There are a lot of plants in the RHS Chelsea 2023 gardens. That may sound odd but we have had years where the hard landscaping seemed to dominate. This year, with the exception of a few designs, it’s the plants that hold sway.
There are densely planted borders, some beautiful combinations and even vegetables in a starring role. There are also a lot of wildflowers, including some like dandelions that a lot of gardeners would call weeds.
With 12 show gardens, seven sancturary gardens, and a feature garden, there’s a lot to see before you get to the container and balcony gardens, let alone the Great Pavilion with the All About Plants gardens and nursery displays. This, therefore, is just some of the highlights of my first day at the show.
I was eager to see Paul Hervey-Brookes’ garden for RBC Brewin Dolphin having spent a day with his team during the Chelsea build. (You can read about that here.)
The promise of something special has been fulfilled with a garden of textured planting set against simple hard landscaping.
The colours are muted – mauve, white, plum and masses of green – with beautiful viburnum and thalictrum.
The poppies, just buds when I last saw them, are beginning to open, adding another layer of rich colour to the scheme.
Another garden at RHS Chelsea 2023 that is plant-heavy is the design by Chris Beardshaw for Myeloma UK. Set under a canopy of specimen trees, there is a complex pattern of different shapes and textures. Blocks of colour come from zantedeschia and Siberian iris but the main colour is green.
A slowly overflowing water feature is a stunning focal point at one end where the planting opens up before one of two temples.
Iris sibirica ‘Tropic Night’ is a particularly striking part of the planting.
The planting on Cheltenham designer Martyn Wilson’s debut garden features many wildflowers, including buttercups.
Designed for the RSPCA and launching the charity’s 200th anniversary celebrations in 2024, it aims to show how you can have a stylish garden that is still good for wildlife with specially designed bird boxes and a central wildlife observation hide.
I particularly liked the rusty tones that run through the garden in things such as the bird boxes, decorative ‘dead hedge’ containers and the rain chain.
Continuing the theme of intricately planted borders is Horatio’s Garden, designed for the charity by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg of the Harris Bugg Studio.
This space has been carefully thought out to be accessible for those with mobility needs and will be relocated to a spinal injuries unit in Sheffield.
It was the planting combinations that caught my eye particularly the way the purples were set off by the yellow-green of the Smyrnium perfoliatum.
Yet, it was a garden with a lot of hard landscaping that I was drawn to. There is something beguiling about Sarah Price’s garden, which celebrates Cedric Morris’ Benton irises and I found myself returning to it.
The colour palate is suble and the walls, made from stacked straw bales rendered in lime mortar, provide the ideal backdrop.
And the irises are just wonderful with soft, smoky shades.
Darren Hawkes’ garden for The Samaritans starts with dramatic hard landscaping, using salvaged materials, and spiky plants, representing the difficult times that lead people to contact the charity.
The garden ends in a more open space and a seat for two to sit and talk, underlining the garden’s message that listening saves lives.
It’s good to see vegetables on Main Avenue and they are there thanks to Mark Gregory and his garden for Savills. It has a fully working kitchen and a beautifully planted vegetable plot.
This kitchen garden will provide ingredients for a chef who will cook for Chelsea pensioners during the show.
This floating garden of colourful flowers is a striking centrepiece to the garden.
And it pays to look closely. This dainty anemone is on The Boodles British Craft Garden by Thomas Hoblyn and could be easily missed. It works particularly well with the grass.
RHS Chelsea 2023 runs from May 23-27. More details here.
Top image from the RHS and Eastern Eye Garden of Unity by Manoj Malde.
You can read about my pick of the nursery displays here.
You can read more of my gardening show reports here.
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Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023 Mandy Bradshaw
Thank you ! A lovely read to start the ball rolling. I’m sad but not sad that I won’t see them this week as we are away. I will be through your posts! The Sarah Price garden looks amazing. As does Paul’s.
It’s a great year for gardens.