RHS unveils new Chatsworth show

Inaugural event is a success, despite the wet, windy weather

The first-ever RHS Chatsworth Flower Show was judged a qualified success. The sell-out event welcomed 90,000 visitors to the grounds of the iconic stately home in Derbyshire.

Centrepiece was the Great Conservatory, an inflated 40m (131ft) wide and 14m (46ft) high, double-skin structure representing Joseph Paxton’s famous, but long-gone, glasshouse at Chatsworth.

Inside, a hanging hydroponic installation covered in tender plants, including orchids, formed a fitting focal point. Further local character came from well dressing floral sculptures, an historic custom of Derbyshire villages, where stones, shells, leaves and flower petals are pressed into clay tablets to create decorative mosaics.

The IQ Quarry Garden won the best show garden. Designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes, it depicted the lifecycle of a quarry from extraction to horticultural restoration.

The show wasn’t without its teething problems. Torrential rain and wind, gusting to 45mph, which toppled one of the 9m (30ft) Chusan palm trees outside the Great Conservatory, triggered the RHS to close the show at lunchtime on preview day. Further rain and waterlogged ground continued to cause problems. Gridlocked traffic on members’ day forced the RHS to extend show opening, while car parks opened earlier on public days.

“We didn’t hear the public grumbling about the problems. They were determined to have a good time and buy things,” said one of the show exhibitors.

Chatsworth House and the River Derwent created an impressive backdrop to the new show ‘Well dressing’ displays celebrated the new event

Strong wind toppled a huge Chusan palm outside the Great Conservatory

Alan Titchmarsh and Mary Berry braved the wet weather