The Chelsea Flower Show is one of the most anticipated annual events in the world of gardening – and it’s a bucket list item for anyone interested in the remarkable possibilities of flora.
This London-based show is hosted by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) on the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. And ever since it debuted in 1913, it’s blossomed into a phenomenal festival celebrating everything that grows.
At the four-day extravaganza (held from the 20th-24th May), you’ll find everything from fantastic floral displays and spectacular show gardens to flower arranging workshops and gardening-related shopping opportunities.
But you don’t need to be an experienced gardener to enjoy the Chelsea Flower Show. In fact, there are plenty of other reasons to attend – like the unique music, food, and atmosphere. Below, you’ll find some of the top reasons for visiting this year.
1. You can treat your senses to the fantastic array of flowers on display
One of the main reasons why hundreds of thousands of people visit the Chelsea Flower Show each year is because of the unmatched range of kaleidoscopic blooms on display.
Between the nurseries and growers showcasing their work in the Great Pavilion, and all of the fantastic gardens on display, the grounds at the Royal Hospital Chelsea are transformed into an incredible mosaic of colour.
2. You can get inspired by the latest horticultural trends
Gardening, like any art, is constantly evolving. Innovations in landscaping and design push the limits of what was once thought possible, and trends emerge, disappear, and re-emerge. So, if you’re looking for some ideas to use in your own green space, the gardens on display at the show are packed with impressive planting and design.
The world-famous main show gardens are an obvious place to start if you’re looking to discover what horticultural ingenuity you could adopt yourself.
There are lots of gardens to see this year – each with cutting-edge design and trending plants. The Centrepoint Garden, by famed designer Cleve West, and The RHS and Eastern Eye Garden of Unity, which aims to promote diversity and inclusion in horticulture, are two examples of eagerly anticipated installations.
Gardens in the ‘All About Plants’ category are also worth a visit if you’re looking for gardening inspiration. Here, designers have collaborated with charities to create gardens that reflect their individual causes. But there’s a strong focus on plants, rather than other, more complicated features – which is great if you’re looking to get creative with or introduce more greenery to your own garden.
For more information on the gardens on display this year, check out the RHS website.
3. You can sample the delicious food and drink on offer
While growing and gardening are undoubtedly the main focuses of the Chelsea Flower Show, there’s also plenty on offer to satisfy your foodie side!
Amongst the gardens, displays, and market stalls, you’ll find various food options – from bustling cafes to luxury dining.
If you’re looking for an elevated dining experience, why not book a place at The Ranelagh Restaurant? The Ranelagh offers luxury breakfast and lunch packages (with all ingredients on the lunch menu sourced within 30 miles of the grounds). Or perhaps a spot at the Champagne and Seafood Restaurant might be more to your taste.
Alternatively, you could visit one of the many cafes and food courts if you’re looking for a more informal meal. Though be prepared, some food stalls can get quite busy, so you might want to pack your own lunch to enjoy in one of the picnic areas dotted around the showground.
4. You can get some ingenious tips on how to make the most of your gardening space
These days, space is at more of a premium than ever – and this is especially true when it comes to gardening. With so many people living in urban environments, it can be a challenge to get stuck into some green-fingered activities.
Fortunately, amateurs and professionals alike have been coming up with inventive new ways to grow all sorts of things in small gardens, and even on patios, balconies, and windowsills.
If you’re a small-space gardener, the Chelsea Flower Show’s various balcony gardens can provide a window into some ingenious space-saving strategies.
For example, The Restorative Balcony Garden stresses the importance of adding items to your green space that have both practical and aesthetic advantages. And the Doorstep Library Garden saves space by doubling up as a garden, reading space, and library.
The container gardens – such as Feels Like Home and The Platform Garden – are worth visiting, too, and show how you can create a leafy paradise, even when there’s no ground in which to plant.
Plus, this year in the Great Pavilion, Caley Bros – a company that supplies grow-at-home mushroom kits – will be displaying how nurturing fungi is a worthwhile growing solution for those with limited space.
For more tips on how to get the most out of your small gardening space, check out our articles: 9 tips for gardening in small spaces and 10 things you can grow in a window box at home.
5. You can take home a treasure to add to your home or garden
Throughout the showground, you’ll find various stalls and shops selling artisan items for your home and garden.
Featuring everything from small-scale, specialist plant sellers (like Kelnan Plants, a family-run nursery that propagates and grows South African plants), to well-known gardening toolmakers like Burgon & Ball, you’re sure to come across something you love.
