Highlights from Chelsea Flower Show 2024

I spent the start of the week at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show – one day in the glorious sunshine for press day on Monday, and one day in slightly more torrential rain on the Tuesday!

As ever, Chelsea was a riot of colour, new plants, stunning gardens, and a bucketload of inspiration that I want to take away and try out myself. It actually turned out to be a real highlight to experience it in such contrasting weather conditions as well – seeing the gardens in both blazing sun and pouring rain really showed their different elements. It’s something we always think about when designing gardens here in Wales: will they look as good in the rain as they do in the sun?

These were my highlights of the show this year, some of the plants, planting and design details that took my breath away.

Tranquil, shady planting in Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden for the National Garden Scheme

It was great to see shady planting really having a moment throughout the entire show, with a few of the main gardens incorporating plenty of trees and shade planting underneath them. Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden was an absolute masterclass in calm, tranquil planting and design. I especially loved the view from the side (see the photo at the top) onto the hut. A huge stone water trough collected rainwater and reflected views of the trees above, while a matching stone sink at the side of the hut was a glorious outdoor water source, next to a potting bench covered with terracotta pots. A beautiful serene moment, and a space I would love to spend time…

The sunken bread oven in the Freedom from Torture Garden

Designed by John Warland and Emma O’Connell, the Freedom from Torture Garden is a sanctuary for survivors, and a healing place to connect with friends. The sunken bread oven at the centre was a gorgeous element. The sunken seating area featured curved seating all around the edges, surrounded by a small stream, to bring the sound and peace of running water into the space.

Seating in the Burma Skincare Initiative Spirit of Partnership Garden

Also featuring curved seating, the dry stone S shaped bench in the Burma skincare garden was another highlight for me. The bench is in the shape of the 28th letter of the Burmese alphabet “la” which means “to come together”…

Dry stone structures are always a favourite (something we see a lot of in Wales) and this was a beautiful use of it in the space, with small plants growing out of pockets. It looked as if it had been there forever, which is always impressive in a Chelsea setting.

Matthew Childs garden for the Terence Higgins Trust

Another garden that featured stone, this was a gorgeous combination of materials, with chunky stone steps leading to the back part of the garden, steel spouts pouring water into pools at the front of the garden, that ran underneath the path, and rich, lush planting that incorporates the plants of North Wales quarries, and featured plenty of ferns and birch trees (two of our all-time favourites!) I was really inspired by this garden, and the way all of the different elements tied together, especially the water. We’ve been incorporating lots more water into our gardens recently through SUDS schemes, so it was exciting to see interesting ways of moving water through the space.

Stone and steel in the Killick & Co garden

Also combining stone, steel and water features, the Killik & Co: ‘Money Doesn't Grow On Trees’ Garden was a space to be enjoyed by families. I especially liked the steel structure above the seating area, which doubled up as a water feature, with running water cascading down the edge.

The awe-inspiring structure in the Water Aid garden

Designed by Tom Massey and Je Ahn, the Water Aid garden focused on sustainable water management. A huge structure at the centre of the design harvested every drop of rainwater, funnelling it through to water features, and storing it for future use, and was planted on top with a green roof.

This was a real wow moment of the show – it was so good to see a garden with contemporary drama, and sustainability at its core. Everything a show garden should be about: pushing design boundaries and working with the environment.

Ula Maria’s forest bathing garden

This was the winner for best in show, and it brought together so many of my favourite elements from this year’s Chelsea in one place. Designed by Ula Maria for Muscular Dystrophy UK, this is a garden that aims to offer a place for solace and reflection. It incorporates shady, woodland planting, a sense of tranquillity, and a really clever use of reclaimed materials. I especially liked the wall at the back of the garden, which uses a mixture of reclaimed slate, creasing tiles and clay pavers to create a beautiful focal point.

Tom Bannister’s Eco therapy garden

This was my absolute highlight of the entire show. A small courtyard garden, with a restrained colour palette and a clever use of concrete, this showed just what magic could be achieved in the smallest of spaces! Every last detail in the space was absolute perfection, from the herringbone floor, to the sumptuous plunge pool, and the taps coming out of the wall.

It looked amazing in the sunshine on Monday, with the dappled shade of filtered light through the tree canopy hitting the floor and the surface of the water. But it also looked especially good in the rain, with the glossy green foliage of the planting shining under raindrops.

An absolute standout of the show for me.

Plants, plants, plants!

And finally, a few of the plants that I especially loved discovering at the show. Some old favourites and some entirely new…

Delicate *Anchusa azurea* on the Burmese skincare garden

Shade planting was undeniably having a moment. So many gardens featured plants that thrive in partial or even deep shade, and I loved to see ferns popping up everywhere, along with lots of gorgeous rodgersia and other lush and leafy shade lovers. It was great to see so much foliage planting as real features, along with plenty of flowers, of course…

Some new-to-me plants were the Saruma henryi (pictured below) on Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden (we heard plenty of people asking for an ID on this one, so it was very popular!) — an upright wild ginger, that does well in full or part shade.

In Ula Maria’s forest bathing garden, I especially loved Silene fimbriata, a delicate little silene, with tiny frilly white flowers and Trollius x cultorum 'Alabastor' with the palest of yellow flowers, which grows well in damp soil and full sun. Both are available to buy from the ever-wonderful Beth Chatto Nursery.

And a real favourite was the Italian bugloss (pictured above) on the Burmese skincare garden. The botanical name is Anchusa azurea and it grows well in moist conditions in part shade. A real beauty.

The new David Austin rose, ‘Emma Bridgewater’ was an absolute beauty, and we saw almost everyone who passed by stop to smell it. Photos don’t do it justice, I’m ordering it immediately for my own garden!

Along with roses, of course, some of our favourite plants were popping up in gardens throughout the show, with thalictrum showcased in many gardens, and orange geums making an equally prolific appearance!

It was great to see edibles really having a moment too. I spent a while at the She Grows Veg stand (regular readers will know this is one of our very favourite places to buy seeds) and had a brilliant chat with Lucy and Kate about all of the fabulous heirloom seeds that they sell.

I also stopped to admire Sid Hill and Chris Hull’s edible meadow in their garden for bowel research. The meadow featured edibles that contain probiotics to help nourish the human microbiome. Chris let me have a wander through the garden, and I was seriously impressed with the amazing details throughout the garden.