RHS Chelsea 2023

This is the write up of our experience exhibiting at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023.

The hardest part of doing a write up about such a huge event is where to start! Do we start on Saturday when we arrived in London? Do we start back in November when we signed the contract? Or do we start all the way back in July 2022 at the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show?…

RHS Tatton – The Starting Point.

As a society, we have exhibited at RHS Tatton since it was started in 1999, 22 years (not including 2020 Covid cancellation), in that time we have won 6 Silver, 3 Silver – Gilt and 12 Gold Medals plus 2 Best Exhibit in the Societies Marquee awards.
For most of that time we were exhibiting inside the Plant Societies Marquee, a unique feature of RHS Tatton, but largely forgotten about at the back of the showground. Several rebrands including ‘The Plant Hub’, failed to increase footfall into our marquee and it was eventually scrapped.

In 2022 we were moved, along with the few remaining societies into the grand Floral Marquee! We found ourselves playing amongst the big guys, no pressure there!

There was nothing unusual about our Tatton display this year, it was very similar to 2019, with a new combination of trees and slight variation to the Tokonoma. It was the hottest and driest summer on record here in Cheshire, and the Tatton build up weekend was the hottest weekend of the hottest year! But we survived, we baked and boiled, sweated and toiled until the display was finished.

The display was judged on Tuesday afternoon as normal, but it was on the Wednesday that this surreal whirlwind started! We walked in to find a Gold medal on the stand, but with our collection of 12, that was hardly surprising. And then people started turning up, members of the press, members of the public, everyone complimenting the stand and taking photos. We could hardly keep up.

I (Matt, Membership Secretary (and Shows Coordinator)) was happily working on one of my trees, demonstrating to the public, when I was approached by someone bearing gifts! We had won the Coveted Best Exhibit in the Floral Marquee award!

What!? How!? I hear you ask! Well we asked exactly the same thing, and have done constantly since! Our success was even documented in the local papers . They took such a great photo of Frances (Treasurer), Gerald (Chairman) and Matt (Membership Secretary).

The judges feedback was great, as usual. Our good friend Jon Wheatley gave us our feedback, and struggled to pick many holes! Mostly things that we would have usually dealt with in a normal, less sweaty build up. We also had brilliant comments from the Bonsai judge John Trott from Mendip Bonsai.

It was while talking to the judges that the seeds were sown. Comments such as “This display would be at home at Chelsea” and “Better than most displays we’ve seen at Chelsea” really sowed those seeds deep and thoroughly watered them in.
I’m not saying it was my idea, but I was probably the first to say “Maybe we could do Chelsea”, I believe at the time, Frances’s response was a very diplomatic “Don’t be daft”.

The Decision!

Were we drunk? Maybe, drunk on success! It didn’t take long for the idea to set in, we discussed it throughout the week at Tatton, with key members and committee mostly on board with exploring options and practicalities.
Almost immediately after Tatton finished, applications for the 2023 show season opened, pressure was on and decisions needed to be made!

The actual decision to apply may, or may not have been taken by myself and Gerald over coffee one cold rainy Tuesday. There were plenty of options to cancel it and withdraw, and it was months away, so what’s the harm of getting it in? The application went in on the 27th August 2022.

Approval!

We kind of forgot about it, assuming there’s no way they’d accept us for Chelsea, and Tatton needs much less planning, so is always left until May / June to sort out anyway. But on 4th November 2022 it arrived! I like to picture it as a full sized yellow pages phone book thumping on the door mat… but in your emails. The RHS don’t particularly do embellishments with their contacts, but something so all consuming may have been delivered a bit less to the point…

As well as the contract, we had this picture attached. A picture we would become all too familiar with over the next few months! Panic and chaos ensued! Van options had to be explored, accommodation, trains, food, materials et al. The membership was informed of our insane idea during the November meeting, and they were all in favour of giving it a go.

