The Chelsea Flower Show's origins in Chiswick
May 25, 2025
CHISWICK FÊTES
The origins of the Chelsea Flower Show go back to the Society’s first fête at its Chiswick garden in 1827.
The Chiswick fêtes quickly established themselves as ‘one of the principal attractions of the fashionable season’, even if they sometimes had to contend with the unreliable English weather.
"The standing nearly ankle-deep in water, coming from wet gravel; shrieks were dreadful, and the loss of shoes particularly annoying!"
The material details the show's various incarnations over the past two centuries, how it was set up and how the flagship event was promoted in the analogue era.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
In later years as rival flower shows started to spring up in Regent’s Park and Crystal Palace, visitor numbers dropped as Chiswick was not yet accessible by railway. The Chiswick shows ended in 1857 but by 1861 the RHS shows had begun again, this time held at Kensington Gardens on the former site of the Great Exhibition of 1851.
A much larger site was found at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in between Sloane Square and the River Thames and the Royal International Horticultural Exhibition was held there in May 1912.
CHARITABLE LINKS
It was a competitive show, earning over £25,000 in profit, which was divided between three charities, and its success was enough to convince the RHS that the Great Spring Show, or the Chelsea Flower Show as it was now known, should be held there.
ROYAL APPROVAL
During the five days of the show the whole of Chelsea transforms into a festival with tea parties, and more recently the Chelsea in Bloom campaign, launched in 2006, which sees the local shops dress up their stores.
Attracting an enormous amount of media attention and a waiting list for exhibitors almost as long as its history, the Show is one of the most important events in the horticultural calendar. The 2025 show saw tens of thousands of people attend over the five-day event - including the King and Queen.
