Seven floral facts about the Chelsea Flower Show

Setting up the Flower Show takes 800 people 33 days over nearly three acres – the Pavilion's big enough to park 500 buses in. Though it'd be a pretty fancy bus depot.

This year's festival is all about HM's ninetieth. Big features include cladding the Thameside gate of the Royal Chelsea Hospital with British blooms and a 25-ton cube of granite.

Walking around gardens is thirsty work. Visitors to the 2015 show polished off 7,720 glasses of Pimms and 10,823 glasses of champagne while attempting not to fall into flowerbeds.

This is probably old news to you, but 2016 is the UN's International Year of the Pulse. To celebrate, Chelsea has a 'Beans, Beans, Beans' garden to highlight the importance of legumes.

Every year, new varieties pay homage to the nation's favourite celebs. This year? 'Mary Berry' and 'Roald Dahl' roses, as well as a 'Princess Charlotte' chrysanthemum. Sorry, Kanye - maybe next year?

The show started in 1820, pausing only for the 1926 General Strike and World War II, when the Royal Chelsea Hospital was used as an anti-aircraft site. Recent history is less remarkable: the ban on garden gnomes was lifted in 2013.

Worst idea for a garden? Probably Paul Cooper's 'Cool and Sexy' garden in 1994. Its main feature was an air vent that blew gusts of air up visitors' skirts. So, not cool, sexy, big or clever.