Chelsea Flower Show, hit by pandemic closures that forced events to go online, opens its first autumnal show this week as part of its return to life.
Royals and celebrities are attending a preview day on Monday where pumpkins, dahlias and autumn colours replace the usual spring and early summer blooms, before the show opens to the public on Tuesday.
“We are so excited to be creating the world's first Chelsea Flower Show in September and celebrating this beautiful time of year in the garden with autumn colour and seasonal delights,” said Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) director general Sue Biggs.
“Being the most famous flower show in the world, it is also a great opportunity to promote autumn gardening.”
The RHS postponed this year's show from May because of the continuing pandemic, and cancelled last year’s event in favour of an online show.
This year's move to autumn means the event will have a different look and smell, with asters, nerines and trees full of fruit and berries. The RHS said it would have a similar atmosphere to the spring show.
Among the displays is an organic show garden by Yeo Valley, which encourages people to put nature first, which had to be redesigned with late summer planting when the show was moved.
“We want to create a beautiful garden that inspires visitors to think about using more sustainable gardening practices,” said designer Tom Massey.
“September is one of the most wonderful times of year in the garden and so it is extra special to be part of the first, and most likely only, Chelsea [show] in September.”
Members of the royal family will tour the show on Monday, including the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra.
They will visit the RHS Queen's Green Canopy Garden, the largest plot at the show, which highlights the vital importance of trees and woodland, with 21 trees and more than 3,500 plants.
“While everyone associates spring with being the time to garden and grow plants, there is much that can be done now as well, like dividing herbaceous perennials, planting spring flowering bulbs and collecting seeds to create colour in your garden next summer”, said Ms Biggs.
The Florence Nightingale Garden is marking the bicentenary of the trailblazing nurse’s birth and will celebrate the importance of the nursing profession in the 21st century.
Next year the garden will be relocated to St Thomas’s Hospital in central London, to a spot currently being used as Covid-19 testing and vaccination centre, so that doctors, nurses and patients will be able to enjoy it in the future.
The show will run until September 26.
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The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
The bio:
Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
Favourite film: Robocop, followed by The Terminator.
Hobbies: Off-roading, scuba diving, playing squash and going to the gym.
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
MATCH INFO
Manchester United v Everton
Where: Old Trafford, Manchester
When: Sunday, kick-off 7pm (UAE)
How to watch: Live on BeIN Sports 11HD
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Brief scoreline:
Toss: South Africa, elected to bowl first
England (311-8): Stokes 89, Morgan 57, Roy 54, Root 51; Ngidi 3-66
South Africa (207): De Kock 68, Van der Dussen 50; Archer 3-27, Stokes 2-12
