Episode 1 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Hello and welcome to the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea

Flower Show. An event supported by M Investments. After the

horticultural high of last year's Centenary celebrations, the most

famous flower show in the world is just a few hours away from opening

to kick off the next Chelsea Century. Tomorrow morning at 7:00am

the gates of the Royal Hospital grounds will swing open to reveal

the show gardens and floral exhibits to the world's press, stars of stage

and screen, VIPs and of course Her Majesty The Queen. But stay with us

for the next hour and you won't have to wait that long because tonight

we're bringing you an exclusive first look round and there's plenty

to look forward to... It is 100 years since the First World War

started so there will be gardens with that theme. And the celebration

of 50 years of written in bloom. And the big focus is on the young,

first-time designers. Including four of five under the age of 30. Hugo

Bugg, this is his garden, he is only 27. Yes, they are all very good

looking as well. Is this your first time at Chelsea? No, but I have been

a visitor over the years. time at Chelsea? No, but I have been

watching it all come together and seeing the hard work that goes into

these gardens. Right now the showground is a scene of organised

chaos as exhibitors make the most of the final hours to perfect their

chaos as exhibitors make the most of stands and gardens. That is why I am

not wearing shoes. The nation is going to see might beat. Out there

amongst them is Mr Alan Titchmarsh. This year he's celebrating his 50th

anniversary in horticulture and to celebrate he's only gone and

designed his own show garden. His last one was in 1985. It's called

From the Moors to the Sea and it's a celebration of flowers that also

marks the 50th anniversary of RHS Britain in Bloom. I am looking

forward to catching up with him tomorrow night. We have over 12

hours of coverage for you this week so you won't miss a single moment

and it starts right now so sit back and clear your diary for Chelsea

2014. In the next hour, we join Clematis supremo Raymond Evison at

his nursery Clematis supremo Raymond Evison at

future head of the family business. Do you know what it is called?

