Chelsea Flower Show

The Chelsea Flower Show occupies the historic grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, a site originally founded by King Charles the Second in 1682 as a home for army veterans. These veterans, known as Chelsea Pensioners, still live on the grounds today. Before the show settled here in 1913, it traveled through various London venues, including a stint at Temple Gardens where local lawyers famously complained that the floral displays interfered with their legal work. When the show arrived at the Royal Hospital, it transformed these military grounds into an annual epicenter of horticultural design that now hosts hundreds of exhibitors every spring.