Good morning, and welcome back to Country Life's live coverage from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026. I am once again wrangling our crack squad of reporters on the ground in SW3 to bring you everything you need to know about day two of the nation's favourite flower show.
I was quite gutted I couldn't go yesterday and do some celebrity spotting. But looking out the window today, I am a bit more relieved. But I suppose the gardens and the gardeners will be happy, even if the punters might be getting a little wet.
Lots to bring you today. We've got more 'Chelsea in Three' videos (I am getting reports there might be a Traitor among us), gnome discourse, what else to do in SW3, Gold Medals, Best in Show, Country Life's unofficial awards, best food, and much much more. Frankly more than one man in his spare bedroom can handle. But handle it he will, because he is dedicated to you the reader. And also to flowers.
Stay tuned! Here is a gnome to kick off our day.
This delightful creation is from Harkness Roses.
Day one recap
A reminder that yesterday was press day at RHS Chelsea, where lots of green-fingered journalists mingled with green-fingered celebrities and judges finished off their rounds to choose who goes home with what.
You can recap (almost) everything that happened by reading our coverage of day one here.
Today is the first day us Normal People are allowed in, and is also the day when awards are handed out. We'll bring you everything we can, including Gold Medals and Best in Show, as they are announced.
BREAKING: Country Life's 'Garden Lover's Library' wins Five-Star Tradestand Award
Very excitingly, I can announce the first award of the day, and it's arguably the most important one: Country Life's 'Garden Lover's Library' has been awarded five stars by the RHS, the maximum honour for a tradestand at RHS Chelsea.
The stand, designed by George Saumarez Smith, is absolutely divine and please do come visit us at PW215 and see it for yourselves. Featuring a plethora of vintage gardening books, stone by Somerset specialist Artorius Faber, plants from the gardener Jane Kennerley, wallcoverings by Watts 1874 and furniture by Munder Skiles, the space is a real symphony of British interior design.
If you'd like to find out more about the stand, you can do so by clicking here.
When are the awards handed out?
Today is awards day, where Medals are dished out by the judges. We'll also be finding out which garden wins Best in Show, and if Kazuyuki Ishihara will defend his crown.
Most of the Gold Medals are handed out from 8am onwards, so we'll be finding out who won those soon enough, while the announcement of Best in Show is usually around 11am.
As soon as we know who's won what, you'll know.
In the meantime, queues are slowly moving as RHS Members make their way into the show, hidden under a sea of umbrellas. Talk about the Great British Summer eh?
A Traitor stalks the grounds at RHS Chelsea
Yesterday, we sent Florence Allen out to ask the many celebrities wandering around the Royal Hospital three key questions: 'Favourite flower', 'Wildflower meadow or manicured lawn' and 'To gnome or not to gnome'? Vital questions that demand answers.
We've got plenty of videos to bring you, but first up today is a two-for-one special, with Rachel 'the best Traitor of all time' Duffy and Aisling Bea.
A springtime Father Christmas
I won an award once, a long time ago. It was for property journalism, if you can believe that, and it was at a very nice dinner in central London. I got invited up on stage, collected my shiny plaque, took a picture with Phil Spencer and then walked back to my table. No speech, as my words are too powerful.
That's traditionally how you would accept an award. A less traditional way is to be stuck in a fireplace, which is what happened to our Interiors Editor Giles Kime when the RHS came to pay us a visit this morning...
The good news is that he eventually crawled out, and Giles and Editor Mark Hedges were delighted to accept our five-star award. Once again, congratulations to everyone involved on making the Garden Lover's Library such an excellent stand.
Under brollies, being jolly
In case you haven't looked out a window this morning, it's a bit wet today. Not that it's putting people off. Hearing rumours that we might be putting together a 'Best Brolly' competition....
Some early front runners below
What else to do in SW3: Chelsea in Bloom
Do you want to get in on some of the RHS Chelsea action, but don't have a ticket? Fear not, as you can always head down to SW3 and get involved with Chelsea In Bloom, a week-long floral arts festival that takes over the neighbourhood. And it's completely free.
