Once Upon a Decade: The Chelsea Flower Show and Floriade Converge
Stun your senses with the world’s greatest flower shows in a decade! 2022 is the year of Floriade, the renowned horticulture extravaganza in Holland that occurs only once in 10 years. Couple this inspiration with the Chelsea Flower Show, and your soul will be blooming year round, for “where flowers bloom, so does hope,” as Lady Bird Johnson penned.
Fancy a Cuppa? Inspiration Overflows in England
Collette Tours has masterfully planned such a remarkable tour of the world’s finest greenery. Your journey first starts with the glorious Chelsea Flower Show, which holds its ground as the most famous and prestigious flower show in the world. Garden designer Jamie Butterwoth describes it as “the World Cup of gardening.”
Be amazed by the lush green thumb that only the British have. The Great Pavilion, also known as the “jewel in the Chelsea Flower Show crown,” is nearly three acres, or equivalent to more than 3,200 British gardens. Be inspired by a bevy of designed gardens by England’s best. Past winners have included a perennial meadow, a fermentation garden, and a garden inspired by Florence Nightingale. Fun fact: the winning garden at the first Chelsea Flower Show in 1913 was…a rock garden! Another fun fact: floral foam and gnomes are banned from the show today.
Don’t miss our favorite exhibit: Fantasy Floral Dresses. Thousands of flowers get to “dress” up, and some even take to the catwalk. Another favorite is the butterfly experience, where you are transported into a tropical escape with real butterfly kisses. Their colors are as vibrant and diverse as a rainbow. Here you will truly understand “The butterfly is a flying flower, the flower a tethered butterfly,” as Ecouchard Le Brun brilliantly wrote.
But the inspiration does not end there! What gems will you find within Kensington Palace? How will your borders grow as you stroll through Kent, known as the “Garden of England?” What love will blossom in your heart as you explore the renowned Sissinghurt Castle Gardens? This romantic refuge dedicated to beauty will captivate you with its unique garden rooms and playful topiaries as fascinating as its history. Make sure you glimpse the bench made by pruning box hedging. Your garden across the pond will be tickled and thank you!
See, Smell, and Taste a Botanical Bonanza in Holland
After a high-speed, chic Eurostar train ride, you’ll be greeted by the idyllic, historic canal streets of Amsterdam. To see Amsterdam in person is to realize it is even more charming than the postcard paintings. As bicycles dance across the cobblestones, you’ll be captivated by the canal houses that all seem to be growing show-stopping bulbs worthy of their own magazine spreads!
Your Amsterdam journey first sets sail with a canal tour, where you will cruise under romantic bridges and alongside blooming houseboats - all before a locally led food tour of Amsterdam’s culinary delicacies! Bon voyage and bon appetite!
Yet you know that the world’s greatest gathering of greenery awaits you. The world’s horticulture world waits 10 years to gather at Floriade, and this decade’s theme of “Growing Green Cities” promises to unveil stunning solutions that are not only beautiful, but sustainable. Be awed by stunning vertical façade gardens, experience state-of-the-art sustainability innovations, and learn how to grow the best tomatoes.
With 40 participating countries, you can see the world from Holland and imagine growing a greener future together. Each country will be showcasing their plants, flowers, culture, and innovations. We’re especially excited to see how Indonesia is approaching sustainable living as it navigates rising sea levels. Its pavilion will showcase plans to protect life in the “wonderful archipelago,” with more than 17,000 islands.
When you walk through the arboretum, you will be in a living, alphabetically organized encyclopedia of all things plants and trees. Inside the greenhouse, you’ll not only see the latest growing innovations, but you can taste the delicious produce in vegetarian dishes.
Top it all off with a beautiful bird’s eye view on the cable car ride that runs across the entire Floriade Park. It is a half-mile ride, all high in the sky!
Truly, a trip like this comes once in a decade. Book your spot with Collette Tours today. We invite you to bloom with us and feel inspiration take the deepest root.
SAVE
$50–$100
per person* on any tour!
Plus, use offer code ASASAVE to learn about special seasonal savings of up to $500 per person!*
Use offer code: ASASAVE
For reservations, call Collette at
877-867-5004 or contact your travel professional.
