London - Since first bursting into bloom in 1912, the Chelsea Flower Show has been, well, about flowers.
But Tuesday – possibly for the first time – an almost entirely green garden won the coveted Best in Show award.
With visitors commenting that the design ranged from "disappointing" to "brave", the winner is the talk of the gardening world.
South Africa won gold for the 37th time. Kirstenbosch was awarded for their stunning floral kingdom display, aptly named Mountains of Abundance.
A smiling @leonklugedesign in front of his stunning recreation of #TableMountain for @SANBI_ZA Kirstenbosch. Bursting with colour from Proteas, Erica's and fynbos from our floral kingdom #MountainsOfAbundance pic.twitter.com/ULn6xMmhS2
— Kirstenbosch (@KirstenboschNBG) May 21, 2019
The team was led by Leon Kluge, a local garden designer who has already won three gold medals at the RHS. When asked to comment on the win, Kluge said "Every second of the past nine months becomes worth it when holding the GOLD award at this year's RHS Flower Show. What an experience it has been."