It’s almost time for London’s Chelsea Flower Show, a horticultural event we’ve long dreamt of attending (and hopefully will, in 2011). This year, the show’s 147th, it will be held on May 19-23.
This event is officially named The Great Spring Show. For five days, the finest garden displays, floral designs and sustainable gardening solutions from around the globe will be presented on the extensive grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. For £43 ($64 US), you can surround yourselves with the most beautiful flowers and plants the Earth has to offer. All tickets must be purchased in advance.
One May not long ago, we couldn’t get our hands on tickets…but consoled ourselves with gorgeous, vivid blooms in our favorite spot in the city: The Regent’s Park.
London is a vibrant city, always reinventing its cuisine, art and music despite centuries of buttoned-up adherence to tradition. One thing that stays constant is a series of sprawling Royal Parks; the public is granted tacit use of these parks by the British royal family, to whom the land belongs.
Regent’s Park is the third-largest Royal Park in London, after Richmond Park and Bushy Park. It offers an exciting zoo that feels simultaneously antique and progressive; acres of walking paths through lush greenery; garden and ice cream cafes where you can stop and smell the roses; even a boating lake and extensive canals where you can float out into into the afternoon. There’s even an Open Air Theatre where you can bring a picnic and experience music, comedy, and plays in the seemingly endless evening light of England.
On our last trip, the highlight for us was a chance to stroll through Queen Mary’s extensive gardens of hedgerows and roses, delphiniums, lupines, peonies and more. There are small, curving footbridges dripping with wisteria, bronze sculptures dotting the lawns, and dozens of quiet corners where you can steal a kiss neither one of you will ever forget.
To reach Queen Mary’s Gardens and begin your exploration, take the Tube to either Baker Street (Metropolitan) or Regent’s Park (Bakerloo); both stations are just a couple of minutes away.
