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Original 'Chelsea flower show' returns to City roots
Ruth Bloomfield, Evening Standard27 Aug 2008
The Square Mile will be awash with blooms this autumn as it stages its own flower show for the first time in almost a century.
The Royal Horticultural Society moved its popular annual show from the City to Chelsea 97 years ago after the event - the highlight of every gardener's calendar - grew so large it needed a new site.
Next month, however, Inner Temple - one of the four Inns of Court around the Royal Courts of Justice - will once more be staging a horticultural exhibition.
The RHS Floral Celebration at Inner Temple will take place between 11 September to 13 September. Two exhibitors from the original Chelsea shows return with their displays.
There will also be a competition to design the best London balcony.
Georgina Barter, show manager for Inner Temple, said: "Each exhibitor has specifically been chosen for its horticultural quality and to ref lect the historic occasion."
The RHS held its first f lower show at Inner Temple in 1888 but moved to the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, in 1912. The Chelsea Flower Show lives on and September's event will not affect its status.
Exhibitors at the Inner Temple this time round include Raymond Evison, who will show a historical collection of clematis that were all raised before 1900.
Two names are returning to the show after nearly 100 years. Plant company Waterers will be exhibiting ericaceous varieties - plants that thrive in acid soil and include azaleas and rhododendrons.
Another firm, Ascott Park, will present a rose display that will be similar to its original exhibit.
The balcony competition will pit six designers against each other to create a garden measuring two metres by one metre.
Visitors will also be able to see Temple Church covered in traditional arrangements created by the National Association of Flower Arranging Societies.
The new show has been sponsored by Freshfields. Tickets are now on sale. To book, phone 0870 906 3758 or visit the website.
