The Floral Feasts of Chelsea In Bloom

Chelsea in Bloom is something I look forward to every year. It's a very artsy alternative, or addition to, the world famous Chelsea Flower Show. A flower festival with a theme, which is free to attend, and takes place in the streets of Chelsea, a stone's throw from the famous Flower Show, every year.

This event is spectacular with atmosphere because it embraces flowers and people - bringing together local residents and others from much further afield. People stop to admire the flowers, take pictures, talk amongst themselves, or to the exhibitors, taking time to pause, and enjoying a slower pace of life, for a few moments of the day.

Chelsea's best retailers, restaurants and hotels adorn themselves with stunning floral designs and compete against each other to win a coveted award. This year's theme was "Floral Feasts", and each contestant has their own interpretation and take on that idea, showcasing displays that Chelsea is very famous for, including its botanical heritage and fabulous food.

My tour of Chelsea in Bloom began with the Ralph Lauren store in Sloane Square. The store facade was covered with coffee arabica plants and jasmine, rose, hyacinth and cosmos. The windows had oversized coffee cups, and the Ralph Lauren coffee cart served iced beverages in aid of the Royal Marsden Charity.

LK Bennett chose to display an "Afternoon Tea at the Races", with tiered cakes, sandwiches and pastries together with wine - the perfect combination for them, as the Official Sponsor of Royal Ascot.

Les Nereides Jewellery store had a very understated design based on their in-store Strawberry jewellery collection.

The three-dimensional strawberries were intended to trigger your imagination and evoke a woodland scene of peace and tranquillity. The foliage used real leaves and the strawberries, which were different sizes, had been made from fresh and dried flowers. Les Nereides display had a sustainable theme which fits with the ethos of the Flower Show.

Vardo restaurant in Duke of York Square had also taken their inspiration from strawberries. Their two metre tall installation represented the La Bomba cocktail - a fruity delight infused with the vibrant flavours of strawberry and juniper, and topped off with champagne.

This was a striking display and looked fabulous against their bar cart and blackboard menu.

Trilogy, also in Duke of York Square, had collaborated with one of their key brands to produce a huge ice cream cone. which depicted the true taste of Summer. They combined pastel blooms and sorbet shades with a wildflower archway, and the ice cream installation which worked really well together.

Space NQ Beauty Banquet chose to use flowers in a display true to their own brand, and made a simple but striking statement.

Their take on the theme served up a mouth watering platter of food inspired, and ingredient led products, such as the bright red lipstick below.

An eye catching bold and quirky display was inspired by Trinny Woodall at Trinnys of London. Zesty fruit and bold colours were uplifting, and the fresh lemons with sunny yellow hues evoked a positive freshness.

The flowers had been chosen to reflect Trinny London's passion for making every day brighter, and encourage everyone to be their best self.

"Floral Feasts" at Brora was my absolute favourite display of Chelsea in Bloom. They had a Sweets and Treats Tea Party Window theme, which continued inside the store where sherbet lemons and mint refreshments were served.

This display is a credit to Filomena Martino, the Visual Merchandising Manager, at Brora who always embraces Chelsea in Bloom, and comes up with some brilliant ideas. I am always excited to see the Brora display each year.

Their Chelsea in Bloom display was the perfect fit with their ethical values and clothing collections, many of which have a botanical theme - with flower, fruit and food names in abundance.

The clothing colour theme at Brora this year includes rhubarb, cherry, chocolate and sherbet, fitting perfectly with the sweetshop display and whole theme of Chelsea in Bloom. Prints such as ‘nettle botanical’ and ‘mimosa bloom’ stir up memories of hazy summer tea parties in the garden.

There was a charitable element to "Floral Feasts" at Brora with 10% of their in-store sales of clothing with food-inspired colour names, given to the charity The Felix Project for the duration of the ‘Sweets and Treats Tea Party’ window.

Garden Writer | Guinevere's Garden