Game, Set and... Flowers at Wimbledon 2019
09 July 2019
Wimbledon Championships are in full swing for 2019! The oldest and most prestigious grass tennis tournament in the world, Wimbledon dates back to 1877 and has been amazing crowds ever since with dazzling tennis matches and perfect stripey green courts. Wimbledon welcomes over 400,00 visitors over the 2 weeks a year and is world-renowned for its Centre Court, Strawberries and Cream, cheering for the underdog, Henman Hill, the occasional player tantrum, Pimms ... and flowers! How could we resist not popping up to London for the day to experience Wimbledon 2019 in full bloom?
Flowers are lovely at Wimbledon!
Wondering around the Wimbledon grounds, every nook and cranny is filled with flowers. The theme is obvious - English garden with a tennis twist, with flowers in beautiful shades of greens and purples to reflect the club logo. Boston Ivy is the star of the show on Centre Court, whilst flower beds and hanging displays use Alliums, Foxglove, Roses, Petunia, Hydrangeas and Alchemilla. Carefully attended to by head gardener Martyn Falconer and his expert team all year round, they also bring in additional species of flowers in early Springtime in preparation to have Wimbledon Championship looking ace for the Summer tournament.
And the flower experience doesn't end there. The walkways from the local stations and main routes leading to the main entrance of Wimbledon all have the extra floral touch - gorgeous hanging baskets in purples, whites and greens lead the way to Wimbledon.
And the winner is...
My favourite floral display at Wimbledon this year was their new addition - the living walls. The 2 walls have been built both sides of the big screen on Henman Hill, created using 14,000 plants and spanning 245 square metres. A stunning and breathtaking display, giving a real 'wow' factor to the area - with reports of players loving the tranquil peace the greenery brings. The living wall uses state of the art technology to keep it perfectly watered and cleverly doesn't need soil! Wimbledon are keen to encourage biodiversity and sustainability, so it was lovely to see bees and wildlife enjoying the extra plants by Court 1.
Flower power hitting Wimbledon Village
For the past 7 years the local businesses of Wimbledon Village have been getting involved with tennis fever, with the annual tennis themed window competition. This year one of our talented London based studio florists, FloJo Flowers was behind the magical window creation for Illumin8 Beauty with a smashing great floral display, cleverly using yellow reindeer moss (photo credit wimbledon.com). FloJo Flowers is well known in SW19 London for bespoke wedding work and stunning floral installations for Tom's Kitchen including Chelsea in Bloom.
With special thanks to:
Additional Facts and Figures www.theguardian.com and www.wimbledon.com