Chelsea week 2025

I always watch the BBC coverage of the RHS Chelsea flower show and this year is no exception.  I have never been to the show and am not likely to, as it is expensive, crowded and the tickets sell out so fast.  The TV coverage gives me a much better view of the gardens than I would get at the show.  All the photos are from the RHS website.  

I usually judge the gardens by whether I would like them outside my back door! 

Benches and water features have seemed to be a focus for me this year.  Above is a rather lovely large water bowl and bench  from the ADHD Foundation garden designed by Katy Terry.  This garden will live on at the University of Liverpool.

If I had to choose one favourite garden, it would probably be this one, The Glasshouse Garden by Jo Thompson. I like the snaking rill in the path.

The planting in The Glasshouse garden was lovely too, with the rich reds, pinks and purples.  These rich colours can be seen in lots of other gardens. This garden is going to a women's prison in the South of England.

The RHS and BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden was designed by Monty Don, the main presenter of Gardeners' World and showed some lovely, gentle, naturalistic planting.  

I like all the greens around the path here.  

I liked the copper water feature in the Down Syndrome Scotland garden, designed by Nick Burton and Duncan Hall.  This garden will go to a garden at the Palacerigg Country Park in Scotland.

My favourite water feature was in the Pathway Garden by Allon Hoskin and Robert Beaudin.  Very simple, a bowl carved out of a stone. This garden is going to the Shekinah Centre in Devon, which supports people experiencing homelessness.

Really beautiful.  I would love this in my garden!

The London Square Chelsea Pensioners' Garden had this inviting path to explore, with another still water feature.  Designed by Dave Green, this garden is moving a few metres away to the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, so that the Chelsea Pensioners can enjoy it.

This bench also caught my eye, made from a tree trunk in the Garden of the Future by Matthew Butler and Josh Parker.  

To see all the gardens, there is a link to the website here.

A new David Austin rose was launched and it is one I have my eye on. called The King's Rose, it is similar to Rosa Versicolor (Rosa Mundi) but is repeat flowering.  It may well be added to my collection - perhaps not now, but in the future...

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024

It was the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last week.  I have never been in person (I think the numbers of people would not be conducive to an enjoyable visit), but I watch all the TV coverage avidly.  There are always some gardens, or elements in gardens that appeal to me and all the photos are from the RHS Chelsea website.

I liked the Bridgerton garden designed by Holly Johnston and inspired by a character in the TV series Bridgerton ( I haven't watched the series).  This garden can be seen in the first four photos here.  The moongate was very beautiful and draws the eye through.

I wasn't keen on the tiered fountain, but loved the stone seats set into the wall.  

Lots of  pastel flowers surrounded the sunken seating area.  I would be very happy if this was outside my back door (with a different water feature, of course!)

The 'Terrence Higgins Trust Bridge to 2030 Garden' designed by Matthew Childs was inspired by the slate quarries in Wales and also by the scary Aids information film with a huge tombstone crashing down, which was seen in the 1980s.  The 'tombstone' had become a bridge here, with the hope of no more Aids cases by 2030.  There was some beautiful naturalistic planting here too. 

The Muscular Dystrophy UK – Forest Bathing Garden designed by Ula Maria won best in show.  I like this woodland style planting.

The National Garden Scheme Garden, designed by Tom Stuart Smith was probably my favourite garden overall.  I love the NGS and have been to many gardens opening under this scheme and raising money for charity.

Again, there was a woodland feel with calming shades of green and white.

There was an extremely well appointed building (too posh to be called a shed) with a cooker, gardening tools and a table inside.  I like the water trough outside too.

The Octavia Hill Garden by Blue Diamond with the National Trust, designed by Anne Marie Powell won the Children's Choice award as well as the People's Choice award (voted for by visitors to the show as well as tv viewers).  I particularly like those carved benches.

The planting was more vibrant in this garden too.

The St James’s Piccadilly: Imagine the World to be Different garden was inspired by the ruins of St James' church, Piccadilly, built by Sir Christopher Wren.  Elements of this garden will be going to St Pancras, Euston Road.  Other parts of the garden will be going to the real St James' Church.  I like the peacefulness of this courtyard setting.

I particularly liked the S shaped stone bench and the naturalistic planting in the Burma Skincare Initiative Spirit of Partnership Garden designed by Helen Olney.

So, what do my choices say about what I like?  Naturalistic planting, woodland planting, seats, and formal areas with exuberant planting seem to be the themes here. Ultimately, I always ask myself "would I like this outside my back door?" 

Favourite Chelsea gardens, foxgloves and alliums

It is RHS Chelsea week again and it has returned to its normal time of year.  I have never visited in person and I don't think I probably will - I am not someone who enjoys being in large crowds of people. However, I do watch all the TV coverage and enjoy looking at the gardens and plants.

This was the People's Choice winner - 'The Perennial Garden - With Love'.  I like the relaxing green and white planting with touches of plum.

This was the RNLI garden designed by Chris Beardshaw, which came second in the People's Choice awards. He always has beautiful planting.

This was the Morris and Co Garden (designed by Ruth Wilmott).  Two of William Morris' patterns, Trellis and Willow Bough, were included in various ways. This was third in the People's Choice awards.
 All the photos above are from the RHS Chelsea website (information on the medals is here).  These gardens all have more traditional planting.

Judging from what I have seen on TV, more natural planting styles are very much the trend, which is a good thing for wildlife.

Back in my garden, the roses are starting to bloom, (but they deserve a post to themselves),  together with foxgloves (my latest favourite - I need many more of these and will sow some more seeds soon).

Two foxgloves in a pot just outside the window.

This foxglove was plonked rather unceremoniously into a pot last year but is looking lovely.

The alliums are still looking good too...

...with their vibrant colours of purple and green.