Show opens to VIPS - Monday 22Preview day has dawned damp and drizzly, and although the sun is struggling through in places, with more rain forecast it’s likely to be a soggy opening for the world’s greatest flower show. "I've never known anything like it," said designer Cleve West, whose Saga Insurance garden, featuring drought-tolerant plants, was completed amid yesterday’s torrential downpours. "It’s terrible. But at least we had good weather over the last couple of weeks while we were doing the main build."  In a hurried improvisation to try to keep the garden perfect in such punishing conditions, he spent two hours tying paper coffee cups to bamboo canes and placing one over each perfect tulip bud. But the show must go on, whatever the conditions: and today is the most glamorous day of the week. A star-studded cast of invited guests will see the finished show gardens for the first time: celebrity attendees included Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, dancer Darcey Bussell, and England rugby players Martin Johnson and Martin Corry.
 About 80 new plants will be unveiled for the first time at this year's show, including a new red, white and blue iris, 'Réussite', launched by French company Cayeux Iris, and 'Milly', a new magenta sweet pea named after 13-year-old Milly Dowler who was tragically abducted and murdered in 2002. This afternoon sees the arrival of the Royal party for their traditional tour of the gardens. Accompanying Her Majesty the Queen will be Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex. | | |
