RHS Chelsea Flower Show<\/a>, a five-day event that takes place in the Royal Hospital Chelsea\u2019s lush, expansive gardens. More than 150,000 people will descend on its 20 acres to explore the world\u2019s most innovative garden designs, movements in horticulture, and artistic floristry; they\u2019ll also drink almost 42,000 glasses of Pimm\u2019s.<\/p>\nBut for me, the question this year isn\u2019t what<\/em> I\u2019ll see, but who. No, I\u2019m not looking for royals at the King\u2019s Foundation Curious Garden, but a family just as storied and anticipated at the Chelsea Flower Show: a crew of garden gnomes.<\/p>\n2026 marks only the second time since 1927 that the miniature mythical creatures have been allowed into the event. Gnomes were first banned from the exhibit tents, where the rules stated that \u201cno statuary or other sundries may be exhibited\u2026 either alone, or as a part of an exhibit,\u201d before being banned outright. The rule was last temporarily lifted in 2013, for the RHS Chelsea centenary.<\/p>\n
The gnome prohibition has been relaxed once again for a fundraiser supporting RHS\u2019s school gardening campaign, with a crew of gnomes painted by celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Dame Mary Berry, and Sir Brian May up for auction. At time of writing, Berry\u2019s gnome has clocked up a $900 bid, May\u2019s $3,000, and Blanchett\u2019s a cool $400. The auction ends this Sunday, May 24.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/p>\nCate Blanchett\u2019s gnome enjoys the drink du jour at Chelsea\u2014a classic Pimm\u2019s.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Photo: Oliver Dixon<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/p>\nCate Blanchett\u2019s gnome poses with the Kate Moss rose, developed by Norfolk-based Peter Beales Roses.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Photo: Oliver Dixon<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cWe want people to be playful with their gardening, which is why we\u2019re lifting the gnome ban for these celebrity gnomes,\u201d said RHS director general Clare Matterson. Comedian Bill Bailey\u2014another gnome artist\u2014reminded gathered press that the name for gnomes derives from the Latin gnomus<\/em>, meaning \u201cearth dweller.\u201d \u201cThe Romans had them as guardians of the garden, and to protect against malign spirits. So I think they have been much maligned,\u201d he said. (For what it\u2019s worth, at Highgrove, the King\u2019s private residence in Gloucestershire, the gardens are full of gnomes. One mysterious figurine is said to change positions and locations all on his own.)<\/p>\nOn Wednesday, Chelsea was in full bloom. Beyond the Flower Show grounds was a free flower festival with an \u201cOut of this World\u201d theme, and I noted a rendering of Saturn made from burnt orange ranunculus, a four-meter floral dragon and Pegasus, and an opulent display of roses framing the Cartier store. Upon arrival at the Flower Show proper, I picked up my press pass and made a beeline for the King\u2019s Garden. A queue snaked around its perimeter, but the celebrity-cast gnomes were cloistered in a glass cabinet slightly out of public view, opposite an information stand and stall for champagne and seafood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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