Man Down. The Chairman

Is Chelsea cursed? It is certainly something I have pondered a few times. If not the show itself, then it could just be our attempts to get there!
Many discussions had been had, decisions taken that needed to be taken, dozens of emails sent out in the search for a sponsor, hours of phone calls, you name it. It was another one of those cold Tuesday mornings sat with Gerald over coffee when, with Frances on the phone, we booked the accommodation. A rather unexciting flat near Brixton that we booked through AirBnB, for the equivalent of £60 per room per night it was a bargain!

This was the cold week of December 2022, there was snow on the ground, and it was minus – wear many layers – degrees Celsius. As much as I enjoy sitting drinking coffee with Gerald, this wasn’t productive in the traditional sense of the word, so we arranged with Frances to go and cut down a small (non – bonsai) tree that had been condemned in her garden. This was quite possibly my biggest mistake to date, and one myself and Frances have felt guilty about ever since and probably always will.

Now I’m sure that Gerald won’t mind me revealing that he was 70 at the time, but he was 70 at the time. And a valuable life lesson, is that you shouldn’t encourage 70 year olds, however healthy they appear, to go out into arctic conditions and cut down (non – bonsai) trees. It was at the end of the cutting down and clearing up the tree that Gerald suddenly came over quite unwell, feeling sick, lightheaded and just all round rough. We headed back to the coffee table and concluded that it was probably related to the cold and a recent change in medicine, mistake number 2.

After nearly 3 days of feeling rough, Gerald finally got to see a Doctor, who sent him directly to A&E, he had had a heart attack.

Incidentally this was also the day I went and had a vasectomy, so was forbidden to drive for at least 24 hours, not helpful when your best friend has been rushed into A&E!

After many, many tests and what seemed like weeks (it wasn’t, as he was out before Christmas!), they concluded that he had suffered a severe heart attack and was “lucky to be alive”. With long term damage done to the heart wall and arteries, Gerald’s Chelsea career was finished! Almost.

The Invite

I said the Chelsea acceptance email landed like a phone book, well this one came through the door and landed like a gold plated, phone book. It was another chilly January when it arrived, a simple white envelope from The RHS. Inside, it said that on Monday 6th March there was to be an RHS Awards Ceremony and we were invited! We were invited because we had won the Holford Medal for our Tatton Display! We were also in the running for the Lawrence Medal.

Following the strict instructions for confidentiality, we discussed among the committee members who would go down to London to collect our award. I was selected as it was a great opportunity for essential Chelsea networking, and Frances was selected to thank her for her years of hard work as treasurer.

March Comes Quick

One thing of note about the run up to Chelsea, is that having such a big event on the horizon, time seems to miraculously fly by! Brilliant when you’re trying to get out of the cold, dark days of January and February, not so brilliant when you blink and March and April also disappear.
Anyway, I digress.
Not a lot happened in the time between receiving the letter and the 6th of March. Somewhere around 600,000 emails were sent and received, mostly relating to how The RHS had lost our Chelsea contract which we definitely submitted in November, but many in pursuit of a sponsor. Then it was time.

It was early in the morning on the 6th, when Ray (latterly known as the hero!) dropped myself and Frances off at Crewe train station.

After a nice and quick train journey down, a short hop on the tube and a lovely walk, we arrived at the RHS Halls. Upon walking in, you’re guided to the cloakroom, then handed some sparkling wine and left to mingle before lunch. We had some lovely conversations, spent a lot of time talking to a really nice lady from Scotland who was collecting her Master of Horticulture degree. Then we were directed towards our seats.

I don’t have many photos of the meal, but it was lovely! The wine was good too and went down a little too quickly! The company was also great, we were sat between Rupert Ely who is a judge and moderator that we’ve know for years, and former Royal correspondent Wesley Kerr, who I have known for years. There were orders of service cards on the table and they had written in them what each award was for.
Holford Medal: Awarded for the best exhibit of plants and / or flowers (including fruit and vegetables) staged during the year by an amateur or group of amateurs at one of the Society’s shows.
Lawrence Medal: Awarded annually for the best exhibit shown to the Society during the year.

