Celebrities call for permanent end to gnome ban at Chelsea flower show

Garden gnomes should make a permanent return to the Chelsea flower show, celebrities who have painted the mythical creatures for the king’s garden at this year’s event, have said.

At the high-end event, which kicks off on Tuesday in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, south-west London, the “tacky” statutes been frowned upon since 1927. Speaking at the show’s press day, the comedian and musician Bill Bailey and the gardener and author Alan Titchmarsh urged the Royal Horticultural Society to lift the gnome ban permanently.

This year, the show has made a one-off decision to ease the prohibition to raise funds for the RHS’s campaign for school gardening, an initiative to get children involved in horticulture. The gnomes will be auctioned off during the week.

Bailey, brandishing the lawn ornament he painted with an attractive purple and gold stripy hat, said: “The origins of gnomes, as you well know, is the Latin Ghomus, meaning earth dweller. The Romans had them as guardians of the garden, and to protect against malign spirits. So I think they have been much maligned.”

Titchmarsh, who painted his gnome in a neat blue suit, agreed: “I think it’s no harm to have little ones sneaking out now and again to remind us that you might as well have a bit of fun.”

Speaking from the King’s garden, which includes an organic vegetable patch and a shed full of “garden curiosities”, the pair described their ornaments.

Titchmarsh said he decorated his to match his outfit: “Mine is in a blue suit to match me and he also has a red and white striped tie but you can’t see it because he has a giant beard.” He added that it took him “ages” to paint it.

Bailey said of his gnome: “Mine is a comment on AI. When my gnome was delivered to me, the top of its hat had broken off when, and I fixed it with gold acrylic. This is kintsugi, the Japanese art of fixing, with gold, which celebrates imperfection, which is what AI couldn’t do.”

King Charles is said to have been keen for the gnome ban to be lifted so some could be displayed in a feature garden he co-designed with Titchmarsh. The monarch is a fan of the fairytale characters and has one in the grounds of his Gloucestershire estate.

David Beckham, who co-designed the garden with Charles and Titchmarsh, also painted a gnome for auction, choosing pink and glitter to decorate it with. Other celebrities who have painted gnomes for auction at the show include Dame Mary Berry, Sir Brian May and the peer Floella Benjamin.