My Top 6 Picks From Chelsea 2026
Here are my top 6 picks from our visit to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year.
We had a wonderful day at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year and it was great to catch up with the latest trends in garden design. Colourful planting is definitely on it’s way back, which makes a marked change from recent years. With regard to hard landscaping, we noticed lots of designers using compacted gravel pathways instead of paving this year and interestingly, water features and pergolas appeared in most of the gardens. With so much to choose from, it was tricky to narrow down my favourites, but here are my top 6 picks from the show:
1. Bold and Colourful Planting
- We loved the joyful return to colourful planting seen in the prominence of blue and yellow schemes throughout the show’s gardens, often with a pop of white and purple added for contrast.
- This marks a move to more bold and vibrant planting design, and a shift away from the more natural and subtle planting which has dominated the show for many years.
- Here it is seen in the appropriately named ‘The Eden Project: Bring Me Sunshine Garden’ by designers Harry Holding and Alex Michaelis.
2. Conservatory Archives
- The giant and succulent cacti found on the ‘Conservatory Archives’ stand proved a show stopper, and left you wondering how long these amazing specimens took to grow.
- This houseplant studio display, ‘An Ode to Endurance’, of a large variety of cacti and succulents, considered how the origins of these plants inform the care requirements which enable them to thrive in our homes.
3. ‘Alzheimer’s Society: Microbes and Minds Garden’
- We were struck by the stunning amber-coloured glossy curved sculptures in the ‘Alzheimer’s Society: Microbes and Minds Garden’ designed by Tina Worboys.
- This small garden honours apple cider vinegar and its gut health properties, with plants such as chamomile and peppermint on display to promote health.
4. Sarah Eberle’s Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: ‘On the Edge’
- Sarah Eberle’s show garden delivered on inspiration and there was no surprise it was awarded a gold medal by the judges.
- The premise of the garden is the importance of caring for rural areas on the edges of towns and cities. With the emphasis that with our help, nature can flourish not only in beauty spots, but ‘against the odds close to where we live’.
- At the core of Sarah’s design is an impressive sculpture of Gaia, the goddess of nature sleeping peacefully in her surroundings.
- She has been carved from a fallen Sequoia tree by a chainsaw artist. Willow tendrils erupt from her head for her hair and trail on to a curved stone wall which wraps around the garden representing her body.
5. Tulips from Hart’s Nursery
- These tulips can’t help but put a smile on your face with their pops of vibrant colour. They have been expertly cultivated by Harts Nursery. This year they won a Silver-gilt floral medal.
6. Copper Tree Water Features
- We loved the the delicate copper tree water features on the Quist stand.
- They hum with the gentle sound of trickling water and have long been a favourite of mine at the show.
- Mehrdad Tafreshi works in copper and glass and his new designs are launched here at the show every season.
- Every single element of the sculpture fountains, including the leaves, is hand cut and hand made.
- His sculptures come in multiple sizes and would add a beautiful feature to any garden.
We hope you enjoyed this little snapshot of Chelsea 2026!
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