Rebecca. Chris Beardshaw's here to explain why your vote for Chelsea's

best garden is just as important as the RHS Judges. And Monty Don will

be joining us for a first look round and telling us what he's looking

forward to this week. This year there are 15 large show gardens

vying for our attention. This afternoon in the midst of the last

minute preparations Joe and I went to take a look at two nearing

completion. This is Adam Frost's garden, it is

called A Time To Reflect. He is a seasoned Chelsea Gardener and knows

what to do. He has started with this pavilion at the back. I love the way

the sides are open so you can see the woodland plans behind. As you

walk down the garden, you have two choices. For old men like me I have

a nice flat path with steps. But if I was a kid I would want to jump

across the water on those huge boulders. That is the concept behind

this garden. It is about getting families together in an outside

space. Adam was influenced by his father's love of gardening and

nature. He sees the garden as a place to chill out and get away from

it all and connect with nature. He has this Buttercup meadow which will

bring in a lot of wildlife. The upper story is created by these

horned beams which create a dappled shade beneath. Then we have the high

risk hovering over the plants and the lovely geranium mayflower which

works well with some of the yellow in here. And you cannot relax in a

garden unless you have somewhere to sit. But reflect on and on nature

and connecting with it, we have these beautiful oak seats. Pieces of

sculpture in their own right but incredibly tempting to sit on. They

are right up against it. They have not finished the garden yet. Adam is

planting away and they are finishing towards the back. Putting the turf

around the outside of the garden making it look proper for the

assessment. I have no doubt he will pull it through. He has lots of gold

medals at Chelsea and I would not be surprised if he got another one

here. I'm on Matthew Keightley's Hope on the Horizon garden. This is

Matthew's very first Chelsea garden. It is spectacular and also very

personal? It is a subject close to home and my younger brother is on

his fifth tour with the RAF in Afghanistan. It was his previous

tour that led me to come up with the concept. He was picking up injured

men and women of the Armed forces off the front line and bringing them

back to safety. It was a combination of that and in the media we hear

about the trauma and devastation at one end, and then the miracles at

the other end, if we are lucky. This is a journey of recovery. It is the

horned beams in the shape of the Military Cross. How does this

journey shape up? I have used ran it all the way through so that reflects

the soldiers' well-being. You have these lovely herbs, Rosemary and a

lovely smell vesture Mark there is a sensory undertone through the whole

planting. So when guys in wheelchairs use the guard they will

not miss out and they will pick up the fragrance. This is smoother

granites, so they are making their journey through? This is one of my

favourite bits of the garden. There is something pleasing about the hard

lines and the soft grasses in that space. Then you come to the section

you call Walking On Water? Soldiers on their recovery, they will

hopefully get to this point. So it is a miracle which is why I have put

the granite on top of the water. You have the box in the water and you

don't do that normally? It is another play on that idea which is

the fact that a lot of people think it is in possible for the guys to

recover and get to this point. Finally, you come onto this

sculpture area, Hope on the Horizon. It is stunning, your first garden.

How stressful has it been? There have been moments, a couple of

moments. In my case and situation, because it is the first, ignorance

has been bliss. It has been head down, focus and try to hit the

deadline, which we have. When it is over, this garden goes straight to a

Help For Heroes recovery centre? Absolutely, that is the best thing

about this project. Not only does it represent recovery, it will be used

in recovery. Good luck with it. Matthew might be a new kid on the

block but designer Paul Hervey-Brookes has become a regular

face here at Chelsea in the small garden category. This year he's

decided to super size his design and is here with his first large show

garden. The theme is Renaissance and it was inspired by his time working

in Italy. But can you create an Italian garden in Britain? We joined

Paul closer to home at Iford Manor in Wiltshire, a triumphant example

of an Italian garden created by Edwardian gardener Harold Peto.

Whenever you make a garden at Chelsea, it is nerve wracking. What

worries me is whether people stand and look at it and feel they stood

in Italy and not in London. I hope it will come together on the day.

When I first left university, I went and worked in a garden in is leak

which is one of the few complete Renaissance gardens. So to be

inspired by the Renaissance garden and its period, is a personal dream

come true. Something I can draw on at a personal level. When you come

here, you can see exactly how Harold Peto, who was probably one of the

best Edwardian designers we had. He took the classic Italian garden and

made it sit harmoniously in the English landscape and made it

something that when you look at it you think, I would like to look at

that. I think the really clever thing about this garden, there is so

much attention to detail you take it almost for granted. It makes you

believe you could be in Italy. If you start here, there are the

sculptures. It is all in and that is crucial. A lot of these buildings

would have been lined with marble and you would have had a rough

surface. So it gives you the sense that is how you think it should be

and you don't question it has been built to give you that sensation.

When you move into the garden you can see the tall columns which are

typical of the Imperial Renaissance. It says, this is a wealthy person's

garden. It is about creating status. There is sculpture in this garden,

which to a modern eye is an odd size or in an odd place. But they would

keen to use sculptures that were smaller to make the space feel

larger. One of the things I really love about the whole Renaissance

idea is in the late Renaissance, connecting garden to the broader

landscape. Walking around I noticed these popular in the background and

they looked so right. You have the Imperial Colonnade in the stonework

and then you have the planted trees and further out you have the upright

popular and they connect the spaces together. The garden, the landscape,

united in that fashion is the late Renaissance period. In this part of

the garden, Harold Renaissance period. In this part of

clever. It is an illusion, you are made to feel it is tempting and you

are made to feel you want to go and see what the object in the distance

is. When you come to water -- towards it, to maintain the illusion

it is made difficult to get to. Each step is a different height and

width. We feel a bit unsafe so we stay where we are and that wake the

illusion is maintained and it still feels tempting and we still feel we

have experienced it. The one thing which unites all of the Renaissance

is the romance and beauty. That is the bit I want to take away and

unify my garden with. I think how I am going to do that is through the

planting principally. There will be graze, lilacs and soft pinks. We

will be combining the colours of the building, the beautiful soft

sandstone and the layers of paint which will be suggestive of ageing.

