Last year we had no RHS Chelsea Flower Show at all because everything was closed due to the pandemic. After a long wait finally Chelsea in Bloom street festival and Chelsea Flower Show have landed in London (and you can still check my blog about the previous flower festival dedicated to the Under the Sea theme!). Thankfully this year we have both the RHS Chelsea flower show and the Chelsea bloom welcoming visitors as usual. Although the tradition has changed and both take place in autumn, not in spring, we don’t mind, do we?

To be honest, it feels even somehow fortunate that we have this seasonal shift because the florists have a chance to use different plants!
As usual there are a few dozens of shops, hotels and restaurants participating and ready to showcase the installations made out of the beautiful flowers and plants. The topic of this year was the Extraordinary Voyages inspired by the famous Jules Verne book. Around the world in 80 days – no, in one day?

Where and when? 

As always the main places of interest are King’s Road, Sloane Square, Sloane Street and Duke of York square. It runs from September 20 to September 25. Let’s explore the beautiful windows I had a chance to look at!

Chelsea in bloom: best displays 

Extraordinary voyages bring us to different parts of the world while traveling is still not back to normal. There are the Pyramids with camels, they are hot air balloons, there is the Statue of Liberty, there is the Eiffel tower, and many other world landmarks that came to London this year.

One of my absolute favorites this year is Sticks’n’sushi, an amazing Japanese restaurant that presented a mighty Dragon made out of flowers adjacent to a Nordic boat. Cartier has presented a wonderful gradient of flowers from burgundy red to bright yellow. Beautiful display of Les Nereides, a beautiful jewelry brand, is decorated with butterflies. Peloton has introduced an arch of flowers.

Polpo restaurant hopes to surprise visitors with a gondola with dried flowers this year. Rabbit restaurant has one of the nicest displays of them all  – the fruits, flowers and a hot air balloon have definitely caught my eye. Ralph Lauren is one of my favorite clothes brands, and I was so happy to see its beautiful and stylish display transporting us into the area of luxury train carriages with a vintage twist. The Ivy Chelsea has a wonderful display which looks like an enchanted forest with mushrooms, well, moon and wonderful flowers.

Jigsaw has an amazing blue display with hydrangeas and tree trunks reminding me of the corals – looks like an underwater world doesn’t it? The Moscot has a bunch of amazing sunflowers brightening  in the day, and Nike was Inspired by British sprinter Daryll Neita and constructed a pair of flower shoes.

 The Peggy Porschen has also changed its summer arch for an autumnal one decorated with the golden pumpkins and beautiful maple red leaves. Monica Vinader has opened an Indian flower market with a tuktuk near its entrance and was giving away small packages with seeds to grow at home (can’t wait to grow mine!). Dermatology has presented a colorful giant balloon. The Vardo restaurant became a home to a giant bumblebee.

One of the most important topics of this Chelsea flower show and Chelsea in bloom were sustainability and eco-awareness. It was absolutely heartwarming to see so many different environmentally friendly materials, ideas and compositions and the participants of the festival working together with the various Conservation Trusts!

Well I hope you enjoyed my reportage of the Chelsea in bloom this year! Let me know which of the displays is your favorite! 

Yours  Anna 

XXX