:00:39. > :00:44.Chelsea Flower Show, an event supported by M&G Investments. Over
:00:44. > :00:47.the last 100 years the Chelsea Flower Show has built a reputation
:00:47. > :00:51.for horticultural excellence. Winning a medal here is the
:00:51. > :00:56.equivalent of scooping an Oscar, except here everybody wants one of
:00:56. > :00:59.these, a gardening Golden Globe, it's the biggest honour a designer
:00:59. > :01:09.or grower can receive. It's judgment day and we have the results. Coming
:01:09. > :01:19.up on today's show: Gold rush, we reveal the garden designers leaving
:01:19. > :01:21.
:01:21. > :01:28.Chelsea with a shiny Gold Medal. Cheer cheer -- CHEERING
:01:28. > :01:38.AND RACHEL DE THAME IS AMIDST THE FLORAL FIGHT AS THE YOUNG FLORIST OF
:01:38. > :01:38.
:01:39. > :01:43.the excruciating wait to find out who is leaving Chelsea's Centenary
:01:43. > :01:46.year with a Gold Medal is over. Andy, you've designed quite a few
:01:46. > :01:53.gardens over the year, what's it like on medals morning? That first
:01:53. > :01:58.bit, when you're anticipating it, you don't know, it's awful, the
:01:58. > :02:02.anticipation, is terrible. Once you get the medal and hopefully you can
:02:02. > :02:07.celebrate, then... Euphoria!The best feeling in the world. You were
:02:07. > :02:10.never here when I ran round with the medals in our hands. I don't want to
:02:10. > :02:16.be seen crying on national television. But it must mean the
:02:16. > :02:21.world? It is. It's just incredible. There's nothing else like it.
:02:21. > :02:26.lucky for the anxious exhibitors the RHS judges don't hang around
:02:26. > :02:28.delivering the nail-biting news. Wild horses couldn't keep James
:02:28. > :02:34.Alexander Sinclair and I from finding out first.
:02:34. > :02:39.# a kind of magic # We are here first thing because it's
:02:39. > :02:42.the most important day of the week. It's medals day at the RHS Chelsea
:02:42. > :02:46.Flower Show. And people are out there biting their nails to the
:02:46. > :02:53.quick in anticipation that they might get one of these. Or will it
:02:53. > :03:03.be one of these? Fingers crossed. I'm going to take Main Avenue.
:03:03. > :03:04.
:03:04. > :03:11.doing the artisan and Ken fresh gardens. Shall we go? Don grach
:03:11. > :03:21.lagss. Do we -- congratulations, do we get a woop? Woop. That's the best
:03:21. > :03:21.
:03:21. > :04:12.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 50 seconds
:04:12. > :04:22.you would expect (! ) Silver Medal, fantastic. Thank you very much
:04:22. > :04:37.
:04:37. > :04:40.There we go Philip. What a morning. An incredible ten gold medals have
:04:40. > :04:45.been awarded in the large show garden category this year. That's
:04:45. > :04:48.more than ever for Chelsea. Now like all the exhibits these gardens
:04:48. > :04:53.aren't competing against each other. They're judged individually to an
:04:53. > :04:56.exacting standard by the RHS. In theory, every garden has a chance of
:04:57. > :05:06.winning a Gold Medal. Now the standards are extremely high here
:05:07. > :05:07.
:05:07. > :05:12.and every medal award issed a real accolade, be it gold, silver gilt,
:05:13. > :05:18.silver or bronze. An dip's been looking at the gardens.
:05:18. > :05:20.The This is a garden where it creates a habitat that brings
:05:20. > :05:24.creates a habitat that brings wildlife and people close together.
:05:24. > :05:28.The garden is fed by rain water, all these pools and plants. But it's a
:05:28. > :05:32.haven for wildlife. On the roof there are habitats for lots of
:05:32. > :05:42.different vertebrae and all of these plants will attract lots more
:05:42. > :05:42.
:05:42. > :05:47.creatures. It brings people close up to them. It's a wonderful garden.
