Garden designer Elly West thinks there’s something very special about visiting a horticultural show. This month, just in time for the start of the 2025 show season, she writes about how these events help to inspire ideas for her next project.
If you love gardens and gardening, there’s something special about visiting a horticultural show, whether it’s a world-renowned event such as RHS Chelsea Flower Show, or a local garden fair. This month marks the start of the gardening show season, when green-fingered enthusiasts come together to buy, sell and display all things gardening. Shows are the perfect place to celebrate the joys of the great outdoors, pick up expert advice and shop for unique garden finds.
I am always on the lookout for new products, colour combinations and plants that I can use in my designs, and the show gardens at the larger events never cease to amaze me with what is possible in a small space. RHS Chelsea Flower Show, taking place from 20–24 May, was launched in 1862 from a tent in Kensington, and is now the most famous gardening event in the world, showcasing cutting-edge design, and attracting more than 150,000 visitors each year and 500 exhibitors from around the world. The show gardens here are the main highlight and can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to build.
Full-grown trees are brought in, rocky landscapes and waterfalls created and buildings erected, all for the less-than-a-week-long event, then dismantled in the five days following. The most expensive show garden ever was David Domoney’s Ace of Diamonds garden in 2010, which included £20 million worth of diamonds.
These are generally very much stage sets and show pieces, rather than actual feasible or sustainable gardens. The number of plants per square metre is phenomenal and breaks all the rules – there’s no following the labels guidelines here – they’re crammed in much more densely than you would ever plant in a permanent garden border, and everything is chosen to look perfect in the moment. But they are great places to gain inspiration, whether it’s colour schemes and plant combination, interesting materials for hard landscaping, or other elements such as water features or garden statuary.
I also love browsing the nursery stands and plant marquees, where rare and unusual varieties can often be found. It’s a great opportunity to chat to the growers, pick up some tips and share in their passion. And the chance to shop and seek out a bargain is always a bonus. As well as beautiful plants, there are often exclusive show deals to be found on everything from sheds and hot tubs to furniture and sculptures.
The first of the season’s big shows is Malvern Spring Festival, from 8–11 May. This year’s theme is ‘Plants and People’, exploring the way plants impact our lives, and how they can benefit our mental and physical wellbeing. Indoor gardening is a key feature, with the first ever RHS-judged Indoor Plant Gardens, as part of the show’s Festival of Houseplants, which was newly introduced last year.
Upcoming shows
RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Three Counties
Showground, Malvern: 8–11 May
RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London: 20–24 May
Gardeners’ World Live, NEC, Birmingham: 12–15 June
RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival,
East Molesey: 1–6 July
Closer to home, and at the end of the season, one I’m looking forward to is Yeo Valley Organic Garden’s first ever festival, from 18–20 September. Television faces Arit Anderson, Alys Fowler and Frances Tophill will be among the gardening experts attending to give talks and share their knowledge, and the overall message will be to get greener in the garden. Tickets are on sale at yeovalley.co.uk/events.
Tips for visiting a show include going early (or late!) when it’s likely to be quieter. Bigger discounts are also sometimes offered at the end of the day. Wear comfortable and weather-appropriate clothing and footwear, and expect to do a lot of walking. Take a notebook or use your phone to record plant names and images that you can use as inspiration in your own garden. Plan ahead and check the timings for particular exhibitors or talks and demonstrations that you want to see, and chat to the experts who will be more than happy to share their advice. One of the huge benefits of visiting a show is having this access to professional growers, designers and horticulturists.
A visit to a horticultural show doesn’t have to end when you leave the venue. It’s a chance to take your new knowledge, inspiration and purchases home to help transform (or just improve!) your garden.
Many shows have online resources, so you can revisit favourite exhibits and learn more about the plants and designers featured, or get hold of the full plant lists for the show gardens.
Even if you’ve only got a small plot, container planting, vertical gardening and small-space solutions are often prominent features at shows, offering ideas that can be recreated at home. Many events also highlight organic practices, wildlife-friendly gardening or growing your own produce, with easily transferable ideas.
Plant of the month: Dicentra
My first garden (owned as an adult) when I lived in London introduced me to the beautiful late-spring and early summer bloomer, Dicentra spectabilis (recently renamed by those with the power as Lamprocapnos spectabilis, for reasons unknown).
I didn’t know what it was when it first pushed its way through the ground around March time. It looked slightly fleshy, pale and alien-like, but definitely something of interest.
I kept my eye on it as it grew, unfurling from its somewhat lumpy start to a graceful and elegant plant with arching stems and feathery leaves. From the stems hang beautiful heart-shaped flowers in shades of pink, red-pink or white, giving it the common name of bleeding heart.
In the wild it’s found in moist soils on the edges of woodland, so will grow in sun or partial shade, and mixes well in woodland or cottage-garden schemes. The leaves yellow and go tatty by mid-summer, so grow it among later bloomers such as hardy geraniums and the shade-tolerant foliage of hostas, ferns and hellebores, which will take over as the dicentra fades. Plants die back to nothing over winter, but will reappear in spring.
Image featured: RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2024: Suzy Dean and Isabel Delaney’s Grand Appeal Garden that raised money for the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children