London in Bloom

London in Bloom

Over the last few years London has come to bloom in the week of Chelsea Flower Show, it is now one of my favourite weeks outside of Christmas in London. This year I was determined to capture as many images of London in Bloom on my travels, culminating in an afternoon at the show itself.
Aqua Shard ~ flowers 31 floors above the city and Avenues and Artisans at Chelsea Flower show.

Sloane Square - Chelsea in Bloom

With Sloane Square being the destination tube for people travelling to the show the surrounding area completely embraces the week. This years Chelsea in Bloom theme was fairy tales.
Sloane Square transformed into a looking glass garden of wishes and treats, complete with a tea & cupcake area and a champagne bar.
The surrounding streets and boutiques participate as well and here are a few of my favourites from the Chelsea streets.

Brunello Cucinelli - Alice in Wonderland

 From Alice in Wonderland - Brunello Cucinelle's front was a delight, from the afternoon tea, to the white rabbit and grinning cheshire cat the whole story was there in floral glory

Smythsons woodland writing retreat

Smython's shop front was beautiful and although it wasn't one fairy tale, the fact that the store is famous for its writing materials it lends itself beautifully to the theme. The combination of hollyhocks, and alpines was delightful

Snow White & Woodland retreat

Lulu Guiness's windows were framed in a style to typical of Lulu's work, bright & funky showcasing the story of Snow White. With Lulu's famous lips clutch replacing the 'poisoned' apple temptation it was a clever play on imigery for the brand and theme,
Hackett's windows and store front were a gorgeous hues of green & white, lilac & blues..

Browns ~ Cinderella

Browns boutique transformed itself into Cinderella's dream dress for the ball, complete with golden coach and fairy godmother flying above the ground.
The detail was stunning, I loved the crystal embossed show on a bed of vintage roses along with the dress of rhododendrons.

Kate Spade ~ Flamingos in the city

In typical Kate Spade style, they didn't use a fairy tale from old, they wrote their own and displayed in on the side of their store along with 2 6ft floral flamingo's which were just fabulous. The story linked their latest collection along with a fab theme for the season. Kate Spade won the gold for best store in bloom for Chelsea in Bloom week.
I would thoroughly recommend a trip to Sloane Square Chelsea week, even if you can't get tickets for the show you can enjoy some fabulous displays of floral imagination and finery in the boutiques and street surrounding the square.