:05:47. > :05:56.Christopher Bradley-Hole's wooded landscape garden also got a thumbs
:05:57. > :06:01.up from the RHS and was awarded with gold. The windows through time
:06:01. > :06:05.garden is a centenary garden which looks back at how our gardens have
:06:05. > :06:11.moved on in the last 100 years. At the back here, we've got plants
:06:11. > :06:16.which represent the 1900s. On the floor we've got York stone paving,
:06:16. > :06:23.but it's not old, it's diamond sawn to make it more modern. At the front
:06:23. > :06:30.of the garden there's a con tem contemporary -- come temporary
:06:30. > :06:35.sculpture. The East Village Garden was instierd by -- inspired by the
:06:35. > :06:39.Olympic athletes' village and sprinted home with gold. Adam
:06:39. > :06:42.Frost's Sowing the Seeds of Change was designed for a small family to
:06:42. > :06:45.relax, grow their own and connect with nature. It's certainly
:06:45. > :06:55.connected with the judges because they gave it a gold stamp of
:06:55. > :06:56.
:06:56. > :07:02.approval. It was designer Chris Beardshaw's agony as an arthritis
:07:02. > :07:07.sufferer that inspired the garden. The garden is in three parts. Here
:07:07. > :07:10.the final part is full of exuberant planting. It's optimist being and
:07:10. > :07:13.looking forward for when you've learned to deal with what you're
:07:13. > :07:20.going through. The colours here are very different for Chelsea and
:07:21. > :07:25.that's what makes it so good. Robert Myers' design went native, packed
:07:25. > :07:35.full the British wildflowers. The colours were striking and the garden
:07:35. > :07:37.
:07:37. > :07:41.struck gold. The wasteland is a communal garden. The clever thing
:07:41. > :07:48.about this garden is that it is made from recycled objects. There's a
:07:48. > :07:54.seat here made out of an old bath. There are screens made from shopping
:07:54. > :07:58.colies and old mattresses. -- trolleys. You don't see much crazy
:07:58. > :08:05.paving at Chelsea because otherwise it's thrown in a skip usually. It's
:08:05. > :08:11.a good use of old materials and ties clever garden.
:08:11. > :08:14.The judges swooned over this romantically themed garden with the
:08:14. > :08:17.strong structural framework and beautiful planting. It must have
:08:17. > :08:23.been love because it was kissed with gold.
:08:23. > :08:27.You can find out more about all the Gold Medal winning romantic gardens
:08:27. > :08:32.straight after the show by pressing your red, for love, button on this
:08:32. > :08:38.occasion. There is one more gold to reveal. It's the garden that's also
:08:38. > :08:43.won the highly press didgeous Best in Show a award -- prestigious Best
:08:43. > :08:47.in Show award. Of course, medals day isn't just about the gardens.
:08:47. > :08:52.There's also been a fair bit of rejoicing in the Great Pavilion this
:08:52. > :08:57.morning. Carol's been to find out which of the nurseries has been
:08:57. > :09:06.given the RHS gold stamp of approval.
:09:06. > :09:12.This must mean a gold again? Yes. . Fantastic. How many is that?
:09:12. > :09:16.That's not a bad number. Your age Carol. Exactly! I wish! Your stand
:09:16. > :09:26.looks fantastic. You couldn't have got anything else. Cheers and well
:09:26. > :09:31.
:09:31. > :09:40.bulbs is one of 62 Gold Medal winners in the Great Pavilion this
:09:40. > :09:44.year. Let's go and take a look. This won gold and no wonder. It's
:09:44. > :09:50.just an exquisite stand packed full of treasures. But what makes a gold?
:09:50. > :09:54.It's not just a question of subjectivity and what you like.
:09:54. > :10:00.Points are awarded for plants, overall impression and endeavour,
:10:00. > :10:05.you know all that creativity, use of props, all those factors. They all
:10:05. > :10:12.have to be perfect to win a gold. I'd love everything on this stand,
:10:12. > :10:19.but perhaps this plant typifies it all. Never, ever exhibited before,
:10:19. > :10:24.utter perfection and look at the whole thing, it's just to die for.
:10:24. > :10:30.If Creek Farm plants was all about green and tropicality this nursery
:10:30. > :10:35.is all about colour. They've won gold and no wonder. They satisfy
:10:35. > :10:40.every criteria. The plants themselves are exquisite. They're
:10:40. > :10:43.all the the peak of their performance. You examine any
:10:43. > :10:53.individual flower and it's individual flower and it's
:10:53. > :10:58.