This year's theme is 'Out of This World', so expect lots of space and zodiac-inspired floral sculptures, UFOs, and bizarre creatures adorning the shops, cafés, restaurants and hotels of Chelsea.
Alongside goings on at the Royal Hospital today, we'll also be bringing you some highlights from one of London's best spring street festivals.
What to eat at RHS Chelsea: Chocolate-dipped pain aux raisins
But first, more food.
As mentioned, we will try and review the best bites to eat while at the show, because we here at Country Life yearn for you to have the finest things in life, at all times, in all places.
Kicking things off with a chocolate-dipped pain aux raisins. Rosie says: 'I've never seen this before. Feels very unique to Chelsea and, frankly, headline worthy'.
We're going to assume 'headline worthy' means very good, so it's a 10/10.
Where to find us
As mentioned, we want you to come and visit our five-star stand (PW215). Come and bask in some of the finest interior design the country has to offer and maybe consider buying a subscription. We've got some amazing deals on, and it's basically like getting 51 issues of this live blog delivered to your door for a year. What's not to love.
But wait! There's more!
The first 200 subscribers at Chelsea will receive a bottle of The Grange Classic Sparkling NV, worth £39. Rated 94 points by Decanter magazine, this premium sparkling wine from Hampshire was described in Country Life (that's us) as ‘the connoisseur’s choice’. Offer available with subscriptions for UK delivery only.
Plant of the year 2026: Red Ninja Hosta
While we wait for Gold Medals and Best in Show, yesterday evening saw the announcement of the RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2026, which is this Hosta 'Red Ninja'. Now you could be forgiven for thinking this is a bit plain ('looks like a £1.99 pot plant from Home Bargains,' per Toby Keel), but it is actually quite special, as it is the world's first red-variegated hosta.
Described as a 'real talking point for modern shade planting', Red Ninja 'brings an unexpected splash of unique colour into the foliage pallette of hostas'. It's also named Red Ninja, which is a sick name for a plant, if we're honest. Many congratulations to breeder Ninja Kramer for producing it. It will be available to order from the summer.
Gardens in small spaces: A Little Garden of Shared Knowledge, sponsored by Viking
Rosie Paterson has been roaming the grounds of Chelsea, looking for inspiration. She's just filed the following report from the Balcony and Container Gardens area:
'I’ve been to see the balcony gardens because I’m moving into a new flat in July with a large — by London standards — balcony.
I spoke to Katerina Kantalis who’s just won a Gold Medal for her ‘A Little Garden of Shared Knowledge’ garden, sponsored by Viking.
The space is dominated by edible plants and vegetables — a fantastic example of how gardens, especially small ones where space is at a premium, can be practical and decorative. ‘I want to show off their [the fruits, vegetables and edible plants] beauty,’ says Katerina. She points out purple pak choi, mustard greens with their very architectural leaves and the cabbages with their frilly edges.
The pots are of varying shapes, sizes, finishes and texture — another important thing to keep in mind when landscaping a small space because they distract from the fact that you’re starting base is often a bland rectangular space (5m by 2m in this instance). ‘It softens a lot of the space,’ she says.
The climbing sweet pea plant in one corner adds height and structure, but it too is practical. It attracts pollinators and is nitrogen fixing. The colourful marigolds and pelargoniums are ‘companion plants’ which distract pests from the veggies.
Katerina worked with John Wheatley of Stonebarn Landscapes, a long time RHS collaborator and expert vegetable grower (he’s also worked with Frances Tophill). (Oh, he’s also 80 years old and collecting an MBE today). Rather than using chillers and heaters to make sure everything flowers at the right time, they’ve been growing the veggies and so on since January in waves to make sure something of everything is in prime condition.
Her top tip for someone like me who is just starting out with their own blank and — for now — bland space? ‘Figure out what you want from your space,’ she says. ‘It’s all about understanding: what are you passions, and how do you want to sit in it. Once you’ve worked that out, then you can start to think about how you break the space up.’