You can head to the RHS website to find out more about what vendors are featured at the show this year.
6. Witness two prestigious floristry competitions
This year, the iconic Great Pavilion will be home to two categories of floristry competitions. Here, you can see firsthand Floral Art of the highest standard.
The first category, Creative Spaces lets designers take free rein of their art with no rules or themes. Expect to see pieces that push the boundary of expression as you see which of these achieve the Floristry Ambassador’s Choice award.
On the other side of things, the Floral Creations category puts competitors’ art on a plinth stage within the given booth. Here, expect tightly crafted designs that fit a specific set of requirements.
You can find out a little more about the Floral Art this year on the RHS website.
7. You can learn about the latest discoveries in horticultural sciences
The Chelsea Flower Show isn’t simply a place to learn how to grow more fruits and vegetables, or how to arrange aesthetically pleasing floral displays. In recent years, the RHS has demonstrated a commitment to educating people about the latest innovations in horticultural sciences.
This year, in the Great Pavilion, you’ll find The Discovery Zone. Here, you can explore interactive displays and delve into the many interesting advances in the field of horticulture. There is a particular focus on issues like how plants and gardening can help combat climate change and improve mental health.
To get an idea of what sorts of things to expect, check out what was featured in The Discovery Zone last year on the RHS website.
8. You can listen to some show-stopping music
With a typical all-day ticket for the Chelsea Flower Show, you can show up to enjoy everything the event has to offer between the hours of 8am and 8pm. But on Friday 23rd of May – the penultimate day of the show – the RHS is hosting a special event: Chelsea Late, which will see the festivities continuing further into the evening.
Running from 5:30pm to 10pm, Chelsea Late will feature a range of activities and productions that aren’t available during the day – one of the most exciting of which will be Sara Cox Power Wower, featuring timeless pop, RnB and dance hits for a celebration of feel-good music. You can find this at the Ranelagh Gardens at 8pm sharp!
9. Witness Seawilding and the importance of marine conservation
One of the most compelling reasons to attend the Chelsea Flower Show this year – even if you’re a seasoned veteran of the event – is that there are lots of firsts planned. For example, for the first time ever, seagrass – our only native ocean flowering plant – will feature at this year’s show.
Inspired by Loch Craignish, the West Scotland home of marine restoration charity Seawilding, this garden features sandstone rock outcrops, a saltwater pool, and pebble beach. The seagrass used in this garden was grown by The Ocean Conservation Trust at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, with some also expected to originate from Scotland’s West Coast.
Designed by Seawilding’s Ryan McMahon, the garden will put a spotlight on the efforts of this remote coastal community to reverse biodiversity loss. If you’d like to read more about this exhibit, check out this page by Seawilding.
10. Celebrate neurodiversity with The ADHD Foundation Garden
With over 15% of people in the UK living with neurodiverse conditions, the aim of this design is to encourage visitors to ‘think differently about thinking differently’. This highly detail-rich environment features unique tree and shrub shapes, alongside unconventional planting layouts to represent and celebrate neurodivergent minds.
Key features of this garden are a central reflection pool and umbrella figures created by David Begbie. These are a motif of the ADHD Foundation and their commitment to inclusivity.
If you’d like to learn more about this piece, which was inspired by designer Katy Terry’s ADHD diagnosis, check out its page on the RHS website.
Final thoughts…
With all the different activities on offer and things to see, whether you’re a gardening fanatic or not, there are many reasons to visit the Chelsea Flower Show. But one of the best is simply to immerse yourself in the unique atmosphere of the world’s most famous flower show. It’s an event that fizzes with life, vitality, and spring joviality.
If you’re interested in attending this year, head over to the RHS website to secure your tickets. But make sure not to wait too long, because, with the show just around the corner, they might sell out!
For more gardening content, check out the home and garden section of our website. And if you’re interested in more ideas for exciting days out, you’ll find plenty of suggestions in our art and culture section.
Note: Often described as ‘the Glastonbury of flower shows’, the Chelsea Flower Show attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year. And naturally, this means that it can get very busy.
To help avoid the crowds, seasoned visitors recommend arriving early in the morning or late in the afternoon. But if you don’t do well in large crowds, then you might want to consider watching from home.
And while the RHS works hard to make the show accessible for all, if you have a disability, you may want to visit this page on the RHS website to plan your visit.
Are you planning on visiting the Chelsea Flower Show this year? Or have you attended before? If so, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.
