around the Royal Hospital recently admiring the smart, new black tarmac just laid around the Ranelagh Gardens, until we were struck by the challenge of retaining the smart, new look until the show opens on 19 May. Suffice to say, the new black paint is already on order…!
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Myself and one or two colleagues were mooching around the Royal Hospital recently admiring the smart, new black tarmac just laid around the Ranelagh Gardens, until we were struck by the challenge of retaining the smart, new look until the show opens on 19 May. Suffice to say, the new black paint is already on order…!
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I had a really interesting conversation with Stephen Hendry, from Newington Nurseries, the other day. Stephen's growing the plants for the Cayman Islands exhibit in the Great Pavilion, which is going to be an out-of-the-water underwater garden. Stephen was describing some of the more unusual plants that they're using and which really have the appearance of being underwater. Which is interesting because rumour has it that at the other end of the pavilion another exhibitor is going underwater and bringing piranha's to the show...!
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The Council, who own the toilet blocks in Western Avenue, have been in touch and have told us that this year they’re giving the loos a facelift. By the time the show comes round, they’ll be freshly painted and looking fabulous! I would have thought that even the toilet block itself will be pleased, as it must be a good ten year’s since its last lick of paint.
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I was speaking to a keen-to-be-Chelsea exhibitor the other day, and they were asking me if they’d be able to sell clothes at the show. Historically, and as a matter of policy, we’ve never allowed the sale of clothes at Chelsea before. At Hampton and Tatton the Country Living marquees are filled with frocks and shirts and all manner of outfits, but at Chelsea we’ve kept to the rule of gardening related products only
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The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is looking for a home for the Olympic basketball building. The moveable structure which can be used as a temporary building for other uses has a certain amount of appeal to replace the Chelsea structure when it comes to the end of its contract in May 2012. The current structure is six metres high but in contrast, due to the prowess of certain international basketball teams, the Olympic structure has been designed to a height of 33 metres. So, if we decide to take the ODA up their offer, we’ll be able to accommodate some really big trees!
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The weather has been very kind to us on site so far, and for once the Great Pavilion has gone up in dry conditions. We’re all hoping that the grass within the Great Pavilion will remain lush for the whole period of the show, and hopefully we’ll manage to avoid the dust problems that we have experienced in previous years! All of the stands have been built in Eastern Avenue and Marshalls, Eden Project, the Daily Telegraph, Laurent-Perrier, Leeds, F&C and Chetwoods are all busying away digging holes. All of the soil has gone to its temporary resting place at Battersea Power Station where we make big soil castles before returning the material to the Chelsea site immediately after the show.
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It’s really good news that Wesley Kerr, Jane Owen and James Alexander Sinclair will be hosting the Gardening Matters talks theatre this year. All, of course, have been seen in front of the BBC camera at sometime or another in connection with the show and their presence on the flat screens in the talks theatre will be a great sight for gardening eyes!
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