Clare Balding was one of the many visitors to Katerina Kantalis's (right) Little Garden of Shared Knowledge yesterday.
BREAKING: Gold Medal winners announced
A Chelsea Pensioner rests next to a sculpture of Gaia in Sarah Eberle's Gold Medal winning garden for the CPRE, titled 'On The Edge'.
We have some big awards for you, with the announcement of the Gold Medals for the various gardens around RHS Chelsea. The list is below:
Gold Medal
The Killik & Co 'A Seed in Time' Garden
Lady Garden Foundation 'Silent No More' Garden
The Children's Society Garden
The Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: 'On the Edge'
The Tate Britain Garden
Addleshaw Goddard: Flourish in the City
Trussell's Together Garden
Woodland Trust: Forgotten Forests Garden
Clear Gottlieb: Time for Creativity
Flood Re: Contain the Rain Garden
Tales from the Riverbank Garden sponsored by Kennedys' Independent Property Agents
A Little Garden of Shared Knowledge sponsored by Viking
The Whittard of Chelsea Garden
Hedgerow in the Sky – Tech Mahindra
Many congratulations to all the Gold Medal winners. For more information on all the winners, head to the RHS website by clicking here (but then come back to us).
So it seems like there will be no back-to-back Best in Shows for Kazuyuki Ishihara, as his Tokonoma Garden – Sanumaya no Niwa is awarded a Silver Gilt Medal. Who will take home Best in Show I wonder?
Country Life's Rosie Paterson getting a superb whiff of Sir David Beckham there.
Although I am reliably informed Rosie would also happily give the real Sir David a whiff as well.
'People look like their dogs and gardeners look like their plants. It’s inevitable. Don’t fight it'
Nick from Roualeyn Fuchsias stands in front of a searingly colourful display.
Apologies for the slight delay in programming, the cats were having a scrap, so had to go and organise some timeouts. Back to plants!
'We're the only veg people. Veg is very underrepresented at Chelsea'
Rosie met up with Kate Cotterill, co-owner of female-founded heirloom vegetable-seed company She Grows Veg.
What is She Grows Veg?
'We only sell heirloom varieties because they're the most beautiful and the most flavoursome. That's what we're obsessed with.'
'Half of our job is actually helping people to grow and succeed, so we have lots of help content. All of the seed packets have a QR code on the back that takes you to a YouTube video on how to grow it. That's how we all learn how to do things these days.
'We're trying to inspire people with our exhibit, which is called "Feast" this year, and it's all around the flavour of heirlooms. You've stumbled into a fantasy woodland scenario, and the wooden creatures have fled, but this is their table and the feast they were having before we all turned up. What we've got planted around in the woodland here, we've actually got cutting flowers and grasses interspersed with vegetables, because that's how we're all meant to be growing now biodiversity is king.'
How did you start the business?
'I had a 25 year career in marketing, and I was running a marketing agency. And on my day off, I went and did a garden-design course. I've always loved growing-my-own and veg gardening and basically sat down on day one of my garden design course and sat next to my co-founder Lucy [Hutchings]. We got on like a house on fire and we stayed in touch for 6-7 years.'
'And then she came to me having shared her veg on Instagram, she was growing lots of mad varieties of veg, and she came to me saying "well all of the people that are following me are saying they want their seeds and they're weird-and-wonderful ones that aren't available in the UK yet". And I did some market research and saw there was actually a market for it, so I quit my job. Lucy was terrified that I'd done that and we just tried and that was 2.5 years ago.'
'This is now our third year at Chelsea. We've gone from a team of two to a team of 48 in 2.5 years. We're the only veg people. Veg is very underrepresented at Chelsea. You see it in some of the trade stands and you know, the greenhouses and things like that, but not a dedicated proper celebration, not properly waving the flag for veg, which is what we do.'
'They're very pretty and they're also delicious'
Chard and viola at the She Grows Veg 'Feast' stand.
Three best heirloom vegetables to start with?
'A tomato is a really nice way to appreciate heirlooms because the flavours are so much better with an heirloom tomato. So definitely a tomato.'
