Flowers were in bloom all over Chelsea last week, thanks to the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which brings colour, sweet smells and beauty spilling out on to the main streets and store fronts of Chelsea. An extraordinary alternative to a red carpet, floral masterpieces leading you into the grounds of Chelsea Hospital. The likes of Instagram are filled with picturesque images of store fronts found on Sloane Street, Duke of York Square, and Pavilion Road.

Photo credit ©Country & Town House

Hackett - Sloane Street - Winner of ' Best Floral Display'

Kiki McDonough - Symons Street

Tom Davies - Sloane Square

Who we sponsored at RHS Chelsea

This year we sponsored Florists Dean Sharpe and Rebecca Hough and also NAFAS. Amazingly, but not surprisingly, they all received medals. Well done. `Floral Throne for a Spring Wedding’ and `Seasonal Beauty Uncaged’ were the titles of the briefs our glorious contestants were working towards and smashed. Let’s look at the creations and the creators in more detail;

Rebecca Hough -Rebecca Hough

Massive congratulations to Rebecca, who achieved the gold medal for her floral throne, securing the title RHS Chelsea Florist of the Year. After receiving the brief and coming up with the idea, the hard work was not limited to the construction at RHS Chelsea, so many other variables within floristry makes this challenge a very exciting yet stressful experience which Rebecca revealed to us. Things like the weather was a concern to her and how would she keep the flowers she had purchased early, due to to the bank holiday, fresh. (Fans came into play). Her throne, the basic structure being formed from large pieces of drift wood, became problematic in terms of transport. So much thought, hard work, calculations and problem solving went into that gold medal and title. It’s not just a pretty chair!

Photo credit ©BFA

As sponsors to Rebecca, she could go into one of our stores and choose what she needed or would like in order to help build her creation. The Oasis designer board we supplied her with was "the most useful material" that Rebecca used. She used this to cover most of the throne, which was then disguised by an array of flowers that include but not limited to Roses, Gerbera's, Freesia, Succulents, Amaranthus, Clematis and other beauty's to create the show stopping design.

Dean Sharpe – Dean Sharpe Floral Studio

What a win for Dean, winning a bronze medal at RHS Chelsea in his first ever final. Once again the brief ‘Floral Throne for a Spring Wedding’ was set, yet Dean made it his own, creating a completely different winning throne. Talking to him during the process it was apparent that he was having a blast and the hard work hasn’t put him off, he is already thinking about the heats for next year’s competition. Go for it Dean!

Looking closer at his throne, a juxtaposition of materials and colours created a full bodied piece. The stone effect throne is very masculine and urban, contrasting beautifully with the soft curves and natural feel of the vines that are seemingly growing on the throne. It’s as if the throne was left in a forest, letting nature take its course, transforming it entirely. An elegance is felt through the flowers, soft hues in Roses, Chrysanthemum, Rununculus, Orchids, Scabiosa, Lizianthus, Fritillaria, Amaranthus, Hypericum, Helleborus, Hyacinth, Anthyrium, Tillandsia, Moss, and Muscari. To take inspiration from Deans flower choices, shop our silks to create your own arrangement or design piece.

Photo credit ©BFA

Items that Dean found particularly useful within his design were;

Oasis designer board – Used in various places and cut to size.

Small test tubes – He used these for all his orchids and the flowers on the outside of the throne.

Hot glue sticks – Used to fix the handmade vines to the throne. The vines on the outside of the throne where made from foil, cotton wool and waterproof PVA glue. They were then hand painted. Utterly amazing and realistic.

NAFAS - National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies

The London & Overseas Area of NAFAS had an exhibit at RHS Chelsea for which they won a Silver Gilt Medal. Not new to winning the team of designers was led by Mig Kimpton who came up with the design, in response to the brief titled `Seasonal Beauty Uncaged’. Four strikingly large peacocks formed part of the exhibit, each symbolising a season through its use of colour and materials. Just as the natural cycle of seasons unveils, you get the same experience as you walk around the circular exhibit, being transported from one season to the next. A magical experience with a huge visual impact.

Photo credit ©Flora International Magazine

With NAFAS being such an influential voice within the florist industry, it gives us great pleasure to work alongside and sponsor NAFAS as we have done many times over the years. Just as they do, we love having the opportunity to give back to the industry whether its small or big contributions and we hope to continue to work together in the future.

Well done everyone and thank you Chlesea for being so divine, until next time!