Chelsea in Bloom was held last week, and I visited it on Saturday. The theme for this year's Chelsea in Bloom festival, which coincides with the Chelsea Flower Show, is "Flowers on Film". This celebrates flowers and iconic films. For those who ar not aware, Chelsea in Bloom is a free exhibition that visitors can walk to explore across Chelsea, and it coincides with the Chelsea Flower Show, which is held in the same week. It is largely concentrated down a mile of King's Road from Sloane Square and then up Sloane Street from Sloane Square to Knightsbridge tube station. Chelsea in Bloom is only held across five days, so it is a busy affair. In addition to many shops, restaurants, and cafes taking part in the show, there are a few official displays. These are known as "Central Displays" on the official map, and these displays are created by different florists or artists for Cadogan estates and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
An Oscar trophy is at centre piece off Sloane Square.
Inside Sloane Square, the Hollywood sign and other movie-inspired props with flowers are on display. These include popcorn, a film reel, a director's phone, and a camera.
Inspired by the film "Jurassic Park", this Tyrannosaurus Rex is made of flowers.
Inspired by "The Lion King", this display has many animals native to Africa.
Inspired by the location of the former home of writer J L Travers of "Mary Poppins" fame, this "Mary Poppins" scene fits right in a couple of streets away.
An BAFTA trophy celebrates British films.
"King Kong" scales a replica of Big Ben.
I did not capture all of the floral displays, but here are some of the ones that I captured around Chelsea.
Ralph Lauren's shop appears to be inspired by old western films of the 1950s.
Outside the department store, Peter Jones, are some settings that appear to be taken from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".
"The Wizard of Oz" brings the alleyway into life into the Duke of York Square. It has transformed into the yellow-brick road with various symbols from the film, such as ruby slippers, witch hats, poppies, and apples.
Th restaurant Polpo contains a yellow submarine, which is inspired by the film "Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles.
I enjoyed this colourful display outside "Free People".
L.K. Bennett also had a wonderful display with colourful pastel blooms.
"Alice in Wonderland" was a theme that a couple of shops used, and this one featurs the Cheshire cat.
Partridges paid tribute to King Charles III.
The Lloyds Bank used a black horse.
Rixo was one of several independent displays to be inspired by the traditional popcorn box.
The restaurant Sticks 'N' Sushi always do a good display. The one this year features samauri.
I enjoyed the Italian-inspired shopfront of "Jigsaw".
The Ivy was inspired by children's characters.
Peggy Porschen never disappoints.
Neither does the Cadogan Arms.
Beebo had one of the award-winning displays with "The Little Mermaid".
And there was more love for "Alice in Wonderland".
I really enjoyed this "Little Shop of Horrors" from the restaurant Cinquecento.
MZ Skin had a display with the traditional movie mask icons and flowers.
Goldfish made up a fish restaurant.
"The Jungle Book" also inspired a display near Sloane Square.
The horrors film also inspired another monster plant.
Tiffany and Co. had a jewel-inspired display.
Cartier included white blooms, but there was not a movie theme.
Another was inspired by vintage films featuring train journeys. This could be any number of mystery film or "North by Northwest" or a number of other films.
I'm not sure which film inspired the below.
Overall, it was a decent display, but I felt that a lot of places were saving money and not putting on large displays to cut costs. The streets were also not as busy as last year.
I did attend the Chelsea Flower Show in 2016, and you can read about it here:
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