Historic Flower show recreated at Stonehenge
The show hasn't been held in living memory
An historic Victorian flower show has been recreated at Stonehenge after nearly 200 years, bringing a popular flower back with it.
The show has brought back Dahlia’s, which attracted up to 10,000 visitors to the famous site back in the 1840s.
This new display, which features contributions from Salisbury Cathedral and Salisbury Flower Club, contains 5,000 of the colourful plant.
Louise Crawley is a Landscape Historian with English Heritage told Greatest Hits Radio that many visitors come for the ‘iconic’ stone circle.
“People have interacted with the stones for centuries, so in the 19th century, although they weren’t the tourist hotspot they are today, they provided the backdrop and the venue for the Dahlia show.”
And in keeping with the events of the 1840s, we will be able to cast an important vote.
In 1842, a prize-winning Dahlia from the show was named the ‘Hero of Stonehenge’. And this weekend, that title will be bestowed to a new flower, with Stonehenge visitors deciding where that title goes.
Jill Pelton, chair of the Salisbury Flower Club, helped arrange the display and said they’re an exotic flower.
“Some of the colours are really quite shocking, so they really stand out.”
This recreation has also been achieved with sustainability in mind.
Gardening writer and broadcaster Arthur Parkinson says the flower brims with nectar and pollen for pollinators.
The displays have been set up using chicken wire and water, instead of floral foam, which eventually becomes a pollutant to the sea.
Arthur told us Dahlia’s aren’t just a flower that looks pretty.
“The more you cut it, the more it will give you. It’s a florist’s dream,” he said, which means there is more food available for bees, butterflies and moths despite the seasonal changes.
“The more of our gardens that support pollinators, the healthier planet we will have because we’ll have a healthier eco-system,” Arthur added.
“What we have in our gardens really matters.”