'The Swiss chard that we talked about, so peppermint chard, just because it's so easy and it's year-round colour. So you can be harvesting all year round.'
'And I think probably the third one is our drying corn, which you can see sort of draped there, that actually is made into popcorn, but it has the most beautiful colours. So you can either use it as a really pretty decoration in the autumn or, you know, Halloween time of year, or you can actually pop it as popcorn, and it's really fun for the family and the kids.'
What is your definition of heirloom?
'So heirloom is something that's 50 years old or older. And basically, it's a type that is stable. And that means is that if you harvest that variety, so harvest the tomatoes, save the seeds, they would be true to type if you try to grow them again. Most of the other seed companies in the UK sell hybrids or F1s.'
'Hybrids and F1s were originally created for farming, where you want a guaranteed crop of, you know, volume, size, you want everything to be uniform. But actually, what that does is dilutes flavour. So we've all had a, you know, a tomato from the supermarket that tastes of nothing. And that is why.'
'So actually, we are bringing back all the heirlooms because if you're going to bother to grow-your-own, you want the best tasting and the prettiest on the plate, don't you? We're trying to re-educate everyone about the wonder of heirlooms, and, as you can see, they're very pretty and they are also delicious.'
A few four-legged friends
Dogs are not allowed at RHS Chelsea, unless they are working in some capacity. Country Life did have some four-legged visitors yesterday, who were all doing important security work, we were assured...
'The wildness has a different effect on your brain': Chelsea in Three with Nick Grimshaw
We caught up with Nick Grimshaw from BBC Radio 6 Music (and loads of other things, we don't have time to list them all) to discuss his thoughts on plants, gnomes and wildflowers.
Is he pro-gnome or anti-gnome? You'll have to watch the video to find out.
A ray of sunshine has broken through the clouds in South East London. Stay strong Chelsea people, it's on its way
Nick Grimshaw's video reminded me that I'm pretty sure Tom Allen described himself as a gnome yesterday...
Watch it below and let me know
Take a look: The Transient Garden, sponsored by Hamptons
While we wait for the announcement of the Best in Show winner, let's have a look at a few more of the gardens you can see at RHS Chelsea.
As previously mentioned, I enjoy doing cool things with small spaces (I am a millennial living in London, I don't really have a choice, but I like to stay positive). Naturally, I am drawn to the Balcony/Container Gardens category.
I am particularly fond of this creation by Rebecca Lloyd Jones, titled the Transient Garden. It was built by the Garden Club London and is sponsored by Hamptons. Per the RHS, the garden 'demonstrates practical and achievable ideas for creating a relaxing balcony garden within a compact space'. Indeed, it seems almost tailor made for many of the capital's new-build apartment buildings, which would certainly look much less unseemly if they had balconies such as this.
There's lots of container planting, folding furniture and vertical structure on display here, adding height and interest 'without overwhelming the space'. I am very fond of the colourful scheme and the use of Armeria maritima 'Morning Star White', Eriobotrya japonica, and Cornus kousa 'Cappuccino'. If there's one thing we millennials love, it's an expensive coffee.
Once the show is over, the garden will be relocated to an undisclosed community space. The theme 'Transient Garden' reflects on flexibility and adaptability, meaning the garden can be easily altered and reconfigured by two people.
Image credit: Josh Kemp-Smith/RHS
Image credit: Josh Kemp-Smith/RHS
Spotted: RHS Chelsea's most important visitor
Some might say it's The King and Queen, some might say it's Monty Don or Alan Titchmarsh, others (me) might say it's Country Life Editor Mark Hedges.
But Rosie Paterson is very wise, and she makes the rather compelling argument that the most important visitor at RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the humble bumblebee. Here's a white-tailed version greedily browsing a salvia x sylvesteis.
