Gnomes rise up, assert their place as garden favourites with celebrity support

The gnomes have demanded their rights.

They're a beaten-down, mocked group of garden decorations, but gnomes will finally have the chance this year to assert their right to wear pointy hats and poke out from behind shrubbery. The Royal Horticultural Society in Britain has lifted a 100-year ban on gnomes at the annual Chelsea Flower Show.

It was a tough century for gnomes, standing on the sidelines of the world's most prestigious flower show, which the royal family attends each year on opening day, according to the website. The media attributes the long ban to snobbery that dubbed gnomes too tacky for elegant garden displays, according to the Independent.

Garden gnomes had a tumultuous history in Britain, rising and falling in popularity, according to Dr. Twigs Way, the author of Garden Gnomes: A History, who wrote a piece on Monday for the BBC.

They've sold well recently but the upper crust of the horticultural world might not be ready to embrace colourful, gaudily decorated gnomes just yet, if you take the Guardian's word for it.

At least one designer told the publication she was "sitting on the gnomic fence."

She has less than a week to adjust before the society displays 100 gnomes painted by celebrities, according to the story. Elton John's gnome reportedly features glitter and sunglasses. We've yet to see how Dolly Parton and Judi Dench will decorate their gnomic representatives.

Now, to keep the Garden Gnome Liberation Front from pillaging the Chelsea Flower Show's newest welcomed guests in their effort to "free" them from "captivity" in gardens.