The first designs are off the drawing board – how will they match up in real life?
The first show garden artwork has been released for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026. It’s always interesting to see how the designer’s vision aligns with reality when the show opens in May. It’s half the fun!
Until we get to see the real thing, I’ll continue to add to this post so you can get an idea of the trends that will shape our gardening world next year. Far more useful to have that information in winter when we can plan our own gardens. Read about the Chelsea Plant of the Year 2025. Here’s more on the 2024 show.
Project Giving Back (PGB) is a grant-making charity that funds gardens for good causes at the show. PGB launched in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Find out more at www.givingback.org.uk.
Chelsea Flower Show 2026 – Show Gardens
The Tate Britain Garden by Crocus, Main Avenue
Designer: Tom Stuart-Smith; plants by Crocus and Dave Root of Kelways. Sponsors: The Clore Duffield Foundation and Project Giving Back.
- Inspiration: East Asian woodlands. The planting reflects Tate Britain’s sustainability goals and uses long-lived plants which increase biodiversity.
- Design features: A curving path of reclaimed York stone leads to a circular seating area with benches of repurposed materials. A water feature, based on microscopic images of fungal structures, is made with small, shallow bronze dishes, inset into the paving and connected by rills. In early 2026, a sculpture by a leading British artist will be revealed.
- Key plants: Vibrant, complex planting featuring tender and drought-tolerant species.
- Permanent home: Part of the larger Clore Garden at Tate Britain, opening in Autumn 2026.
The Children’s Society Garden, Main Avenue
Designer: Patrick Clarke, in collaboration with young people from the society. Sponsors: Project Giving Back.
- Inspiration: Shining a light on the UK’s growing teenage wellbeing crisis, through the Japanese philosophy of
- wabi-sabi – finding beauty in imperfection and the re-crafting of discarded materials.
- Design features: A contemporary, urban-style site with sheltered, calm spaces and sustainable design elements. The reclaimed materials create a harmonious, eco-conscious space.
- Key plants: Resilient, low-maintenance planting, focusing on a multi-stemmed Acer campestre. Plants suit the light levels, from succulents to shade lovers.
- Permanent home: The Children’s Society’s Youth Support Centres in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire.
Chelsea Flower Show 2026 – The Lady Garden Foundation ‘Silent No More’, Main Avenue
Designer: Darren Hawkes. Sponsors: Project Giving Back.
- Inspiration: Raising awareness of gynaecological cancers. Its design features forms and planting that subtly echo the female body.
- Design features: Four architectural clay structures measuring 2.5 metres high form a cocoon-like space, evoking the protective nature of the womb.
- Key plants: Richly planted borders of shifting tones cascading around five sculptures made in different materials that each represent one of the five cancers.
- Permanent home: Part of the garden will be relocated to a community on Jersey. Additional plants will be donated to the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: ‘On the Edge’
Designer: Sarah Eberle; plants by Crocus, Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants and Dave Root of Kelways. Builders: The Outdoor Room. Sponsors: Project Giving Back.
- Inspiration: Celebrating the CPRE’s centenary and the countryside as a living, shared space. It shapes our wellbeing, communities and future, shining a light on the overlooked ‘edgelands’ of urban areas.
- Design features: Set on land on the urban fringe, cared for by a community. The garden features a fallen mature tree carved into a guardian figure – Gaia or Mother Nature – that is supporting life.
- Key plants: Surrounded by generous, naturalistic planting, her hand touches water from a shallow pool. Her willow hair flows to form the top of a dry-stone wall that snakes through the landscape.
- Permanent home: A regenerated housing development in urban Sheffield.
Chelsea Flower Show 2026 – The Killik & Co ‘A Seed in Time’ Garden
- Designer: Designed by Baz Grainger; built by Landform Consultants Ltd. Sponsored by Killik & Co.
- Inspiration: The garden celebrates the disappearing crafts of the wetland – traditional straw bale and reed building.