:10:58. > :11:02.have won loads of gold medals but sadly not this year. How do you
:11:02. > :11:06.feel, Davies? I must admit we're really disappointed. We have put a
:11:06. > :11:10.huge amount of everything into the stand. But with us the judge ises
:11:10. > :11:17.always affected by the flowers and if they're open at the time of
:11:17. > :11:21.judging. If the sun is in, they won't open and it loses us medals.
:11:21. > :11:25.Two of the most difficult to deal with iris and peonies. I think it's
:11:25. > :11:31.brilliant. Every picture tells a story stand
:11:31. > :11:37.it's true, the picture is defer statingly beautiful. The story is
:11:37. > :11:47.intriguey. -- intriguing. It's not just about ticking boxes. To win
:11:47. > :11:52.
:11:52. > :11:58.that coveted medal you've just got to have that certain Jen say queue.
:11:58. > :12:03.-- certain special detail. The RHS have short listed ten plants
:12:03. > :12:07.to celebrate each of the ten decades of the show. All these plants have
:12:07. > :12:11.been awarded the status of Plant of the Decade by the RHS. One of these
:12:11. > :12:16.plants will win the grand title of plant Plant of the Centenary. That
:12:16. > :12:21.result will be decided by your vote later in the week. To help you
:12:21. > :12:24.decide every day this week Roy Lancaster will reveal these plants
:12:24. > :12:34.one decade at a time and explaining why each is considered worthy of
:12:34. > :12:40.
:12:40. > :12:44.such a title. Today he's reached the Without doubt, the highlight of the
:12:44. > :12:50.1939 Chelsea Flower Show was a dazzling display of lupins, staged
:12:50. > :12:54.by the nursery firm of Bakers near Wolverhampton. No ordinary lupins
:12:54. > :12:59.these, they were the result of a quarter of a searchery of breeding
:12:59. > :13:04.and select -- century of breeding and selecting by George Russell on
:13:04. > :13:12.his allotments near York. When it's about his technique, he famously
:13:12. > :13:17.gave credit to the bumble bees, the lupins natural pollinators.
:13:17. > :13:24.The Russell lupins set the standard with the long straight spikes well
:13:24. > :13:30.filled with flowers and a wide range of colours and bi colours. They
:13:30. > :13:33.received wordwide acclaim. -- worldwide acclaim.
:13:33. > :13:37.Roy will be back later with another Plant of the Decade. Within of the
:13:37. > :13:41.things I love about Chelsea is discovering kin dread spirits who
:13:41. > :13:44.share a love of gardening, like Linford Christie who joins us this
:13:44. > :13:48.afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome to the show. Thank you.Delighted
:13:48. > :13:52.you're here. You're a big fan of Chelsea. You've been how many times?
:13:53. > :13:58.I've lost count. I was a regular every year I was here. What is it
:13:58. > :14:02.about Chelsea thaw love so much? It's just, you meet all sorts of
:14:02. > :14:09.nice people, like yourself of course, and get gardening ideas,
:14:09. > :14:14.inspiration. Normally when I come I get a new garden I want to do
:14:14. > :14:19.something to. I believe you have a new garden, haven't you? Indeed.Not
:14:19. > :14:22.too large, what are your plans? That's why I'm here, to get some
:14:23. > :14:28.inspiration. There's nothing there at the moment. It's a blank canvas,
:14:28. > :14:32.which is always great. I've started dotting a few camellias around the
:14:32. > :14:38.place. I'm just trying to get some sort of inspiration of something I
:14:38. > :14:43.can do to make it useable and me wanting to go out there all year
:14:43. > :14:48.round. How long have you had a passion for gardening, was it
:14:48. > :14:52.childhood? My father, when I came here, he grew tomatoes and sweet
:14:52. > :14:59.corn and everything else. My job was to take the caterpillars off the
:14:59. > :15:05.tomato plants, so that put me off! I'm not surprised. I don't touch it
:15:05. > :15:09.any more. I go for things, you know bushes and shrubs and things and
:15:09. > :15:16.flowers that are low maintenance. you like designing a garden from
:15:16. > :15:20.scratch and getting really hands-on? Always. That's the best way. It's a
:15:20. > :15:24.bit like athletics. It takes a long time, but the end result is always
:15:24. > :15:29.good. I like to start with scratch. If I move on, then just to know I've
:15:29. > :15:33.done something here that will last for many, many years to come.
