King Charles and Queen Camilla to visit Chelsea Flower Show - what is King’s bizarre gardening ritual?

King Charles and Queen Camilla are set to visit the annual Chelsea Flower Show - but what is King Charles’ bizarre gardening ritual?
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The Chelsea Flower Show starts today and is well known for attracting members of the royal family, with the late Queen Elizabeth II regularly attending the event. This year, King Charles and Queen Camilla will get a preview of the show before it officially opens.

The royal family are no strangers to gardening, with it often being a part of royal engagements, meaning King Charles has likely planted hundreds of trees over the years. During the engagements, it seems King Charles has a bizarre ritual every time he plants a tree.

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According to the official royal website, after planting each tree, Charles grabs one of the branches, gives it a friendly shake and wishes it well. Recently, King Charles built an arboretum and planted a wood at Balmoral naming it Prince George’s Wood in his eldest grandson’s honour

He told the BBC in 2021: "The great thing was that I managed to plant it the same year that my grandson was born, the eldest, George, so I thought I’d call it Prince George’s wood. As I get older all I really long for is to plant trees. I hope it will be quite amusing for George, as they grow up, and he grows up.”

This year, the annual show will commemorate the life of late Queen Elizabeth ll, whilst celebrating the coronation and reign of King Charles. The flower show will include ‘A Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration’ designed by Dave Green.

It will feature a plant palette of light pinks and white flowers and a topiary display depicting ‘Emma’, the Queen’s favourite fell pony. A plant palette of blues, purples and pinks will be featured to represent King Charles’ tastes.

When is the 2023 Chelsea Flower show? 

The 2023 Chelsea Flower Show will take place from May 22-27