- Design features: The structure captures and channels rainwater into a small flood zone to form a central wetland habitat. It supports wildlife, providing harvests and gives year-round seasonal interest.
- Key plants: Naturalistic planting with cultivated species, in a palette of pale purples, creams, oranges and deep reds. Look for Phragmites australis, Melica altissima Purpurea, Lamium album, Epimedium alpinum, and Rubus ulmifolius Bellidiflorus.
- Permanent home: Centre Point, Kennington, London.
Tokonoma Garden – Samumaya no Niwa
- Designer: Kazuyuki Ishihara and Paul Noritaka Tange, built by Daikanyama Kadan. Sponsored by Nippon Calmic, HB-101, Tange Associates, Glion and Fractale.
- Inspiration: Harmony and connection, inspired by the designer’s childhood memories of the Sanumaya drapery store, where his large family gathered. The tokonoma was a centre for the home, with views of the garden.
- Design features: A traditional stone lantern conveys a sense of weight and permanence. The large garden gate heightens vistors’ anticipation for the garden ahead.
- Key plants: A subtle colour scheme inspired by traditional Japanese aesthetics with shades of green from moss and foliage. Highlights include the purple and blue of irises, Fuki (Farfugium japonicum) adds charm with its glossy foliage and autumn flowers, while ferns bring delicate texture.
- Permanent home: To be relocated in the UK.
Chelsea Flower Show 2026 – Asthma + Lung UK Breathing Space Garden
- Designer: Angus Thompson, built by Dan Flynn. Sponsored by Project Giving Back.
- Inspiration: This woodland-edge garden reflects the voices of people living with lung conditions, offering a breathing space in which to reconnect with nature.
- Design features: Accessible paths, graded steps, and seated rest points lead to the heart of the garden, where two structural pine trees, anchor a ‘floating’ platform. This sheltered space is designed for yoga and tai chi. Running water and a still pond introduce sound and calm.
- Key plants: A restrained palette of green and white highlighted by purple and orange, with pockets of low-allergen plants. Look for
- Scleranthus uniflorus, Iris ensata, Boehmeria platyphylla, Spiraea betulifolia, and Sorbaria aitchisonii.
- Permanent home: Breathing Space lung rehabilitation centre in Rotherham.
Parkinson’s UK – A Garden for Every Parkinson’s Journey
- Designer: Arit Anderson, built by Landscape Associates. Sponsored by Project Giving Back.
- Inspiration: Inspired by a workshop for gardeners living with Parkinson’s and their families.
- Design features: A wide, accessible path weaves through borders, unified by a sculptural “hand-rill”. Beneath a wooden, organic-shaped arch, visitors can rest. After dark, the garden is lit, highlighting the symptom of insomnia.
- Key plants: A sunny border of jewel-toned perennials and annuals combines with woodland-inspired planting. Main plants are tulips, scentless roses, Peonies, white foxgloves and Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean).
- Permanent home: John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, a UK Parkinson’s Centre of Excellence.
Chelsea Flower Show 2026 – The Eden Project Bring Me Sunshine Garden
- Designer: Harry Holding and Alex Michaelis, built by Landscape Associates. Sponsored by Project Giving Back and Eden Project.
- Inspiration: The landscapes and culture of Morecambe Bay, and helping young people get into green industries.
- Design features: A solar-powered structure serves as a shelter and classroom. A central table hosts workshops that blend hands-on craft, horticulture, and digital learning. A shell-inspired island terrace, surrounded by a reflective pool captures and recycles rainwater. Framed by limestone, shell-based materials and salt-tolerant planting, the garden reflects Morecambe Bay.
- Key plants: Evoking a coastal meadow, the colour palette is led by pinks and yellows, and pops of blue. Look for Salix exigua, Hippophae rhamnoides, Calamagrostis epigejos, Atriplex halimus, and Echium vulgare.
- Permanent home: Eden Project Morecambe, part of a new 1.5-acre community space.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 takes place from May 19-13, with the press day on Monday, May 18. For ticket details, visit www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show.