Obviously we knew we were getting the Holford. It was announced and we went up to collect it, got a nice picture and went back to the table. We were so chuffed and excited about our lovely gold medal, but we still had to wait to see about the Lawrence.

After what seemed like forever, during which my bladder decided it desperately wanted to get rid of the wine, it was time to find out about the Lawrence. James Alexander – Sinclair was reading out the awards and made the three finalists (out of 6) present stand up. After a lengthy pause, much more suitable to Britain’s Got Talent, it was announced, the winner was The Cheshire Bonsai Society…
I looked at Frances, Frances looked at me and our faces lit up! We eventually calmed our brains and headed to the stage, during which a very loud round of applause drowned out the wonderful words being read out by James:

Cheshire Bonsai Society has been nominated for their exhibit of Bonsai Trees at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2022. Cheshire Bonsai in presenting their excellent feature at RHS Tatton Park demonstrated all that is best in creating a Society exhibit by planning, detailing and building an extremely high standard of exhibit. This included plants of excellent quality and range, with which they achieved great impact and finish.

The winner of the Lawrence Medal is Cheshire Bonsai Society, collected by Mr Matthew Wood and Frances Feldwick.

The degree of endeavour achieved by this group was considered exceptional. Well done and congratulations on the highest level of achievement in 2022

We stumbled back to our seats, shaking and beaming with joy! At the end of the awards, we were congratulated by many people, photographed by The RHS and sent on our way with our lovely gold medals in hand! We were the Best of the Best, and couldn’t win higher!

Landing Home With a Bump

After returning to the land of green fields, rolling countryside and (non-bonsai) trees it was time to come to terms with something that was becoming obvious: We weren’t getting a sponsor.
Now this isn’t through want of trying! Of the 600,000 emails sent, a good portion were to dozens of potential sponsors, everything from regional magazines and Bonsai related businesses, all the way up to huge Japanese based international pharmaceutical companies! Most ignored us, others nicely said no, one Bonsai related one was quite rude and said why are we wasting our time and money (who’s wasting time and money now!). We had one good lead that was going somewhere until an unexpected tax bill landed in their bank account instead.

Luckily we live in the days of technology, and despite my hatred of it, being a millennial I spend way too much time on the internet. I had been pondering the option of using crowdfunding for some weeks, but it was at the beginning of April we decided to give it a go. It wasn’t completely successful, but was a massive help in raising some funds! The total as of now has paid for 1/2 of the van hire taking the trees and staging to Chelsea! Did I say before that Chelsea was expensive?

It is still live if you wish to donate! There’s still expenses coming in that need paying, so every little bit helps! Click Here.

Toko-No Go!

If you’re familiar with our previous displays at RHS Tatton, you’d likely be familiar with our Tokonoma displays in the centre. A Tokonoma is effectively a Japanese alcove within which items of interest are displayed. On special occasions, and in households that own them, Bonsai can be brought into the house for a few days to create these wonderful displays.

We’ve used Toko for many years, and they are always pride of place at the centre of our display. But storing these rather delicate MDF boards for 50 weeks of the year is no easy task! As part of our preparations, we had to dig them out of storage and give them a lick of paint, but disaster! They had not weathered well! A high level of humidity and a non-flat storage position had left them warped and twisted.

We had also been informed that unlike at Tatton, the RHS would not be providing us with a solid wooden backdrop. A solid wooden backdrop that the Tokonoma frames are usually attached to.

No backdrop + Wobbly Toko walls = No Tokonoma!

Help was on the way! Frances is married to a wonderful man called Ray, who just happens to be an extremely capable woodworker! Ray devised a plan to make the Tokonoma frame stand without the backdrop, he rebuilt two of the walls and refurbished the others! We were back on track… Well, we were after buying an eye wateringly expensive piece of white (Ivory), fire retardant, blackout cloth to replace the RHS wall!

Another Man Down…Maybe?