:15:33. > :15:39.with your gardening going for gold. Always! Thank you very much. You can
:15:39. > :15:44.see more of Linford Christie tonight on BBC Two at 8pm when he talks more
:15:44. > :15:48.about his passion for gardening. He will let us tag along as he takes a
:15:48. > :15:53.tour around the show ground for plant inspiration. Every year the
:15:53. > :15:56.RHS in conjunction with the British Floristry Association host the
:15:56. > :16:01.Chelsea Young Florist of the Year competition. This is a fiercely
:16:01. > :16:05.fought fight. Whilst everything in the garden might look rosy there's a
:16:05. > :16:10.rivalry for the title. Rachel de Thame is in the Great Pavilion
:16:10. > :16:17.meeting the fraying yant 16 to 25-year-olds determined to win the
:16:17. > :16:21.crown. But there can only be one winner.
:16:21. > :16:26.Earlier in the week, it was wonderful to see the sheer
:16:26. > :16:33.enthusiasm that these young florists showed as they put together their
:16:33. > :16:37.displays. Joe Massie is the man to beat. He's won for four years
:16:37. > :16:41.running. Now at 25, this is the last year he's young enough to enter the
:16:41. > :16:44.competition. I think there's a little more pressure. At the end of
:16:44. > :16:49.the day, it comes down to just the piece of work we have to make. A
:16:49. > :16:52.little bit more pressure, but fingers crossed. I'm dying to know
:16:52. > :16:58.about the brief for this competition, who can tell me about
:16:58. > :17:02.it? Basically, it's to celebrate the 100 years of Chelsea. We have to
:17:02. > :17:06.create a never-ending circle. It's to be inspired by someone or
:17:06. > :17:09.something associated with Chelsea. My inspiration came from my own
:17:09. > :17:14.personal experience of the Chelsea Flower Show last year, where I won
:17:14. > :17:20.my first medal. Then ip thought about all the other exhibitors who
:17:20. > :17:24.had won over the past 100 years. My colours, I concentrated on the
:17:24. > :17:31.bronze, silver, Silver-Gilt, gold. Are you hopeful for a medal this
:17:31. > :17:35.year? Fingers crossed.There are exquisite entries. What do you think
:17:35. > :17:38.of the standard? It's incredibly high this year. The judges have had
:17:38. > :17:43.their work cut out for them. There are five gold medals awarded this
:17:43. > :17:46.year. Picking the actual Young Florist of the Year from those five
:17:46. > :17:50.is going to be a real challenge. Come on, Dennis, you must know. Are
:17:50. > :17:56.we having a surprise this year? I think we could be in for a surprise,
:17:56. > :18:01.but you know, I can't tell you. Let's wait and find out.
:18:01. > :18:05.Now, it's the moment we've all been waiting for. You've all done
:18:05. > :18:11.incredibly well in making it to the 100th Chelsea Flower Show final.
:18:11. > :18:20.Although it's only the fifth year for the competition, it's a
:18:20. > :18:30.fantastic occasion to be here. The RHS young Chelsea florist of 2013
:18:30. > :18:31.
:18:31. > :18:41.is... Paula Mcclegan from something is... Paula Mcclegan from something
:18:41. > :18:49.
:18:49. > :18:55.special flowers. Shock. I don't know what to say.
:18:55. > :19:01.Speechless? Absolutely.You worked so hard for this, I know. Very, very
:19:01. > :19:04.many congratulations. Thank you. Thank you so much.
:19:04. > :19:08.The medals and awards keep on coming. This year, there are 19
:19:08. > :19:12.small gardens vying for the attention of the judges. Now some
:19:12. > :19:17.might say these compact spaces are far trickier to design, but they are
:19:17. > :19:21.packed to bursting with detail and there's no end to the designer's
:19:21. > :19:25.ingenuity for using the space. Toby Buckland has been taking a closer
:19:25. > :19:32.look at winners. This year the small gardens are
:19:32. > :19:38.split into two distinct categories, first, the fresh gardens- outlandish
:19:38. > :19:44.and creative by design. Six out of the 11 gardens in the category
:19:44. > :19:47.secured big gold ticks from the judges. The nine billion
:19:47. > :19:55.conversation asked visitors to contemplate life in our future with
:19:55. > :20:03.an ever growing population. They won gold. The The Mindfulness Garden was
:20:03. > :20:10.about providing space for peace and quiet. The sensory bombardment
:20:10. > :20:16.captured the judges' it tension and took gold.