Say hello to Zinc the tree pathogen detection dog
Yesterday, Florence Allen managed to sit down for a quick chat with Zinc and Paul Beals from the Animal and Plant Health Agency
You’ve heard of detection dogs sniffing out drugs, explosives, even illnesses in humans — but have you heard of dogs detecting tree pathogens? Well neither had I, but here we are. Meet Zinc, the dog sniffing out tree pathogens for the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s ‘Scents & Sniffers’. They’re a rarity (for now), with only two currently in training.
As Paul Beals from Animal and Plant Health Agency put it simply, ‘we know that dogs have such an incredible nose they can sense up to 100,000 times more’ than what humans can. The hope is that ‘with their incredible noses as nature’s biosensors, we’re able to enhance our detection skills and spot things before they become a problem.’
Most remarkably of all, the dogs are able to detect issues before visible symptoms even appear. ‘Bringing the dog in earlier enables us to detect a pest or disease before symptoms actually appear,’ said Paul. ‘It’s like an early diagnosis — a rapid diagnostic.’ I’ve said it once and i’ll say it again – we don’t deserve these marvellous creatures.
The sun is well and truly out and I have managed to eat some lunch. Let us tackle the afternoon at the RHS Chelsea Flower show. Onwards, into greenery.
Rosie has been leafing through some old Country Lifes (Countries Life?) on our stand, and found a collection of delightful adverts from decades past. Best not to focus too closely on how much a three-bedroom house in Belgravia used to cost, and just enjoy the richness of advertising copy from the 1960s. It was a different time man, you had to be there.
BREAKING: Sarah Eberle and the Campaign to Protect Rural England win Best in Show for 'On the Edge'
Chelsea's most decorated garden designer has done it again, as Sarah Eberle takes home Best in Show for her garden with the Campaign to Protect Rural England. 'On The Edge', which features a giant wooden carving of Gaia by Chris Wood, impressed the judges most of all and takes home the chocolates.
Sarah Eberle has had quite the career. She is the most decorated designer at RHS Chelsea, with 14 Gold Medals to her name. This is now her third 'Best in Show' garden, following 2007 and 2017, and she is the only designer to win a Gold Medal in every category there is to show.
And, looking at pictures from this year's garden, it's not hard to see why.
Per the RHS, 'On the Edge' focuses on the spaces between our towns and cities, which are often overlooked and undervalued, despite being vital for connecting people to nature. The garden was created for the centenary year of the CPRE and is designed to symbolise 'hope and resilience on our doorstep'.
The garden is set on an imagined piece of undeveloped land on the urban fringe, and is centred around a fallen tree sculpted into a representation of Gaia (or Mother Earth, depending on who you ask).
Naturalised plants from fly-tipped garden waste 'transform neglect into abundance', and there is a diverse and rich ecosystem of plants, blending soft and hard boundaries, a reflection of the fringe space between urban and rural life.
RHS Chelsea: The big winners in full
RHS Chelsea Garden of the Year: 'The Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: "On the Edge"' by Sarah Eberle
RHS Chelsea Small Garden of the Year: 'Addleshaw Goddard: Flourish in the City' by Joe and Laura Carey
Best Balcony and Container Garden: 'A Little Garden of Shared Knowledge sponsored by Viking', by Katerina Kantalis
Best All About Plants Garden: 'Woodland Trust: Forgotten Forests Garden' by Ashleigh Aylett
Best Construction (Show Garden): 'Lady Garden Foundation "Silent No More" Garden', built by Landscape Associates
Best Construction (Small Show Garden): 'Trussell's Together Garden', built by Peter Gregory Landscapes
RHS Environmental Innovation Award: 'The Eden Project: Bring Me Sunshine Garden' designed by Harry Holding and Alex Michaelis
Best Houseplant Studio: 'An Ode To Endurance', designed by Natalia Drezek and Jinhyun Ahn, Conservatory Archives
You can have a more in-depth look at the medallists by clicking here
What to eat at RHS Chelsea: Za'atar fries
Stepping away quickly from the excitement of winners and back to food.
