Next year, the world's most famous flower show celebrates 100 years in the grounds of Chelsea's Royal Hospital, but, says Gillian Vine, the show is really much older.
It started as a one-off event: pushed off its central London site in 1913, England's Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) moved its Great Spring Show to the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea - and it's been there ever since.
Next year, the RHS is promoting the Chelsea centenary but it has actually been holding the Great Spring Show since 1862 and has never changed the name, although worldwide it's known now as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
The show's history really goes back 190 years to 1822, when the sixth Duke of Devonshire leased 13.4ha of land at his west London property, Chiswick House, to the Horticultural Society of London (now the Royal Horticultural Society).
The group created an experimental garden noted for its fruit and grasses and an arboretum.
One of the attractions of belonging to the HSL was that members could get new seeds introduced by the society's plant hunters.
The garden was open to the paying public and attracted 4000 visitors in 1825.
These days, entry to Chiswick House's garden is free, although there is a charge to see inside the 18th-century neo-Palladian villa. The garden is open all year round and is well worth visiting, as it is where William Kent (1685-1748) first experimented in the 1730s with the natural style of landscaping that was to become a worldwide movement.
In 1904, the society decided to leave London, where the growing population was pushing up pollution levels to the detriment of plants. It moved to Wisley, Surrey, where it still has a magnificent garden that includes experimental beds of new plants.
The RHS's first fete, a forerunner of shows like Chelsea, was held at Chiswick in 1829 and it is said that 1500 carriages queued in the rain for their occupants to get into the show.
Because of falling attendances, put down to poor public transport links, the show was moved to Kensington in 1862 and the Temple Gardens near Fleet St in 1888 before settling on the grounds of the Royal Hospital, home of the red-coated Chelsea Pensioners. There were 244 exhibitors at that first show in 1913 - where bonsai made its British debut - and more than 500 this year, including show gardens, nursery displays, floristry, educational displays and retail stands.
During World War 1, the show was held from 1914 to 1916, but cancelled in 1917 and 1918. It was again cancelled during World War 2, as the land was requisitioned by the War Office for an anti-aircraft site.
The Chelsea Flower Show resumed in 1947 and was a great success despite fears that postwar shortages would reduce exhibits.
Chelsea's popularity continued to increase but by 1979 crowding had become a major problem and, after several attempts to address the issue, in 1980 it was agreed to limit visitor numbers. In 1988, numbers were further cut, to 40,000 a day, and RHS members were up in arms when they learned that they would be charged to enter instead of the free admission they had taken for granted for decades.
After considering moving the show to a larger venue (the Royal Hospital grounds are only 4.5ha), the RHS decided to stay put and in 2005 increased the show from four days to five, with the first two days open only to members. Even so, there are about 30,000 people daily, so it tends to be crowded, especially from late morning until about 6pm.
The show is open from 8am until 8pm daily and all tickets, which go on sale from November and cost about $100 per person per day, must be bought in advance. You can book a package, and New Zealand travel agents are already advertising them, or, if you are travelling independently, register your interest in buying tickets on the website www.rhs.org.uk/Promotions/Pre-register-for-Chelsea-tickets-2013.
If you go, it is worth reflecting on the history of the RHS with visits to Chiswick House and Wisley - as well as what is regarded as the world's most famous flower show.
