The flowers from Chelsea

My first Chelsea was 1996, it was love at first sight, the show gardens were spectacular and plentiful. I took copious photographs of the show gardens and created a scrapbook. I even took daisy in 1998 at the tender age of 6!
She loved it but the cost is prohibitive and so sadly it was a one off. The one year i skipped was 2001 the year Leyla was born, I was still breast feeding and did not want to leave her. I missed it though and returned the following year. Most times I go after 3.30pm. Occasionally I treat myself to a day recently I have been going with mother but she nearly drove me INSANE this year. She alternately moaned about

• How cold it was
• How irritating her skirt was
• How much her feet hurt

On and on and on she went plus she complained I was wearing black so she couldn't see me, if we were separated. Trust me I could see her.
She seems puzzled by my desire to snap away at what seems like very little to her. Mother means well but she really hamstrings my ability to just follow what looks interesting and so I feel I missed much and the plants barely got a look in. Of course because she got the train her ticket was booked home and so we had the added stress of making sure we got her back on the return trip...

Ranunculus are my favourite flowers. I loved the whole clash to match in this garden.

The show gardens are not what they were. There are less of them and the continually repetition of ideas irritates me more each year. I thought perhaps it was me but looking at my scrap book I know that the financial crisis has hit Chelsea hard.

A LOT of purple, gold and orange this year.

I am on holiday and will be back June 7th