:20:16. > :20:23.The BrandAlley Garden got a gold stamp of approval. This was a big
:20:23. > :20:27.risk with their social media, interactive garden when panels move
:20:27. > :20:32.from the garden increases, their message of an online world worked
:20:32. > :20:37.because the garden has gone global with gold. The First Touch Garden
:20:37. > :20:40.was inspired by the neonatal unit at St George's Hospital London. It's a
:20:40. > :20:47.reminder that we all start from small beginnings. But it was a big
:20:47. > :20:53.finish for the garden. The last gold in the fresh garden
:20:54. > :20:58.category Wednesday to the After the Fire Garden. He's also scooped best
:20:58. > :21:02.in the category. You must be delighted. Very delighted, very
:21:02. > :21:08.tired and very relieved. I love this garden. It's one of my favourites.
:21:08. > :21:11.Thank you very much. Why do you think the judges loved it too?
:21:11. > :21:14.studied this planting for four years, watching after the fire how
:21:14. > :21:19.it regenerates. We wanted to translate that into hope for people
:21:19. > :21:23.who are dealing with cancer, dealing with coming back from chemotherapy
:21:23. > :21:26.and translate that so they can see nature's amazing ability to come
:21:26. > :21:30.back. Very beautiful. Congratulations. Thank you very
:21:31. > :21:36.much. Four artisan gardens won gold this
:21:36. > :21:42.year. The free hills garden for Wateraid wanted to highlight the
:21:42. > :21:51.transformation clean water makes to lives in India. The planting, a riot
:21:51. > :21:54.of colour. It was gold for the brothers Harry and David Rich on Un
:21:54. > :22:04.Garreg garden. This is only the second show garden they've ever
:22:04. > :22:04.
:22:04. > :22:12.designed. The motor neurone disease garden spun gold too. The award for
:22:12. > :22:17.theed best garden in the category went to the Alcove garden, based
:22:17. > :22:23.around a Japanese teahouse. In terms of the planting and hard landscape
:22:23. > :22:27.detail, well it's as good as it gets.
:22:27. > :22:31.There have been 62 gold medals won in total, but one of the gold
:22:31. > :22:38.winning exhibitors went on to scoop the Diamond Jubilee Award. It's
:22:38. > :22:47.given to the exhibit that the RHS judges deem to be the salute best in
:22:47. > :22:54.the Great Pavilion. It was won by Peter for his alliums and amaryllis.
:22:54. > :22:58.I'm very happy. I'm sure you must be thrilled to bits. It's so richly
:22:59. > :23:03.deserved, everybody thinks so. How long has the nursery been going?
:23:03. > :23:13.It's about 105 years old now. have you been exhibiting at Chelsea?
:23:13. > :23:15.
:23:15. > :23:21.This is my 25th year on Chelsea. a centenary and deebl. Exactly.
:23:21. > :23:27.Blooms come over from Holland? selected this from about a few
:23:27. > :23:33.thousand flowers. I bring up here maybe 1500 to 1700 flowers. Half of
:23:33. > :23:37.it is here on the show. The other half I send back to Holland.
:23:37. > :23:42.rejected? You have the very boasts of the best. Absolutely.Perfection.
:23:42. > :23:49.These alliums are just, they're wonderful. They're almost jee
:23:49. > :23:53.mettic. -- jee metric. This idea, when did it come to you? It started
:23:53. > :23:58.two years ago. I wanted to do something really special for my 25th
:23:58. > :24:02.anniversary. I was thinking we would do this now, it's too complicated,
:24:02. > :24:06.do that now. You hit on the best idea, surely. And the most
:24:06. > :24:08.complicated for me, to build it up. Yes, but it was worth every second
:24:08. > :24:14.of it. Thank you so much and congratulations. Thank you very
:24:14. > :24:18.much. Tuesday at Chelsea is so exciting
:24:18. > :24:23.and the medals and awards keep on coming. But not all the results are
:24:24. > :24:27.down to the RHS judges. This year, you get to decide the winner of the
:24:27. > :24:33.plant Plant of the Centenary. There's a short list of ten, one for
:24:33. > :24:39.each decade of Chelsea. Every day Roy Lancaster is explaining why each
:24:39. > :24:49.is worthy of the title. Now he's reached the decade beginning 194 p.
