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

Bill Bailey and Alan Titchmarsh paint gnomes for king’s garden at event, in one-off to raise funds for RHS campaign Garden gnomes should make a permanent return to the Chelsea flower show, say celebrities who have painted the mythical creatures for the king’s garden at this year’s event. At the high-end event, which kicks off on Tuesday in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, south-west London, the “tacky” statues have 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 gnomus, 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