Burnt colours we identify with that period. Those two things together

with the volume of reflections coming off the water, should create

this hazy, romantic vision which hopefully, people will fall in love

with. Here we are with your creation, it's

incredibly formal. It does feel quite formal but it also has

references to progression into nature, and into a more flamboyant

style in the Imperial period. You have done quite a few small gardens

and you have stepped up a gear and gone for Main Avenue. How is that,

having to change your scale? It is interesting, they have different

challenges. These gardens let you tell a different story, they are

more generous. You can devote space. So this Paul is twice the size of a

French garden, slightly obscene, but it lets you create a sense that it

is somewhere else. It crawls the eye, lovely reflective quality and

draws your eye through 23 metres towards here, a fantastic colour.

One of these three villas is painted that colour and I think it's really

important, saying this garden is inspired by the Renaissance, so to

painted something that was more English would anglicised the garden

and you wouldn't get that sense that you had escaped the everyday life,

so that is a crucial colour to me and tells the story. And it

intensifies the Greens are rounded and when the sun shines like this,

it does transport you to Italy. I hope people get that sense as well.

The water is 60 centimetres. It looks very inviting on a day like

this! Are you going to have a dip? Maybe when the show has closed!

Congratulations. Paul's road to Chelsea has been helped

significantly by none other than our own Chris Beardshaw. He discovered

him, didn't you? You have been his mental. You must be proud. Proud to

see anybody's career progressing as a result of input from other people.

I was lucky to be involved in that process. A big step up, to go from

small gardens, which he has executed here before to a large garden on

Main Avenue. The mechanism you have to use, the thought processes, the

quantity of plant and the quality you have to deliver, it's a real

challenge for anybody. But we have all been through it. Here we are

with another Italian twist. This has been designed by Thomas doughboy

though. It is everything you would expect of an Italian garden,

influenced by the Italian Renaissance. It is a very masculine

garden, plenty of sharp edges and geometry to it but the femininity of

the planting is breathtaking, soft blues and acid yellows and greens.

Lovely piece of work. It is all about what is left out rather than

what is included. I love the Greens, it is so elegant, we're not

even allowed stand on it! Viewers can get a much closer look at the

large gardens with your help. One of the things the judges do is pass

opinion on the gardens, but all viewers and visitors to the show can

not only get an insight via the red button, will be revealing five more

in detail and viewers will be able to vote on their favourite in the

RHS People's choice award. It is the coveted award, voted by gardeners,

for gardeners. And you won it last year! You can start pressing the red

button at midnight tonight. Chris and Ann-Marie Powell taking an in

depth look at the first gardens. There will be five to consider every

day and you'll get your chance to vote when the lines open at 12 noon

on Thursday. Of course Chelsea's not all about

the gardens. It's also home to the largest Marquee in the world. It's

called the Great Pavilion and if you take a look from above you will see

that it dwarfs the gardens and takes up two thirds of the show ground. It

completely dominates the show. In here you will find over 100

nurseries with growers and showers who have travelled form the far

corners of the globe to exhibit their horticultural excellence. And

amongst them, keeping a keen eye on all this year's floral treasures is

Carol Klein. Lovely to see you! What are you looking forward to this

year? The same thing as every year, but every year it is different. You

get astonished by the fact that all these exhibitors come year after

year and yet they managed to do something completely new. Is there

one exhibit you had to? I have two confess, it is herbaceous stuff, the

kind of stuff I used to show myself. We're not letting Carol out of this

Pavilion, all week she'll be bringing you news and views on the

most talked about exhibits, plants and flowers every day and right now

as the exhibitors hurry to get finished, she's taking a look at

some of the highlights. I have been waiting all year for this!

Look at this! I am surrounded by exotic flowers from all around the

world. Where else could I be put in the Great Pavilion?

What a magnificent show. This is the orchid display from Thailand, put on

by: It has taken 16 people five whole days to get to this stage.

