August Program: Chelsea Flower Show

Join us for a guided tour of the Chelsea Flower Show, one of the largest and most celebrated flower shows in the world.

The Great Spring Show has been a staple of the British social and cultural scene for over 150 years.  The annual festival is held for five days each May and features a huge variety of plants as well as celebrity gardens.  The first flower show was staged by London’s Royal Horticultural Society in 1862, and by 1912 the flower show was moved to the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea.  From 1913 through 1916 the show enjoyed tremendous success.  However, by 1917 World War I had devastated most of the area, and the flower show was cancelled.  In the 1920’s the royal family began to visit the show each year and started a tradition that continues to this day.  Also about this time, Chelsea tea parties began, and these parties held during the show are a major draw for British social and political leaders.


The shows were cancelled for several years during World War II.  In 1947, in the midst of terribly trying times, the Chelsea Flower Show was held as scheduled, and it became a symbol of Britain’s strength, perseverance and determination to rebuild their country.  By 1979, the show was so popular that crowds began to inundate the limited space so throughout the next few years, ticket sales were limited and attendance restricted.  Crowds continued to overwhelm the show until 1993 when parts of the show were relocated to other venues.  Today more than 150,000 visitors attend each year, and all attendees must purchase tickets in advance.  The BBC shows much of the event on television, and there is an annual preview day specifically for the royal family and other honored guests.  The Chelsea Flower Show is considered to be the place “to see and be seen” and a perfect place to spot the latest trends in floral design  and horticulture, and it is attended by professionals and enthusiastic gardeners from around the world.


Carol Hudson is our tour guide.  Carol is a native Texan from Brownsville.  She taught kindergarten for 32 years and spent 27 years as a teacher in Saudi Arabia.  A world traveler and consummate student of people, places and plants throughout the globe, Carol has traveled to 6 continents, 39 countries and at least 221 cities.  She got interested in the Chelsea Flower Show while living in Saudi Arabia and watching the flower show on television.  Carol retired to Austin and immediately began making plans to attend Chelsea.


The next big adventures for Carol are in September as she is booked for an expedition cruise to the Baltic Sea and in October on a National Geographic Society expedition cruise to Argentina, Falkland Islands and sub Antarctica.