Bonkersbon's Blog

im with you on this one bonkers, never been to the chelsea garden show but i have seen it on tv yrs ago, i dont watch it anymore as its all way beyond my gardening needs and price range.
it reminds me of those tv awards programmes , where they all like to pat themselves on the back and say well done. well done? its your job and your getting well paid for it.
well thats the end of my wee rant for today lol

Whilst i enjoy shows, and like to support them, i must say i do not agree with anyone removing sand from a beach.
A true show should be where people that have grown plants come to display their plants, be it flowers or veg. Companies that buy in what they display are not really the type of people that should be at the shows. In the classes that i have entered there is a condition that all produce be grown by the person showing - this should also apply to large companies, they should be disqualified if they have not grown themselves. In effect they are cheating and are not proffesionals at all, just big rich companies.
I also don't agree with huge outdoor displays bringing in loads of building materials, only to be knocked down after the show, what a waste. In the floral Marque (at least in the smaller shows that i enter) the staging can be reused for years - which is as it should be!

aye Mark the type of shows you go to we can all enjoy, everything is lovenly grown by local people.

Thanks for comments out in sun all day yesterday a few beers and a rant think I ll blame Spritz for starting me off.
A little OTT with my comments and will try not to write blogs late at night in future- that said do feel that this show not about gardeners and lost its sense of purpose.
On a more positive note could the site not develop its own gold siver and bronze awards based on our votes and likes. We could have goy garden of the year best makeover best town / best country garden best advice worst advice best rant the list is endless.Sure we could devise a list of categories and winners would get ' medals 'displayed on their home page for a year.Any thoughts?

You all make some good points about Chelsea - closest thing to something like that I've been to is Gardening Scotland but that seems to me to be on an altogether friendlier and more sustainable scale - and I get to see plant stalls from nurseries I would otherwise never have known about. It seems important that Scotland should have its own show.
I'll certainly watch Chelsea on TV - after all it's the creme de la creme and my wife and I like to argue about the gardens while agreeing on the plants but I have to say it is a million light years away from the gardening we do. I'm not even sure it serves as inspiration, whereas Gardening Scotland, local shows, the Royal Caley show at Edinburgh Botanics, and even Malvern on TV seem more in tune.
However, Chelsea is the catwalk and maybe it's necessary.

Oh no - Bonkersbon - no medals - one of the things I love about this site is its friendliness and our ability to be open about our mistakes and learn from each other as well as feeling good about our triumphs. Let's not spoil that with competition.

Fair point Buzzbee but no money involved just what we as a group like we would be voting so dont think it would distort into competition as feel it would be more about recognising each others efforts no matter how big or small the plot or how much spent.Feel on this site someone who acheived a lot on limited budget more likely to be recognised than someone who spent thousands and got a designer and team of labourers to do it.However if concensus feels this would spoil site then forgive me - dont want that either.

Nice idea, Bonkers but pleeeeeease don't. It's lovely just to enjoy all the different ideas and beautiful photos without feeling competitive.

i think we do all receive recognition anyway on this site by the comments that re left when we post photos, that's praise enough for me.

I went to Chelsea in about 2000 - I don't remember much about it really! I think there were only 2 gardens which i was reasonably impressed with - the rest is a blur.

I must admit, my own little bugbear at the moment is the Malvern Spring Gardening Show. I've been going to this show for years - about 20 miles from here. Then, one year, the tv crews started showing up and ever since it's just gotton so commercialised. it used to be a good place for searching out a few bargains/unusual plants etc, friendly competition between the growers/exhibitors etc but now the entrance fee has skyrocketed up to £22 per person (£20 for concessions) which just makes it not worth it. used to be a nice little outing, but I feel it's just been spoilt. I'm not really interested in the showgardens (and frankly I don't think they're that good) Meh...