Summer afternoon at the Chelsea Physic Garden Fair

Aline writes:
Summer afternoon - Summer afternoon... the two most beautiful words in the English language. Henry James

Maybe Henry James was in the Chelsea Physic Garden when he said the quote above. When Bill and I went there for the Chelsea Physic Garden Fair on June 26, it seemed like a fantasy of English Summer.


The Chelsea Physic Garden has been in place in central London since 1673. It was originally the Apothecaries' Garden, with the purpose of training apprentices in identifying plants. This Fair was to raise money to install their first automatic sprinkler system! Yes, you heard it right, they water it by hand when they need to water. That seemed like a long overdue improvement (after over 400 years), and a very good cause, so we decided to attend.

They had music



Beautiful beds of plants



Decorated statues


Stalls, strawberries and cream, tea sandwiches, scones, all you would expect on an English Summer afternoon. They even had Pimms, something I had always heard about but never tried. It was delicious! And very refreshing on a warm day. The gardens looked their best, too.

No English Fair is complete without a Punch & Judy show, of course.


Bill even bought me a bunch of posies from a little girl wandering around with a basketful of them. Grommet loves them, as I still have them in water. His head smells like delicious herbs now because he spends so much time with his head stuck in them, nuzzling them.


A delightful Summer afternoon!