Holbeach’s Taylors Bulbs celebrates 30th consecutive gold medal at Chelsea Flower Show

Staff at a well-known firm are celebrating their 30th consecutive gold medal at Chelsea Flower Show - despite a heatwave in the run-up to the event.

The team at Taylors Bulbs will once again be returning to their Holbeach base with another gold medal after their display of daffodils impressed the judges at the famous Royal Horticultural Society event.

This medal is the company’s 32nd at Chelsea Flower Show and their 30th consecutive gold with the first being won in 1986.

While the display of 38 varieities provided a lot of enjoyment for visitors to the Taylors stand, it has been the culmination of a 12 week growing period - which was quite challenging this year.

Charlotte Daubney explains; “The bulbs are planted after Christmas and kept temperature controlled until they go into the greenhouse four weeks before Chelsea.

“In the first week we see leaf growth develop and then flowers beginning to form within 10 days. This year has presented it’s own challenges compared to other years with a heat wave soaring temperatures to over 32C in the glasshouse two weeks prior to the show.

“Thankfully we could crop very early in the morning to avoid such huge temperature differences going into the coldstore and there were over 71 varieties and 6,000 stems for the display.”

The flowers are kept in cold store for up to two weeks before the show and only have an average life span of a few days in the Grand Pavilion so the display is re-staged twice to keep the standard high until the end of show week.

Charlotte added: “The weeks running up to the show are intense and exhausting for the team but like a well oiled machine, pull on everyone’s strengths and hope nature allows us to put on a grand display.

“I’m particularly proud we are showing such a diverse range of varieties flowering at this time of year, it certainly amazes the visitors! You won’t see daffodils from January to May in one day anywhere else!”