A Feast of Sweet Honey | Chelsea in Bloom 2024

Our King's Road store is blooming as we celebrate Chelsea's annual flower festival, Chelsea in Bloom. This year's theme is 'Floral Feasts', and to celebrate, we’re transforming our King's Road store into a sweet space inspired by honey – creating a warm glow for sunny days to come.

Be sure to visit our store to view the stand-out display of floral wonders from 20th - 26th May and receive a free limited-edition Russell & Bromley tote bag featuring a bespoke illustration by artist Tatiana Alida Carrelet, plus a little sweet surprise with your in-store purchases*.

Find us: 64 King's Rd, London SW3 4UD

BEHIND THE DESIGN

British spring honey is harvested from mid-to-late May, so perfect timing for Chelsea in Bloom. The scene is set with columns of beautiful wildflowers, a bold beehive structure, honeycomb inspired shapes and bee-friendly plants growing from the entrance.

British honey is light and golden, and truly captures the taste of spring summer in a jar. Stacks of golden honey pots will glisten in the sunlight through our store’s windows, bringing a warm summer glow. A colour palette inspired by our new campaign as well as soft hues of sunny yellows, elevated whites, and muted greens and oranges, add an uplifting brightness and summery layer to our rich honey glow.

Working with florist, Lizzie Thorne Flowers, we’ve carefully intertwined pollinators and insect friendly flowers, including Ammi, fennel, lavender, chamomile, and calendula to create our standout installation - not only beautiful, but also supporting the wild preservation of British bees.

Bee keeping and honey making was a big part of former chairman, Michael C Bromley’s life and he has fond memories of days enjoying this craft. So, our installation not only showcases a glorious feast of sweet honey, but also nods to Russell & Bromley’s connection to British bee keeping and honey making.

INTRODUCING CONFETTI CLUB

Specialising in the repurposing of pre-loved flowers into biodegradable petal confetti, Confetti Club source used flowers from a host of events, including Chelsea in Bloom. With 100% of their profits going to charities involved in the care of cancer patients and research into new treatments, we are delighted to donate our Chelsea in Bloom leftover petals and flowers to this wonderful cause.

MEET THE FLORIST

We caught up with florist, Lizzie Thorne Flowers, to discuss all things florals and this year’s Chelsea in Bloom.

How long have you been a part of the floristry industry?

I’ve been a florist for almost 14 years. I used to work in finance but had a complete career change back in 2010 when I started working for McQueen’s Flowers before setting up my own floristry business.

What makes Chelsea in Bloom stand out as one of your favourite annual events?

Chelsea in Bloom is special as it feels like everyone in the area really appreciates the effort that all the florists and stores make into putting on such a spectacular show. It's a very accessible event and personally I love seeing all the shoppers’ reactions.

Tell us a little bit about your design process for our ‘Feast of Sweet Honey’ entry…

I’ve worked with Russell & Bromley before for Chelsea in Bloom and we all agreed that this year we should go bigger outside the store. The challenge with this is that we needed to design a display that is eye catching, sustainable and will last a week outside. The most important aspect of the design is the part that no one sees – the solid mechanics which keep it stable and hold water. Next comes my favourite part, researching all the bee friendly flowers and pollinators we can use and what colours will work with the store. I sketched out some designs and created mood boards for the Russell & Bromley team to visualise how it will all come together.

What have you enjoyed most about this year’s theme and entry?

This year we are adding some beautiful props, all within the theme of honey-making and beekeeping. As much as all the flowers and plants are the main event for Chelsea in Bloom, I’ve been getting creative with honey jars, honeycomb shapes and even a beehive, which I hope will really elevate this year’s entry.

Favourite flower?

Always a tulip - I love how they grow towards the sun and perk up in fresh water, often the longer you keep them, the more beautiful they become.

*Note: Limited quantities available. While stocks last.