They have been working 12 hour shifts. If that wasn't enough, when

they get chucked out, the have been taking work home to their hotel

rooms. The whole display is made up of two orchids. I think it is one of

the most exquisite sites you could possibly see, and it couldn't be

anywhere else except under this roof.

As we all know, it has been 100 years since the beginning of the

First World War. This is Birmingham City Council's wonderful exhibit to

commemorate that fact. It is about Birmingham's contribution to that

war, and here we are in the trenches. There are rats running

around. Over here, among this would come this plant imitates the mud,

pressed in between the beautiful wooden supports and over here, a

periscope, so you can see just what the enemy are up to. But I think

there is a dogfight going on! And I was right. The red Baron. And on

this side, a further contribution to the part that Birmingham play. The

train, the city of Birmingham brought into trips back to the city,

where they convalesce to. Despite is a British small loans, that firm

produced vast amounts of armament but also surprised the bicycles that

ran alongside the top of the trenches, communicating -- this

bike. The whole thing is just wonderful, and this planting is

perfection. Three cheers for Birmingham! Hip hip hooray!

How about this? Wall-to-wall colour. It is positively retina searing.

This is south-west in blue's celebration of 50 years of Britain

in Bloom. This is not made of parsley, I tell you what, it doesn't

look all that fierce either. Part of the message is all about

growing your own. And you could hardly have better advertisement for

doing just that from this magnificent display. -- found this

magnificent display. Where better to end and then on the

stand? Hillier is our HLT institution, they have been here

since the year dot, and the stand institution, they have been here

doesn't disappoint -- at Chelsea institution.

doesn't disappoint -- at Chelsea exuberance of this year's spring.

And nothing more gorgeous than this cornice Florida rainbow. It makes

the whole shrub look as though it is hung with Chinese lanterns. It, and

all these other glorious plants that adorn the stand, should ensure that

this is Hillier's 69th consecutive gold medal. The very best of luck to

them and I had everybody here gets the medals that they so richly

deserve. There are nurserymen and women who

have been exhibiting in here for years. You could say many have grown

up under this roof. Raymond Evison's been showing his Clematis since

England won the World Cup in 1966 and he scored his first gold in his

twenties. He's spent four decades breeding, introducing and

cultivating one of our nation's favourite climbers. But what are his

future plans for the Evison empire? Who in the family will grow up and

grow on his famous plants? highlights, getting my first Chelsea

gold-medal, that was tremendously exciting but I remember it because

we hadn't thought about turf or anything like that and I had to cut

the grass with scissors, they were so sore, my fingers. The last three

years at Chelsea, with the calamities creating an archway, that

has been rewarding because the public enjoyed walking through --

clematis. Certainly getting the 25th Chelsea Flower Show gold-medal was

very, very exciting, but the greatest company that was the

Guernsey Post decided to commemorate that event with six listed stamps.

That was very nice indeed, I'm on it to be honoured in that way.

My eldest two daughters live and work in England, my youngest works

here in Guernsey. My daughters were pretty insistent that they had

clematis named after them, I named one after my daughter Rebecca, she

had lots of freckles. But seven all eight years ago she said, please

dad, can I have are Rebecca? Nobody knows that I am freckles. I'm

thrilled today because Rebecca and my grandson Freddie are flying in

from Birmingham. I constantly get e-mails from Freddie, telling me

about his gardening and what he does, his love of plants. Recently

he has said, grandad, I want to take over your business when I am older.

So we are all waiting anxiously to see what he thinks of our clematis!

There's lots of different coloured clematis here, blue ones, nice red

one. Did you know what it is called? Rebecca. You are so clever!

