BLOOMIN' BRILLIANT
Kate Middleton’s Chelsea Flower Show garden – here is all you need to know
THE Duchess of Cambridge has proudly showed off her spectacular Chelsea Flower Show garden she designed specifically for the annual event.
Here is what you need to know about Kate Middleton's "Back to Nature" project.
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What's in Kate Middleton's garden?
The Duchess of Cambridge, 37, created a family-friendly classic garden, where children can toast marshmallows over an open fire and pick wild strawberries.
The woodland wilderness garden at Chelsea Flower Show aims to get people back to nature and highlight the benefits of the natural world on physical and mental wellbeing.
It features a swing seat, a rustic den and a campfire, with a centrepiece of a high platform treehouse.
Kate, who was at the site almost every day in the five days leading up to the opening of the event, appeared excited to show off the landscape.
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The space, which Kate hopes will inspire families "to get outside" and "enjoy nature", features a tree house, swing seat, waterfall, rustic den and a campfire as well as tree stumps, stepping stones and a hollow log for children to play on.
The mum-of-three co-created the landscape with architects Andrée Davies and Adam White and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
Kate's involvement with the 2019 RHS garden at the Chelsea Flower Show was first revealed earlier in the year.
Her garden's centrepiece is a high-platform tree house atop a chestnut trunk, clad in stag horn oak, hazel and larch cladding that draws inspiration from a bird or animal nest.
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According to Kensington Palace it is "filled with incredible edibles, plants for craft activities, forest scents and a diverse range of plants, shrubs and trees of different heights and textures".
Interaction with the natural environment will be encouraged through the garden's "multi-sensory" green and blue plant scheme.
Kate remembered the late Diana, Princess of Wales by including forget-me-nots, her favourite flowers.
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Who has visited it?
Kate got stuck in with young students - climbing into the tree house and grabbing a marshmallow on a stick to roast on the fire - as they visited on press day, Monday, May 20.
And she said her own kids - Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis - had loved exploring the garden.
Sweet snaps showed the young Cambridge kids scrambling over rocks and grinning on a swing as they made the most of the duchess' garden.
Mum-of-three Kate said: "The children played in a way I hadn’t imagined.
"They were throwing stones. I hadn’t actually thought that that was what they would be doing. They kicked their shoes off, and wanted to paddle in the stream, using it in a way that I hadn’t anticipated."
Speaking to teachers for the hour-long visit, she could be heard saying: "It's really important the kids start to understand nature, and care for it, so they can protect it as well.
"With Instagram everything is so visual. It's nice to sit and feel."
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The Queen, 93, also visited Kate's "Back to Nature" design.
Her Majesty was heard complimenting Kate on how tidy the garden looked., but royal correspondents revealed the Duchess was seen shoving stray leaves and twigs into her handbag before the Monarch's arrival.
Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra also arrived to see the gardens.
The Countess of Wessex, also in a floral outfit, eagerly clambered up into the treehouse in Kate's garden.
How long did Kate work on the garden?
On May 13, Kensington Palace released never before seen pictures of Kate Middleton tending to her garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.
The green-fingered royal can be seen getting her hands dirty as she works with landscapers Andrée Davies and Adam White on her Back to Nature plot.
Doing away with formal wear, the Duchess of Cambridge cut a casual figure in a Barbour jacket and jeans as she made the final preparations to the garden, a week before was unveiled to the public.
In a tweet accompanying the photos the palace wrote: “Over the past few months, The Duchess and landscape architects Davies White have visited plant nurseries, suppliers and specialist craftspeople who have been growing and building elements of the garden ready for #RHSChelsea.”
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How can I see it?
The colourful event opened to members of the Royal Horticultural Society on Tuesday, May 21, at 8am and members of the public on Thursday, May 23.
The show ends on Saturday, May 25, at 5.30pm – flowers are on sale from 4.00pm.
Tickets are available to buy from the .
Prices start at £42 for members and £45 for the public and proceeds from all ticket sales support the charitable work of the RHS.
You can try to get tickets on the day - the onsite box office opens Tuesday to Friday 7am-7.30pm, Saturday 7am-4.30pm.
If you want to enjoy the benefits of unlimited days out in the RHS gardens as well as early access and cheaper tickets to the annual show - you can , starting at £47.25 per year.
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When is the Chelsea Flower Show on TV?
The Chelsea Flower Show opens to the public on Tuesday, May 21, and will stay open until Saturday, May 25.
The event will be broadcast every day on BBC One and BBC Two.
Daytime viewers can enjoy coverage of the event on BBC One at 3.45pm every day from Monday, May 20 until Friday, May 25.
Here's when else you can catch it on the BBC:
- Tuesday 21 - 8pm-9pm, BBC Two
- Wednesday 22 - 7pm-8pm, BBC One
- Wednesday 22 - 8pm-9pm, BBC Two
- Thursday 23 - 8pm-9pm, BBC Two
- Friday 24 - 7.30pm-8pm, BBC One
- Friday 24 - 8.30pm-9.30pm, BBC Two
- Saturday 25 - 8pm-9pm, BBC Two
The show will also be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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