Sheikh Zayed returns to Chelsea Flower Show competition

For the fourth year President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan will be bidding for top honours at Britain's Chelsea Flower Show. Sheikh Zayed will enter his Garden of Tranquility in competition with gardens from around the world.

The garden is being designed by top British horticulturist Charles Funke, who is working with M and N of Godalming, in south-east England. According to Jennifer Collen-Smith of M and N, "The whole feel of the garden harks back to the first two which Sheikh Zayed entered into the Chelsea Flower Show. That is the coming together of Middle Eastern design and the culture of the Bedouin."

A main feature of the garden will be palm trees grown on Sheikh Zayed's own farm which will be flown to the UK for the show. In two of the last three years Sheikh Zayed's gardens have won the show's prestigious Gold Awards.

According to Collen-Smith, Sheikh Zayed's gardens, which are the official UAE entry in the Chelsea Flower Show, always attract large numbers of admirers. "People who visit the show always talk about the wonderful plants and vegetation that are so much in abundance in Sheikh Zayed's gardens," she said.