Coronavirus: Chelsea Flower Show offers online garden tour after annual show cancelled

World famous garden show was forced to close because of global pandemic

The Chelsea Flower Show, perhaps the world’s most famous horticultural exhibition week, will create a virtual display for UK growers for the first time as a result of the coronavirus.

Originally scheduled for late May and a favourite of the British royal family, the show had been cancelled because of the outbreak. It has taken place every year since 1913 in London except for breaks during World War One and Two.

“Two things have become very evident since these cancellations.  The first is that so many, whether watching on the BBC or attending the show, whilst understanding this decision, feel such an immense hole in their lives and deep disappointment that RHS Chelsea will not take place this year,” wrote Sue Biggs, the director-general of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), which stages the event.

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

The Dubai Majlis Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Melanie Hunt

“The second is how many feel they need gardening in their life now more than ever before for their mental and physical wellbeing during this national emergency.  This applies to everyone from those who are having to self-isolate to families planning, maybe for the first time, to grow their own food.”

She said the event would run from 18 May until 23 May. Ms Biggs said planning is still in its early stages “but we are looking at what we can do on our RHS website and other platforms for people to enjoy and to share the joy of gardening”.

She added that designers, landscapers and other experts would be sought after for their advice. Growers are expected to give behind the scenes tours of their displays.

“We really hope the virtual show will help fill the gap caused by the sad but necessary cancellation of this year’s show and will inspire more people to get growing,” Ms Biggs said.

In 2019 the Silver Gilt medal winner was the Dubai Majlis Garden, which was “inspired by the sculptural beauty found in arid landscapes”. It focus was developing a display which celebrated “unity, collaboration and togetherness”,

The UAE’s founding President Sheikh Zayed, a gardening enthusiast and former patron of the RHS , won three consecutive gold medals from 2003-2005. His 2003 garden was an abstract impression of Abu Dhabi and its desert origins based on five elements - stone, sand, water, grass and salt. It was a contemporary re-imagination of a traditional Islamic garden.

Meanwhile UK plant wholesaler Hortus Loci is to donate some 2000 flowers developed for the show to hospitals in London to support staff and patients battling the virus.

“They are really nice high quality plants grown especially. We hope they will brighten up the hospital gardens for staff, patients, anybody visiting the hospitals and spending time in the grounds over this really difficult period,” landscape and garden designer Tom Massey told the BBC.