Chelsea Flower Show

Now in its 83rd year, the Chelsea Flower Show provides an internationally renowned horticultural showcase for around 600 exhibitors.

This year the show features 20 Show Gardens, 6 Chic Gardens, 9 Courtyard Gardens, 6 City Gardens, 8 Sunflower Street Gardens and around 100 floral exhibitors in the Great Pavilion.

It takes 800 people 3.5 weeks to build the event. The showground covers 11 acres and the Great Pavilion alone covers over 12,000m2 - that's enough room to park 500 London buses!

During the show week, 8,000 bottles of champagne, 20,000 glasses of Pimms, 5,000 lobsters, 110,000 cups of tea and coffee, and 28,000 rounds of sandwiches are sold.

In 2005 the show will open on a Saturday for the first time ever. The visitor figure of 157,000 has been capped at this level since 1988, but this year the same number of visitors will be spread over five days instead of four.

Chelsea Flower Show Details

Dates: Tuesday 24 May - Saturday 28 May 2005
24 & 25 May are reserved for RHS members
Venue: Grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, London
For bookings and information, visit http://www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea

Source: RHS Press Office