I wanted to add a couple items to the discussion about Flower Shows:

First — According to the RHS, the Great Pavilion at this years International Chelsea Flower Show is over subscribed and will be bursting at the seams.

The Great Pavilion is the center piece of the show and applications to exhibit in it have ‘soared’ this year.

Alex Baulkwill, manager of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show said: “Interest in the Great Pavilion for 2009 has been phenomenal and we have received more applications from plantsmen, florists and nurseries wanting to create displays than we have room for. It is going to be bursting at the seams!”

Despite recently losing Notcutts from its famous exhibitor list, the RHS has says it has noticed a greater demand for the larger displays for this year.

Clearly this flower show is not experiencing a decline due to the economy…even in a country that is arguably harder hit by current economic issues than the US. 

Second–  Alexander Reford of Reford Gardens the site of the Metis Garden Festival emailed me regarding our flower show discussions.  He wanted to mention the book that they made about the show and the gardens in 2007.  It is called Hybrids: Reshaping the Contemporary Garden in Metis and is available here.