You know how it goes, you’re plodding along, filling forms, organising vans, herding cats, when Bam! You hit an obstacle! And this obstacle had the potential to be completely derailing, both physically for the Chelsea adventure, and mentally for all of the committee. Our resident expert, key shows component and good friend Simon Jones had been given an urgent referral for potential Skin Cancers.

Nothing was known for certain, how long do we need to wait, what is the likely outcome, will it be surgery, will it be other treatments, will Simon be able to come to the show. All of these scenarios were circling around. After an emergency committee meeting with Si (and his wonderful wife and honorary society member, Tracey), we agreed to continue the project with a Plan A and a Plan B in place. This is when we roped in Colin Farrow and Ray Feldwick for the build up at the show.

The Mock – Up

As we usually do for Tatton, we arranged to do the mock up of the display just under a month before the show. This involves bringing together potential trees for the display, placing out the boxes and tables to represent the staging and seeing which ones look best where. We had already agreed to try to recreate Tatton 2022, so some of the work was done for us, but as Chelsea is in the spring and Tatton in the summer, there were seasonal changes to be made. Myself, Gerald, Simon, Liz, Frances were joined by Tom Armstrong – Mortlock, Robert Antonio and Phil Coombs.

This is a good opportunity to introduce a few more of our key members. Phil Coombs is our resident Bonsai trader, if you need pots, tools, wire, trees et al, Phil is the one to see. Robert Antonio is a long standing and much loved member of the society, he is very knowledgeable on Bonsai and has been growing them for decades. Bob supplies a large percentage of the trees we take to shows and is one of the most helpful people you could ask for at the meetings. Tom Armstrong – Mortlock is the newest member of the committee, joining to help handle the Chelsea work load, he has recently taken over handling the club show. Anyway, back to Chelsea!

FOBBS To The Rescue!

That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but probably not! FOBBS is the Federation Of British Bonsai Societies, and they’re great. Most Bonsai societies are members of FOBBS and they not only provide promotion of clubs, but also provide our much needed public liability insurance.

We approached FOBBS very early on in our search for a sponsor, and they were unfortunately unable to help due to their own commitments with Chelsea, which was perfectly fair and fine.

But after finding out that we were unable to get a corporate sponsor for Chelsea, Peter Fielding (FOBBS Chairman) and the rest of the FOBBS committee decided that they would give us a very healthy grant to help us get to Chelsea! A huge help, and we were proud to declare ourselves “Supported by FOBBS” at the show.

The Great British Paint Off!

The curse of Chelsea decided to strike again! We have always bought the same magnolia coloured, textured masonry paint from B&Q for the components of our display. The display poles, the pole tops, the front boards, the floors of the Tokonomas, the walls of the Tokonomas, all are painted in the same colour, all usually get a paint job before the show.

Guess which brand of paint was discontinued just before we needed it…

So after a lot of research, Frances found a viable alternative, purchased 70,000 litres of it, and begun the great British Paint Off! Fortunately Gerald is also a good painter and was able to muck in! (Told you his Chelsea career wasn’t completely over!). Frances’s niece Sylvie Maher did a fantastic job helping to paint the stand tops. Jenny Davies and her husband Martin also joined the colossal effort and after many hours, many coats, and a lot of plastic wrapping to protect it, we were ready.

The Load Up

T’was the night before Chelsea and all through the village, not a creature was stirring, except the Cheshire Bonsai Society Committee! And with some good news for a change! Simon had had his shifty potential skin cancers removed with minimal damage (they have since been diagnosed as severe skin damage, with the potential to become cancerous, but no concern yet), and was able to join us fully!

Loading the van was relatively easy, we had gathered most of the materials and trees in one place, the flat boards went down first, covered with Liz’s old carpet that had been saved for this purpose, then everything else on top, with the trees on last. We had to take EVERYTHING that we could possibly need, extra front boards, spare parts for the Tokonoma, an array of trims and edging materials, tools, paints, paint brushes, pins, you name it, we had it. After a flick of a strap, and a slap on the back of the van, we were ready.

#Bonsaiontour!

