Every May, in the Thames-side grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, they put up huge marquees for horticultural people to show off their displays in the Chelsea Flower Show. You have to be really good to win one of the Royal Horticultural Society’s coveted medals.
Chelsea: tented, regimented,
Growth by nature ornamented,
Petals, metals, water features, wood and stone;
Richly fruity, deeply rooty,
Oozing verdant floral beauty,
Novel cultivars and species, specially grown;
Multi-scented, well presented,
Highly bred or new-invented,
An injection of perfection by the Thames.
Oh, the sowing! Oh, the growing!
Oh, the feeding, watering, hoeing!
Oh, the craft and graft that’s gone into these gems!
Lots of terracotta pots
And inspiring garden plots,
Vernacular, spectacular and bold;
Sometimes seedy, never weedy,
But for medals always greedy:
Bronze, Silver, Silver-Gilt – and Chelsea Gold!