So Freddie, you decided that you would like to cross this flower with

that flower, can you tell me why you chose them? I like red, it's my

favourite colour and white is nice and bright so I thought that might

be creative. I think that's very good. Sure I show you how we do

this? Definitely. First, we take a blood like this one, I have to take

off all of this, and the committees don't have petals. -- clematis. So I

take all these off, we're going to take the anthers off as well and

then get down to the centre in a moment. When we get to that, we will

stop cutting the anthers off. I want to then bring some pollen from the

red one. You can see the pollen blowing

around now. I transfer it onto the earth. So if we have got it right it

will help to create a new calamitous. We have to make sure we

don't get any pollen from another clematis flour onto it. So what we

do is we put a bag over the top. The white one you have chosen, those are

the parents of the new one. Then we have to wait and fingers crossed we

will have another new calamitous. Do you think that white and red makes

pink? I don't know, I think it is a good idea. It is a good guess. I

think we can see if it makes a pink one. It has been a great thrill to

have Rebecca and Freddie visit the nursery. Very observant young man.

He has marvellous taste and good judgements, I think. It is very,

very special to have somebody like Freddie who has the interest and

keenness that will keep horticultural alive for the Evisons,

I think. Freddie, your first time ever at Chelsea, is it exciting?

Really exciting. Did you have special permission to come in here?

Special, special permission from my grandad. What do you think of the

exhibit? It is very good. This year you have gone for clematis that will

grow in pots? Yes, people have small gardens and alchemy is so all the

clematis we are showing this year can be shown in pots. Freddie, do

you have a favourite? Ice blue. That must be a loo one? It is white with

a bit of blue on. Now you know how these are bread? Yes, he did some

breeding work in Guernsey. He chose exactly the best ones. I saw you

trying to breed a red one with a white one. Where you trying to get

some Arsenal colours? I wanted a think colour. It is like painting

with flowers. Do you want to be involved in the family business

with flowers. Do you want to be you are older? Yes, I do. He is a

great gardener already. He has vegetables and potatoes and a conker

tree. So it is not just clematis he is obsessed with. Are you proud of

your grandad? Really proud. That might be something in the future you

might do, because you do get a prize as part of the competition as well.

It must be someone -- thrilled someone in the family is keen? He is

so professional at this gardening work already. It is a great thrill.

Good luck. Freddie, lovely to meet you. Hope you have a great day at

Chelsea. I think we might be seeing more of

Freddie. We will be talking to plenty more of the specialist

growers in The Great Pavillion across the week starting tomorrow.

Andy Sturgeon and Nicki Chapman will be here with an extended show? Yes,

45 minutes long. Christine Walkden will be showing us her top ten

plants. And Rachel de Thame will be doing these recipe planting. She

will be picking all of the different combinations to make a fantastic

planting scheme. She is talking about a Mediterranean meze. I am

looking forward to that one. I will be visiting all of the gardens, and

we have invited familiar faces. There will be people you recognise

from stage and screen and we will be having them here and asking them

about their passion for gardening. We do have a feature called mum and

me. We have asked them to bring along their mother. We are kicking

off with Anna Maxwell Martin on Monday. Tuesday we have Julian

Clary. And then we have Darcey Bussell on Wednesday. And I have got

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock Holmes himself. You have six Chelsea

gold medals. Did your love of gardening come through your mother?

It did, when we were growing up, we were outside in the garden all of

the time and gardening was going on all around us. I picked up this

stuff without realising it at the time. It is amazing how it

influences you. We had a real 70s garden flat lawn and I was given a

little corner and I grew rhubarb and sweet peas. It is amazing how you

start isn't it, starting to look gardens through your parents? My

parents had to garden around me and my brother who were playing

football. We had a traditional border around the lawn with a lovely

lilac tree in the corner. But basically we trashed the garden.

Sorry, mum! But your love of plants did rub off on me. To give us a

flavour of what is to come, Sophie Raworth took a look around the show

with her mother, who happens to be a former florist and very keen

gardener. This garden is a bit like a

flashback to my childhood. It is like the garden you have had for 40

years. You have the wonderful geraniums? They are the herbaceous

geraniums and they come up every year. They are wonderful. These are

the ones I planted in my garden and I was on the phone to you the next

day because they were eaten by the slugs. All gone. Awful when that

happens. I really love tulips. They are my favourite cup flour. These, I

am not so keen on. You have got lots of those at home. I like the pure

form. White lilies, they remind me of being about ten and our

conservatory being full of lilies when you were a florist and doing

weddings and all kinds of things. You were a great help, getting you

to wire things. So, what I need is a climbing rose for the back of our

house which has got to go in a part because it is a terrorist. What

about that? No, you cannot have that. It is so strong it will bring

a tree down. Really? ! I want something beautiful and delicate.

