Enjoy the the Chelsea atmosphere from the comfort of your own laptop
Credit: Geoff Pugh
The RHS Virtual Chelsea Flower Show has returned for 2021 edition, which is great news for the horticultural world.
In January, the RHS postponed the Chelsea Flower Show until September for the first time in its 108-year-history, owing to the high infection rate of Covid-19 at the time. Concerns about which restriction tier London would be in at the time of the event were also a factor. But gardeners are now able to get a floral fix this month.
The RHS Virtual Chelsea Flower Show was enjoyed last year around the world, and the 2021 edition, which is currently taking place until May 21, is to be no exception. Cyber-attendees can expect a stellar line up of videos featuring gardening demos, garden tours and creative inspiration (all free on the RHS website).
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Large specimens in the parkland designed by Capability Brown at Chatsworth House
Credit: Jim Powell
A grand old Cedar of Lebanon is a glorious status symbol in front of a stately house, even when a few limbs have dropped off over the centuries. It says more than a sculpture, or a perfect turning circle, because it can’t be bought: the majestically spreading character of Cedrus libani only reveals itself as the tree approaches its 100th birthday.
When Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown dotted them around his landscapes in the mid-18th century – as an accent, with informal groupings of native oak, beech and lime – they were still quite mysterious, having only arrived on these shores about 100 years before. By the time they reached their apex of beauty in the 20th century, landowners had long since stopped planting them.
The Royal Horticultural Society is the latest organisation to be dragged into the culture wars amid moves to make it less white, middle-aged and middle class.
The UK’s leading gardening charity, which recently admitted it was ‘frustrated’ with its lack of diversity, wants to shake up how it elects board members.
The move will allow the body, established in 1804, to become ‘more inclusive’. However, one critic said it was ‘another British institution falling to the modernisation agenda’.
RHS president Keith Weed has emailed its 500,000-strong membership outlining the changes that he wants to make to how the 17-member ruling council is elected. Instead of having to be a member for three years, the board could now be elected immediately.