My colleague Octavia Pollock is at the Royal Hospital today, and has devoured some za'atar fries with glee. She has this to say:
'If it wasn't bad form to lick the pot of toum I would... crispy, fluffy with a tang of Lebanon, happy reminders of staying in Beirut and wandering along the corniche. A taste of the Eastern Mediterranean in Chelsea, yum'
Country Life score: 9/10
'Hello Boys'
Eva Herzigová and George Saumarez Smith
We've had a few famous faces stop by the Garden Lover's Library so far this week. As well as Monty Don, Clare Balding and James Martin, we've also been graced by visits from Rob Brydon and Eva Herzigová. Can't imagine those two have been written about in the same sentence too often...
Rob Brydon and George Saumarez Smith
Martha Kearney: 'Here in the heart of London at the moment it's bee heaven'
Yesterday afternoon, Rosie Paterson was lucky enough to catch up with journalist and presenter Martha Kearney for a quick chat about why RHS Chelsea is buzzing...
What brings you to RHS Chelsea?
I'm a lover of bees and I'm here as a patron of a charity called Bees for Development, which helps beekeepers around the world make a living from honey.
And have you seen a garden or a show garden or a feature garden so far that you think is particularly valuable to bees ?
Well, here in the heart of London at the moment it's bee heaven. And when you wander around the show gardens, there are so many bees out enjoying themselves.
There was one garden in particular which had a row of foxgloves in the background to it and there were so many bees.
So anybody who's keeping hives or making honey nearby must be absolutely delighted, they’ll have the most delicious honey.
I mean, we're standing in the middle of orchids. I haven't seen any bees here yet, but some orchids are pollinated by bees. Somebody in a garden in Chelsea may end up with orchid honey.
And what do you think is the sort of biggest misconception about bees that you would like to combat?
Well, I think people are scared of bees and they're worried about being stung by bees, which is fair enough, and I have been, and I've actually had to stop beekeeping because I had a bad anaphylactic reaction.
But by and large, bees leave people alone and you have to be very unlucky to be stung by bees.
Another misconception is that the only kind of bee is a honey bee. In fact, there are many, many different species of bees in this country. And you can help bees and help pollination by planting for bees. And I know Country Life has some wonderful, features about gardening and about planting for bees. With plants that start early in the year and carry on late in the year, you can help the whole of the British population of bees. There's so many different interesting kinds.
And I've become a bee spotter and I look out for different kinds of bumblebees in my garden and try to work out is that a white tailed bumblebee or a buff tail bumblebee or my favourite, which is the hairy footed flower bee.
We're right in the middle of London at the minute. A lot of people maybe only have small gardens or window boxes. What should they be planting? What's readily available, accessible, easy to plant that will keep bees happy?
Lavender. It’s very hard to kill a lavender. You don't even have to water it that much. You'll get a lot of bumblebees on lavender.
I also like Nepeta or cat mint. Again, it’s very easy to grow and you'll get lots and lots of bees on that.
Sarah Eberle: 'The difference between a good garden and a great garden is how it makes you feel'
My esteemed colleague has managed to track down some quotes from Best in Show winner Sarah Eberle, who came out of retirement to design 'On the Edge' for the Campaign to Protect Rural England. talk about a comeback, like gardening's Michael Jordan.
Marcus Wareing: 'I'm anti-gnome. They are pests'
Fresh from a sublime interview he did with Lotte Brundle a few weeks ago, chef and cod-liver oil enthusiast Marcus Wareing caught up with Country Life again to run the gauntlet of Chelsea in Three.
The art of the hand and why it is so precious
One final plug for the Garden Lover's Library from me (reminder to come visit us at PW215).
When we asked George Saumarez Smith to collaborate on the project, one of the key reasons we wanted to get him involved was his skill as a draughtsman. In an increasingly digital world, the skill of drawing by hand has never been under greater threat, and few people are as skilled or as talented as George.
You can see here some of the drawings that George made ahead of RHS Chelsea and then compare them to how the stand has been actually realised. Quite an amazing thing.