This part of the journey could have been like one of those T.V title sequences from the 90’s, we had members travelling down in the van, in a car and on a train! The van set off at 4am with Simon and Colin in, Frances and Ray drove down in the car at 5am, and I caught the train at 6am (with thanks to Carolyn for dropping me off at Crewe!). The plan was for me to arrive first, check that everything with the staging was correct, passes were ok etc, then the rest of them arrive around the same time and we begin.

And that’s how it worked! I got there first, staging was wrong and someone had dumped their rubbish on our stand (after so many Tatton’s, this is actually considered normal, and part of our planning process, typically it’s me and Gerald going to Tatton the day before build up to run this check!). A quick chat with Robin Selby whose team builds all of the staging at the shows, and we were being sorted out.

The van arrived, and was surprisingly able to park pretty close to where we were in the marquee. Chelsea is a very, very small showground, and everything is crammed in tightly. There was a high chance that the van would end up parked 10 minutes walk away and we’d have to carry everything bit by bit. But there we were, parked by the nearest marquee entrance. We got the van partially unloaded, we didn’t want to empty it completely, because once it’s empty, you have to remove it from site. We had nowhere off site to take it to, and it was being returned to Enterprise that afternoon. So there it sat until the traffic control guys decided we had to get it moved. At this point, myself and Simon went off on a jolly to take the van back to the depot in Hammersmith. Never been there before, probably wouldn’t voluntarily return.

The aim for Saturday was to attach the lovely white cloth backdrop and try to finish assembling the Tokonoma. We succeeded with the cloth and got about half way through the Tokonoma before we all decided that after the early start, we were ready to put our feet up and fall asleep. We all bundled into Ray’s car and headed off to our lovely flat in Brixton.

Day Two – Finishing The Job

We had two days to build the display. Just as we do at Tatton, but the pressure was on to get it right. On Sunday, Simon and Colin walked to the showground extra early to make a start while those of us who aren’t natural morning people got up at a more civil time and drove in.

Ray, Colin and Simon got on with the Tokonoma and woodwork, while myself and Frances picked over the trees, touched up paint, and started positioning the display poles.

It was a long old day, that needed lots of coffee and chocolate to get through, but at 7pm, we were ready to leave.

Monday – Press Day!

Monday morning is important for two things at Chelsea, the first is that this is when you are judged, the second, is that this is when the Caribbean garden displays have a Rum punch contest and you get to try them all! It also happens to be the day that all of the celebrities come in, the King visits and the Gala preview night happens. We saw lots of celebs, spoke to a few, but mostly enjoyed the atmosphere while James Wong filmed on our display! Shall we just roll the camera:

Tuesday – Medal Day

Tuesday morning, blessed Tuesday morning, when you arrive at the show and see what the fairies have left for you overnight.

It’s a flipping Gold! We only went and won a coveted RHS Chelsea Gold Medal! We were over the moon! Rachel was the first member on site and was very good keeping it quiet until the rest of us started to arrive.

After a while Jon Wheatley came and gave us our judges feedback “12 point gold, completely faultless, well done”! We were also complimented on our immaculate nomenclature (the correct way of spelling and displaying botanical plant names).

It actually means we’re allowed to use this now, I just have to work out how to incorporate it within the website while adhering to RHS rules!

Throughout the week at Chelsea they host evening charity galas on the show gardens, and on Tuesday it is by far the busiest night. So after watering the trees and moving the tiny ones out of reach (opportunistic thieves are rife at Chelsea!), myself and Frances decided to go for a wander and see what complimentary wine or champagne we could find. We ended up sitting with James Doran-Webb at his display, drinking our very, very nice ‘acquired’ red wine and eating his Cheese and Onion crisps! The height of luxury! It was a lovely evening, James is a wonderful person, with an interesting life, and a brilliant eye for detail! His sculptures are fantastic.

Wednesday – Important Visitor
On Wednesday we had an important visitor on site, Elizabeth Scott, who founded the society all the way back in 1987, which is actually 2 years before I was even born! Liz came down with her family to do her bit and talk to show visitors with the rest of us! As well as bask in the well deserved glory!

