WHAT a difference 20 months make. For the first time in its 108-year history, the Chelsea Flower Show will be a September event, signing off the season, as it were, instead of ushering in the freshness of May.
After the necessary cancellations of spring 2020 and again in 2021, the RHS made the brave and interesting decision to host its most prestigious show next week, still in the Royal Hospital grounds. This means there will be a few adjustments—and several new exhibitors. For some familiar nurseries and growers, the late season could not work with their ranges of plants; others have bowed out after a long and distinguished innings—notably, Hillier Nurseries has called time on its appearances, having exhibited for half a century.
But change is good and an autumn show is inevitably interesting. As it turns out, the four-month delay this year has been helpful, after one of the chilliest spring seasons on record. Despite its sunshine, the crucial month of April was the coldest for a century and many plants remained hunkered down, unable to unfurl new leaves and buds in a spring that for months continued to feel very much like winter. Notwithstanding modern glasshouse technology, a May show would have been somewhat lean this year.
Esta historia es de la edición September 15, 2021 de Country Life UK.
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Every picture tells a story
As the National Gallery prepares to celebrate its 200th anniversary in May, Carla Passino delves into the fascinating history of 10 of its paintings, from artistic triumphs to ugly ducklings and a clever fake
Flying between extremes
Revisiting the Norfolk of his childhood bright, but not as early as planned on an April morning, John Lewis-Stempel is entranced by the wildlife of the Broads and spots a crane so large it renders his binoculars redundant Illustration by Michael Frith
Satan on six legs
The prowling embodiment of Beelzebub, the Devil's coach horse beetle could absolve you of all your sins, says Ian Morton
Sometimes, less is more
FASHIONS in gardening come and go like those on the catwalk, they simply take a lot longer doing so: sometimes decades.
Dropping down to Derwentwater
The gardens of High Moss, Portinscale, Cumbria The home of Peter and Christine Hughes Non Morris visits a much-loved, Historically fascinating Arts-andCrafts garden, which has been imaginatively brought back to life
A Georgian legacy
Down in Wiltshire and Somerset, two country houses and estates have been well tended by their owners
Processions, proclamations and punishment
The wayside crosses that were once beacons in the British landscape have seldom survived the forces of Nature and iconoclasm. Lucien de Guise follows a trail of destruction
A sparkling collection
Guided by the nose of wine expert Harry Eyres, the COUNTRY LIFE team tasted some of England's finest sparkling wines and found elegance and finesse, with notes of hedgerows and seaside air, to compete with any fizz from across the Channel-surely, this is what we should be drinking now Qu
Hampering after summer
Lifting the lid on a sturdy hamper to find cold ham and ginger beer is a summer joy. Julie Harding meets the wicker weavers who make the dream come true
Life's a picnic
With picnic season fast approaching, it's time to elevate your alfresco feast to Michelin-star levels of deliciousness. Here, Paul Henderson asks a selection of the finest chefs to open up their picnic baskets and share some of their top tips for culinary success
