Isabel Hardman

The stressful world of the Chelsea Flower Show

And the desperate sprint for hortological perfection

  • From Spectator Life
Isabel Hardman volunteering on a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show (Alamy)


The man in the Post Office was a bit bemused by the three enormous boxes I was trying to send from my home just outside Edinburgh down to London. He’d asked what the value of the packages was. In one sense, they were worthless, I explained. But I really needed to make sure they got to the Chelsea Flower Show on time because in another sense, they were worth their weight in gold. It didn’t help when I explained that the contents were in fact just dead leaves. 

The dehydration of the bog myrtle became a proxy for the way the team were feeling

These dead leaves have become a total obsession ever since I was offered a place as a volunteer on one of the show garden builds for this year’s Chelsea. Most people appreciate that the show has as much attention to detail, as much artifice and definitely the same kind of budget as a London fashion week catwalk show.

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Isabel Hardman
Written by
Isabel Hardman
Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.

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