Wednesday was also the night of the “Exhibitor Drinkies” as it is known, when The RHS thanks the exhibitors from across the show by inviting them for a few drinks and something to eat. At Tatton it’s a rather low key affair, which we can’t make the most of because we’re usually driving. But at Chelsea… we were given free fish and chips (usually £26 each!) and large, almost Langoustine sized shrimp, as well as endless wine and beer! It was lovely, except my severe intolerance / allergy of fish, forcing me to stick with wine and chips!

But Wednesday wasn’t all joy and celebration, in the morning we learnt that Gerald had been taken into hospital over night after a suspected second heart attack. He stayed in contact throughout the day and was eventually sent home later that evening with a slight change to his medication and a “Good luck”. It since has turned out to have fortunately been a false alarm.

The Rest of the Week

Thursday was the first public day, and unfortunately, it opens it up to less desirable types. One of the show gardens was hit with a rather unintelligent protest about climate change in which they targeted plants and flowers with orange paint powder.

On Friday we were re-joined by Simon and his wife Tracey. Tracey is a long suffering Bonsai wife, who has been invaluable throughout the years of exhibiting. From the early days, through Shrewsbury and Tatton, even managing once to put her foot through a display shortly before judging!

At the end of the day on Friday we went along to the Chelsea Late event. A musical concert around the bandstand, with food and drinks. We thought what better way to celebrate the end of the week than by having a few glasses of Pimm’s and a bite to eat. Well… after seeing the price of 1 glass of Pimm’s and lemonade we all nearly had heart attacks! £16.50 each! We ended up back at the flat with Sainsbury’s Pizza and Beer!

Throughout the week, the public expressed a huge level of interest in our display, they absolutely loved Bob’s Larch on the front left of the display and the Maples will always be a big hitter. Members fielded the usual array of questions, how old are they? how much are they? are they easy to look after? I had a Bonsai once but it died, what did I do wrong? etc.

Here are some more photos of our wonderful display.

Saturday – The End

Unlike most shows / events, Chelsea ends on Saturday, presumably this is to help with breakdown traffic. The show day went like any other, except for certain members running around at the beginning of the day putting their names down for plants on other displays ready for sell off. Yes it was me and yes I did acquire many plants.

At 4pm the Sell off bell rings and all chaos breaks out! People desperately grabbing bunches of half dead flowers, bits of display, turf, anything to say they’ve got a bit of Chelsea! We’re always on high alert during the sell off period at shows, as this is when smaller trees and plants are most likely to go missing. But our experience was after the show closed, when we were starting to dismantle the stand. Simon had placed one of his trees into its special transport box on our fold up table to keep it out of the way. It was only by chance that I heard a young woman say “Should we just take this one”, that I looked up and saw her prising it out of its box by the trunk, with the intention to take it! I shouted “Don’t Touch” at the top of my voice! Luckily there was no damage done as she more or less dropped it back down and just wandered off completely unapologetically.

The rest of the breakdown went really well, except poor Tracey being told she had to be in the van by 6, but not being allowed on site until gone 8! By which time we had the stand broken down, vermiculite bagged, everything gathered and moved to near the entrance of the marquee. When Tracey was eventually allowed on site, we got it loaded up in record time and then she and Simon headed back home to Cheshire. For security reasons we were not leaving the trees anywhere near London! Myself, Frances and Ray headed back to the flat to enjoy one last night in it’s rather comfy beds. Tracey and Simon arrived home around 1am, unloaded and watered the trees and were in bed by 2.30!

We headed home on Sunday, arriving at Si’s to drop off their cases, collect a few bits of ours that had come up in the van and then Frances (whose Birthday it was!) and Ray dropped me off at home before they finally made it back to theirs. Over the next few days, members collected their trees, Simon took the staging back to Gerald’s garage and all started to settle down. I’m still working my way through the post Chelsea paperwork, contacting the press and preparing for Tatton, but we’ll get there. The first of the press coverage has come out already! Click Here.