City of York is beautiful. It is a repeat flower. It will grow in a

part on a terrace? Yes, keep it very well watered. You really have to do

that. This is my favourite Artisan garden. It is dutiful. You have lots

of these in your garden? That is your dad's departments, I am not

allowed to touch them. How about this? It has got to be one of my

favourite show garden 's. It is called Paradise Garden. It is

incredible the way he has done a lot of repeat planting. Absolutely

beautiful. What a wonderful place. The sound of the water, we could

stay here all day. Stay here all day and chat. All we need is a nice cup

of tea. Is your mum telling you what to do? She is, but I am ringing her

up for advice. I rang her last week because the snails ate my flowers.

She said Coffey grounds. Whether it will work or not, I don't know. As a

child you are surrounded by plants and gardens and cut flowers? It must

have been fantastic? My mother became a florist when I was six. We

spend our childhood with the table covered in flowers. As a teenager I

was dragged around London at the weekend 's having to water plants

she had delivered to offices. You say dragged. I was 14, is that what

you want to be doing on a Sunday morning. Do you have a garden? I

have a small, miniature garden. I live in London so it is small.

Occasionally I let my parents come and put it back. They proven? I

thought it was hacking. I hardly spoke to my mother for two days

after. But talking of small gardens, because every year at Chelsea there

is an opportunity for designers to showcase their skills in the small

garden category. These gardens may be half the size and half of the

budget of the larger designs, but they still make an impact. New

designers have also use them to launch their Chelsea careers and

make a name for themselves. We have been taking a look.

There are 17 small gardens at Chelsea this year. Ten fresh and

seven Artisan designs. The Artisan designs capture an idea using

recycled or natural materials and lots of plants. The standard has

never been higher. They are simply breathtaking this year.

Just look at this. Isn't it fabulous? You wouldn't believe this

was just a patch of grass a few weeks ago, and it tells a story. It

tells the tale of two potters who worked their kill them before the

Second World War then went after the conflict. They returned against the

odds to carry on parting. Symbolism everywhere. There is poetry, even

the planting is symbolism, sank when rates, the source. -- sanguine. This

is an unusual plant here at Chelsea. For me, this garden is more than

just smart and beautiful. It is also very moving.

Alistair Baldwin's Yorkshire garden celebrates two things. Magnificence

of the county from its windy moors and the chic of the Yorkshire

cities. It also pays much to the Tour de France, that starts off in

Leeds this year. -- pays homage. This is a garden that will be loved

by a middle-aged men who go This is a garden that will be loved

cycling at the weekends. It will also be enjoyed by people like me

who Lovecraft, also be enjoyed by people like me

cantilevered seat. So tricky to do well. I love this

cantilevered seat. So tricky to do detailing, you don't see it

cantilevered seat. So tricky to do everywhere, often it goes unnoticed

but here it is done really well. The Artisan gardens are six metres wide

and five metres deep, they are the full strips. Over the years, many of

them have been bonkers. That is because horticulture and solid

gardening isn't as important as creativity. What unites them is they

are at the cutting edge of garden design. Now this is the most high

maintenance of all the gardens here at Chelsea. It is designed by an

established, respected designer, she has won Best in show in the past.

The client is Gucci and the garden is a gruelling representation of

that up there, the Gucci floral scarf. These aren't planters with

flowers growing in soil, they vases with cut flowers stuffed inside and

every morning they have to be replaced and freshened up. The

majority of the plants are these. Usually seen in hanging baskets,

they have a sparkle and shimmer that any fashion designer would be proud

of. This garden or art installation was

created by a 28-year-old. She is the youngest female designer here ever.