:24:49. > :24:53.-- 1943. When rhododendron was first shown by
:24:53. > :24:57.the RHS gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1947, it earned for
:24:57. > :25:04.itself a FCC, first class certificate from the judges and was
:25:04. > :25:09.acclaimed by visitors. Its native in the wild in Japan. It's subject to
:25:09. > :25:16.strong winds and rain. Ideally suited to the British climate you
:25:16. > :25:21.might say, and so it proved. Its small, compact shape made it ideal
:25:21. > :25:26.for the small garden. Its foliage in spring, when the young growth
:25:26. > :25:33.appears like silver furry candles. Flowers are pink in bud opening to
:25:33. > :25:37.pure white. There are hundreds of hybrids. They come in all shapes and
:25:37. > :25:46.sizes and colours of flowers, hardy, tough plants for the garden. As long
:25:46. > :25:50.as you have lime-free, moist but well drained conditions. Roy is back
:25:50. > :25:53.tomorrow lunch time with two more contenders for the plant of the
:25:53. > :25:58.centenary title. For more information about the plants and how
:25:58. > :26:02.to vote, go to our website and follow the link to the RHS. Out of
:26:02. > :26:06.the 15 show gardens entered this year, there were ten Gold Medal
:26:06. > :26:12.winners in total. Only one can go on to win Chelsea's Best in Show award.
:26:12. > :26:17.This is a show garden that the RHS judges have decided is the salute
:26:17. > :26:22.pinnacle of design and horticulture. We can exclusively reveal that the
:26:22. > :26:29.winner of the Chelsea centenary Best in Show garden 2013 has been awarded
:26:29. > :26:38.to the Australian nurses Flemings and designer Philip Johnson and I
:26:38. > :26:44.was there when they received the news. Good to see you both.
:26:44. > :26:49.CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Boys, congratulations. I don't think
:26:49. > :26:52.you cheered enough then, did you (! ) You're so restrained. Lighten up.
:26:52. > :26:58.I think the whole show garden must have heard you. I think everyone
:26:58. > :27:02.heard us. Right down Main Avenue they heard us. Congratulations.
:27:02. > :27:12.reason for the excitement is how you handle given us the Gold Medal. You
:27:12. > :27:14.
:27:14. > :27:19.stage managed it beautifully. You stuck -- snubbing up on it. We were
:27:19. > :27:24.naught naughty. You've been coming here since 2004, your ninth time.
:27:24. > :27:33.What took so long to win Best in Show? I'm not quite to your level.
:27:33. > :27:37.It took me longer than you. We Bring a different designer every year.
:27:37. > :27:45.This guy has won Best in Show in his first attempt. You are a fantastic
:27:45. > :27:50.team. Absolutely, we've moved around the corner from each other too.
:27:50. > :27:53.heard a rumour this could be your last time at Chelsea? It's something
:27:53. > :28:01.that we've been planning for the last 18 months that this would be
:28:01. > :28:03.our swan song. We've done it for nine years, which is two more than I
:28:03. > :28:06.wanted originally. We've achieved what we needed. To get a Best in
:28:06. > :28:10.Show was icing on the cake. It's time to focus our work back in
:28:10. > :28:13.Australia and really trying to take horticulture to the next level and
:28:13. > :28:18.get involved politically. That's where our focus will be in the
:28:18. > :28:22.future. You'll be back! Have a future. You'll be back! Have a
:28:22. > :28:27.fantastic week. I've come up with a new design. Congratulations. Thank
:28:27. > :28:30.you very much. What an exciting morning we've had here at Chelsea
:28:31. > :28:35.Flower Show. Alan and Joe will be back tonight at 8pm on BBC Two
:28:35. > :28:39.looking at more detail at the Gold Medal winning exhibits and the ones