The Conclusion – And Thanks

Our decision to exhibit at RHS Chelsea was a brave, challenging and completely crazy decision to make. It took a lot of work from everyone involved, and was only a success because of the strong friendships and bonds the committee has formed over the decades. We’ve all said never again, but I believe it true that if we went back in time knowing what we know now, we would definitely make the same decision again. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for committee, members and the Society.

I have done a lot of the ground work and coordinating for this project, but I can not thank everyone else involved enough! In particular Frances Feldwick. Frances (Our Treasurer) has been the absolute rock on which this project has been built, her stalwart, can-do attitude, her commitment in both time and financial donations and the fact she’s a utter joy to be around, was the only reason this project wasn’t abandoned back in December. Frances and I spent the entire week at the show, 7am leaving the flat, all day at the show (8am-8pm) and returning home 9-10pm, hard enough for a 34 year old like myself, but I am still (and probably always will be) in awe at Frances’ ability to keep going and keep smiling. Frances, you rock!

But Frances wasn’t the only person involved! It was truly a team effort! From Simon Jones, for his years of dedication, building up our display, putting trees on the stand, driving everything down et al. Colin Farrow, a long standing member who stepped up when called, helping with the build up, and manning the stand during the week. Ray Feldwick, France’s wonderful husband, who, despite not being a member himself, gave so much to this project. Tracey Jones, Simon’s wife who has given so much over the years, but helped organise vans and drove the trees home. Elizabeth Scott, founding member of the society, Liz’s decades of service for the society has brought us through plenty of lows. Liz is always there, always happy to help, always a good ear if you need to vent and a kind soul if you need guidance.

Gerald Sutton, Chairman, long suffering best friend. Gerald, Gerald, Gerald! He is another wonderful human being, even though his heart attack back in December rendered him almost physically useless for the Chelsea project, he has always been at the end of the phone to help mentally, and my god I’ve needed it! Since November last year, I have spent over 25 hours on the phone to Gerald, usually late at night while I’m trying to sort RHS forms or other issues. Then there’s plenty of hours sat face to face talking too. When necessary Gerald has this wonderful (sometimes frustrating when you just want to vent!) ability to try and see the other side, but he is also the first to accept when there is no other side and joins in with the venting. I owe a lot to Gerald for all of the years I’ve known him, but his calm, sensible, experienced mind has been the most useful asset in recent times! I’m also pretty certain the society owes him several hundred thousand in storage fees for taking up the entirety of his garage with our stands for near 20 years.

And then there’s all of the members who helped in other ways! Paul Smith, who came to the show Friday and Saturday and stayed late with us to breakdown and load up. Tom Armstrong – Mortlock, who put a couple of trees on the display and joined the committee to take some of the pressure off. Rachel Seville, Rachel has been a long standing member of the society for even longer than me (she was even Chair for a bit!), Rachel has some wonderful trees and a joyful personality, she stepped back up onto the committee to help with the workload, and even made it down to the show on Tuesday. John Jones, Dan Herbert and Dennis Baron -Moorhouse all came down to the show on Tuesday. Jenny Davies joined us on Wednesday and Thursday. Graham Sutton, Charles & Carole Chia joined us on Thursday and Friday.
An extra thanks goes out to Robert Antonio, a long standing member of the society, who couldn’t make it to the show, but sent 6 of his lovely, mature trees down, and has always fully supported our displays.

Not to mention, a huge thanks to our generous donors, Helen Campbell and Margaret & Colin Ellis.

And Finally
My final thanks has to go to my absolutely wonderful wife Maria (Susi) Wood. Who took a week off work and stayed at home with the kids, dogs, poultry, fish and 2 hours daily watering duties while I went off galivanting around London. If it wasn’t for Susi stepping up to make this possible, I wouldn’t have been able to come, and without me, Chelsea wouldn’t have happened. So we owe it all to Susi.

Thank You.