It is clever because you sit on this bench and you look at this flat

screen TV that is filled with plants. They are not just ordinary

shrubs, they have been collected from the other side of the world by

modern day plant herders. They are people I really respect. What is so

interesting is that this is actually people I really respect. What is so

a portal onto the wild. This is another one of the fresh gardens. It

is designed by Olivia Kirk. Wonderful irises and

is designed by Olivia Kirk. thistles, gorgeous. It is a fresh

garden, you could pick it up and put it in your own

garden, you could pick it up and put work well. A lot of them are so

avant-garde and dangerously edgy that you would scare the

neighbours! Some people at Chelsea don't like the boundaries being

pushed that much. It is always designing, evolving, what may seem

wacky and crazy when you may seemed normal in a decade. You have the

full range, high design, you have people thinking outside the box, I

love the fresh garden category for that. We have given you a new title,

we accorded doctor but couldn't. I am called the doctor because I'm

here to answer questions. It is good people get in touch, to share their

questions, we have a huge part of ideas of how to use them. I always

think the gardens are made up of lots of little ingredients. Someone

has got a dry shade or a soggy garden or a slope to do, design

issue, I can show good ways of dealing with those things here at

the show. That's my role. What's great about these fresh gardens is

they go against this idea that if you have a small space, there isn't

much you can do with them. On the telly, they look like acreage but

they are only three metres! There are ideas on here that are so simple

to copy as long as you have the recipe to do that. You are the man

to talk to. If you do need the Doctor's help, or you may have I

Chelsea standard garden at home you would like to share with us, we do

want to hear from you, so do e-mail us.

Now every year celebrity florist Simon Lycett arrives like a

whirlwind at Chelsea to help the RHS with displays and live events. His

enthusiasm for arranging is infectious but for Simon floristry

is a serious business, with rich and famous clientele hanging off his

every petal. He's often still working the oasis past midnight and

lives in a secretive world with clients and budgets a closely

guarded secret. But for the first time ever, Simon has allowed the

Chelsea cameras in, to show us a world that even his clients rarely

see - the floral staging of a very special party.

We have a massive event on tonight, it is a very important client of the

natural history museum. We have flowers everywhere, we have not got

long. I will show you a few of our secrets. I can't tell you much about

our client, it is really secret, the whole thing. We have done amazing

events throughout the world for her, and this is a very special party for

her 75th birthday. It has been a week 's work for a team of half a

dozen of us to get this far. Bluebells are so stiff! I'm having

trouble making the stand-up! The theme for tonight is a celebration

of late spring, early summer, it's an abundance of flowers in soft

shades. It's a very dramatic setting, so we're trying to create

decorations that have a bit of contrast to them but also have some

drama, it's a huge space server thing we do need to have a lot of

impact. -- so everything we do. It is two o'clock so we have not long

now, the van will be here in an hour, we have trolleys of stuff

everywhere which need to be loaded. In addition to our wonderful blossom

trees, which will be 12 foot tall on the tables, and the base of these

little pots of lily of the valley that smell divine, you will be

wondering why we have boxes of dinosaurs, one of the tables is for

our client's grandchildren so we are going to tuck in dinosaurs.

If you do 2-macro this way, you will get four, the last can go in

cleaning up at an angle. -- leaning get four, the last can go in

up. We have got an hour to get this lot in so off we go.

We're just going to land the trees up on our plinths here. Making sure

they are protecting the ancient stonework. We will wait them on the

base. Then we will put some fabulous flowers on the front.

Sheets of the mosque of a multitude of sins. -- sheets of moss cover a

multitude of sins. Job is nearly done. We are getting there. We have

got to get there, because if we don't... !

I need to go directly under the dinosaur's head, perfect. Fabulous!

So we have got our table's position, tables all laid, candles are lit,

that's it, loads of shots of our fabulous, so no more filming! Cut!

