Chelsea Week 2026

 I have enjoyed the TV coverage of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year.  I have never been in person, nor am I likely to go either (too expensive, travelling to London, tickets sell out very fast and too many people!).  I do like to see what can be done in these relatively small spaces.  All the photos are from the RHS Chelsea website here and they are the gardens/features/planting which caught my eye.

This massive wooden sculpture of Gaia, or Mother Nature, is the feature in the Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: 'On the Edge' designed by Sarah Eberle, which won a gold medal and the best show garden.  

It will be relocated to a regeneration project in Sheffield.

I liked the use of the different materials.

The planting was cool and calm.

This was the Woodland trust: Forgotten Forests garden designed by Ashleigh Aylitt.  The garden will be going to a primary school in Newcastle upon Tyne.  Trees are so vital for our wildlife and our wellbeing.

The Parkinson's UK Garden: A garden for every Parkinson's Journey, was designed by Arit Anderson, whose sister lives with Parkinson's Disease. There was a snaking handrail which contained a rill, so would give some support as well as the cooling water.  This garden is going to the John Radcliffe Centre for Parkinson's Disease in Oxford.

I liked the cooler planting at the back of the garden. The front had a riot of colour.

The Cleary Gottlieb:Time for Creativity garden designed by Christina Cobb, encouraged people to put down their phones and do something creative. (It is preaching to the converted for me - I believe that doing something creative is vital for all of us.) 

It had a lovely carved bowl water feature.

The planting was beautiful too.  The relocation hasn't yet been decided.

I liked the rill in the Tate Britain garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith.  This included a sculpture by Barbara Hepworth and will be relocated to outside Tate Britain.

The Whittard of Chelsea garden designed by Ollie Pike looked very inviting and shows what can be done with containers.

I liked the blue/green patina on the water features.  It will be donated to a community centre.

Back to my own garden now!

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?"