What to eat at RHS Chelsea: Falafel and hummus pita
Bella Fulford submits this delight. Here's what she had to say:
'Thoroughly enjoyed this. Great sauce-to-filling ratio, though not the easiest thing to eat on the move — I managed to spill tahini on myself while making eye contact with Trinny Woodall. Thank god for the Country Life apron.'
Country Life rating: 7/10
The many RHS Members present have had a great day out today, despite the changing nature of the weather. My minions at the Royal Hospital have reported bumper crowds all day. Below is a short video showing the size of the queue to get into the RHS and The King's Foundation Curious Garden.
It just goes to show that us Brits are resilient people, who will stop at nothing to look at some fine flowers. Makes your heart swell, does it not?
The utterly inessential RHS Chelsea shopping list
Rosie Paterson is never one to avoid a bit of retail therapy, and she's certainly not missed out at RHS Chelsea. She's provided a helpful wish list of things she wants for her birthday/Christmas this year after scouring the show ground for the past two days.
1) A ‘Living Life On The Veg' cap from the She Grows Veg stand in the pavilion.
2) A cosmos (‘fondant fancy’), because my guilty pleasure is fondant fancy cakes. Might be tricky because this one is a part of an educational stand on peat-free growing and not actually for sale.
3) An oil-skin jerkin from Carrier Company to wear down in Devon
4) Tiny utensils from The Oxford Brush Co. I actually want/need a porridge spurtle — a kitchen essential I’ll have you know — but they aren’t stocking them this year, so this is my consolation purchase
5) A Fabled Thread artwork. Eppie sells at-home embroidery and needlepoint kits, but I love her ready to buy ones!
'I was always painting, always gardening. I brought the two things that I like together and and here I am'
Yesterday, we wrote about the amazing orchid Cymbidium faberi 'Guanding', which was awarded the extremely prestigious RHS Award of Merit. Today, Rosie Paterson managed to catch up with Deborah Lambkin, the official orchid artist for RHS, to discuss her plans for the glorious plant.
And so what are you doing today?
Every Chelsea Monday morning, the RHS orchid committee have a meeting and we judge orchids. So we judge the orchid stands at the show, but we also have a meeting elsewhere during the show — our usual orchid meeting — talking about the orchid industry. And obviously Chelsea is a very special event of the year.
so you have got this winning orchid in a box and you're going to take it away. And what are you going to do?
This cymbidium orchid has been awarded an award of merit, and I paint the awarded orchids, with the Award of Merit being one of the awards that the committee give, and I always will take a flower from the plant that has been awarded.
I take it home and I paint an A4 painting and the paintings are used as a record that are kept in RHS in their library for posterity and they join the collection of over 7,000 orchid paintings that are in the Lindley library already.
How do you become an orchid painter?
I was always a gardener. I love gardening and as a child, art and gardening are the two things that I always loved doing. And then, I studied art and after I did my degree in art, I specialised in illustrating. I worked in advertising for a few years, but then I specialised in illustration.
I was always painting, always gardening. I brought the two things that I like together and and here I am.
Goodbye and thank you
It's almost time to say goodbye from day two at RHS Chelsea, so before I go just want to say thank you to everyone for joining me and for reading my ramblings on plants and people. It's been a pleasure!
Thank you to Rosie, Toby and Florence for being on the ground and providing so much amazing content and creativity to the blog. Keep an eye on the Country Life website, on our Instagram and our TikTok (yes, really) for heaps more RHS Chelsea content throughout the week.
One last thing, which is my Chelsea in Three, specifically requested by reader Sam Harris-Short. Here they are:
Favourite flower: I love a lavender. They smell amazing and are super good for bees. I also like bees.
Wildflower meadow or manicured lawn: Despite being a keen cricketer and golfer, I do prefer a wildflower meadow. Probably because I spend a lot of time in them when playing both.
Gnome or no gnome: I'm a big gnome guy. My aunt in Germany always gives them to members of the family for Christmas, and I have one in my house. My girlfriend hates it, but I love it.
Thanks again for joining me these past two days, and if you are at the show on Friday, come say hello to me on the stand, I'll be the tall one with the beard!
Goodbye!