Come on, who was that party for? Discretion is my watchword, I can't

tell you. But there are some you can tell us about. I did see Beckham's

wedding flowers, and the wedding reception of the Prince of Wales to

the Duchess of Cornwall. We saw how much work it took, that took you a

week. A week for seven or eight people, yes. Everything we do is

very labour intensive and a lot of it is in the planning for the

dynamic last 45 minute get in. Do you get nervous? We get an

adrenaline rush, you need to come down afterwards, having had your

performance moment! You have been doing this since you were a child.

Since I was seven, slightly precocious, but it was all I ever

wanted to do, I am lucky to do something I still love, 40 years

later. What does it mean to you, coming to Chelsea? The thing that

sparked it was going to my local flower show in Warwick, then being

in the 10th, the smell, foliage, flour, horticulturalists in a tent

takes me back, and it's about the Passion. There are people you meet

who are absolutely passionate about forestry. There will be people who

will have travelled across the world to see the best of Britain's florist

Ray and we are world leaders in that. If floristry is your chosen

bouquet we've made arrangements to deliver you a veritable feast of cut

flora this week. On Wednesday and Thursday we'll be finding out who's

won Young Florist and Florist of the Year and we haven't seen the last of

Simon either because tomorrow and Friday on BBC One he will be doing

live floristry for us and teaching some enthusiastic amateurs some

tricks of the trade. Can't wait. We have three shows

you tomorrow if you're worried about your next Chelsea fix. Joining me on

BBC Two every evening this week is a man who definitely knows his way

around a bunch of flowers and the garden. Lovely to see you. You have

done your leg in? I have! But I can get around, as long as I have a

stick. I've had a bit of a look already. Starting to see some

patterns building. You know that when you are a regular visitor to

any show, every year produces colours, themes, even in etiquette

feelings. I am picking up on them. colours, themes, even in etiquette

have had a good look colours, themes, even in etiquette

are some real formal ones, some informal ones, blues and purples.

These burgundy colours, purple, sometimes very subtle, sometimes

really strong. Also the Artisan Gardens, these show gardens are

spectacular but the Artisan Gardens, the fresh gardens, are so worth

looking at. Absolutely. And in recent years, they have often

produced the most interesting ideas. What I have noticed and you can't

help but admire, the Telegraph Garden, there is a level of

expertise that is just so much above anything you see. You are sticking

your neck out already! There are two or three that already sing out to

me. I am looking to pick a whole, will

me. I am looking to pick a whole, work? There are couple where the

plant quality just sings out. What has been wonderful, the last couple

of days, there has been nobody else but us on the Gardens, watching the

teams put them together, but us on the Gardens, watching the

and hard work that goes into them... It's a real team effort.

Some of them are really up against it and in this heat, you can feel

the pressure building. As the assessors go round, they are making

judgements so garden designers will have to have their gardens finished

and looking amazing before they come round. by one of the things I love

about working on this show is we get a chance to see them over a period

of time. Normal visitors just get a snapshot. Decisions are made but if

you get a chance to live with them and see them in different weather

and different times of day, most of them huge improve with acquaintance.

We get to go on them and get that mood and how it feels. Gorgeous

today, gorgeous tomorrow but the rest of the week? Lots of sunshine

this week. We can worry about that later. Today and tomorrow, I cannot

see Dion Dublin at. That is all we have got time for tonight. So far we

have only teased you with the delights to come. Nicki Chapman and

Andy Sturgeon will be back tomorrow looking at more Gardens and talking

to first-time Chelsea Gardener, Matthew Childs. We also will be

talking to an addict Cumberbatch. I will be on BBC Two at 8pm as the

Queen arrives to give her royal approval and meeting some of the new

designers. Start pressing your red button from midday tomorrow to find

Chris Beardshaw and Ann-Marie Powell looking at the new show gardens. You

need to watch everyday so you can decide which garden you will vote

for to win did BBC RHS People's choice award on Thursday. Send your

design problems, we need a short description and a picture. It is all

about design. Send your e-mails to: That is all from us at Chelsea for

the moment. We're back tomorrow, goodbye.

Rio de Janeiro, host to this year's World Cup.

But this paradise is also a city divided by class