Floristry and floral design

There are two categories of floral exhibits in the Grand Pavilion in 2024. Creative Spaces and Floral Creations which is a brand new category. Smaller arrangements are mounted on plinths with the theme for 2024 of ‘Colour’. These displays are judged for RHS medals and are applicable to win the RHS Chelsea Florist of the Year.

Glazes – Floral Creations
The use of blended, fluid layers of colour by Impressionist and Romantic movement painters radiates an evanescent quality. The design explores how floral composition and colour layering can work similarly. A painter’s palette tells a compelling story purely through colour and the display aims to be a floating collection of floral ‘palettes’. The aim is to evoke a response to the British flowers’ natural beauty, texture and colour through a layered piece consisting of softened, hazy outlines. 

Key flowers: Sweet peas, roses, clematis, geums, viburnum, corncockle, sweet rocket.

Nature’s Botanical Palette – Floral Creations
Inspiration comes from Jephson Gardens in Royal Leamington Spa. A mindful space where the giant Lebanese cedar tree towers above the wonderful botanical collections from around the world, housed throughout the gardens and the temperate house. The design uses the Japanese colour methodology of ‘natural harmony’. Taking tiny steps in tint, tone hue and shade, takes the viewer on a joyous, mindful journey through the spectrum. 

Key flowers: Orchids, roses, Geum, Sandersonia, Eucalyptus, Ceropegia woodii

Opera Splendour: A Floral Ode – Floral Creations
The Chinese traditional culture of Peking opera has a long and illustrious history, and one of its most captivating aspects is the exquisite costumes. These costumes are meticulously designed with vibrant colours, colours that are bold and striking and often contrast with one another. Each colour carries significant symbolism, and the design conveys these meanings to the world through the floral arrangements.

Key flowers: Amaranthus, Echinops, Chrysanthemum, Cymbidium, Hypericum, Phalaenopsis vanda.

The Capital of May – Floral Creations
This arrangement is inspired by the celebration of May Day in Oxford and is a play on the ancient architectural features of a Corinthian column. Sculptural leaves and branches create a column’s ‘capital’ while the focus on green, textural foliage evokes the Green Man and new life unfurling. One unusual aspect of this display is the lack of focal flowers and bright colours. Instead, the focus is on the different shades of green in May as the most versatile colour of the season. Plants are chosen for their strong shapes, colour and textures to create a sculptural arrangement to be seen from all angles.

Key flowers: Cardoon, Acanthus, Solomon’s seal, ferns, hawthorn.

Burst – Floral Creations
From muted earthy tones to a big burst of colour, the designe represents how the start of a new cycle or great idea, is often muted. Growing and developing over many days, months or years and finally blooming into an innovative, bright and colourful burst. The floral material is loosely arranged to mirror nature. Contrasting colours of pink, purples, oranges and yellows catch the visitor's eye.

Key flowers: Ranunculus, Sanguisorba, Clematis, Helleborus, Cosmos.

Arrangement – Creative Spaces
The work is inspired by 35 years of work as a florist and is a testament and tribute to constructing with flowers. The design explores the joy of playing with texture, colour, scale and composition. The large sculptural version will be an interpretation of a ‘floral arrangement’ scaled up, re-imagined and transformed into organic shapes and forms that are reminiscent of nature. 

Key flowers: Chrysanthemum, carnation, Amaranthus, Limonium, moss, Michaelmas daisy. 

The cracks which appear, and the things that grow from them – Creative Spaces
This floral creation showcases a length of botanically dyed silk that drapes to the ground and is inlaid with flowers, all of which are grown on Days of Dahlia’s flower farm in Scotland. Flowers are inserted into the fabric and their stems are held in simple glass vials of water behind the silk, hung from a support rail above. Flowers appear to grow magically from a cloak of exquisite colour, dyed, with the pigments of the flowers it displays, but beneath this tableau the sculpture deliberately exposes the mechanics that support and hydrate the flowers through an intricate network of glass. There is an intent here to highlight the devotion, ingenuity, and care that goes into growing flowers and pursuing a sustainable floristry practice.

Key flowers: Geum, Aquilegia, Fritillaries, tulips, iris, dried flowers.