The RHS Chelsea Flower
Show in London

The annual Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show is a pilgrimage for garden enthusiasts from around the globe.

Described as the world’s most celebrated garden show, it is a landmark event for hobbyists and industry insiders alike. Garden-lovers schedule vacations in the U.K. each May to attend this spectacle of horticulture in fashionable West London.

Each year, over 150,000 people attend the five-day extravaganza to gawk and marvel, covet and plan, with many taking trips to London solely for this event. The 11-acre grounds on the north bank of the River Thames are transformed into dozens of temporary gardens flanking an enormous pavilion housing vendors displaying every tempting flower, shrub, bulb, and grass imaginable, along with myriad accessories irresistible to gardeners, from boots and gloves to sundials and furniture.

Attend the Chelsea Flower Show

The Royal Horticultural Society, the U.K.’s leading gardening charity, has played a pivotal role in Great Britain’s gardening culture since its founding in 1804. Royal Hospital Chelsea, a home for veterans, has hosted the event since 1913. The stately building, designed by noted architect Christopher Wren and completed in 1692, serves as a handsome backdrop to the festivities.

A visit to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a must on any gardener’s trip to England, guaranteed to inspire. Often compared to Paris Fashion Week, this is where trends are launched, brand new plants are introduced, and industry players show off their finest. The many open-air gardens are the pinnacle attraction. Designed and installed by various collaborations among garden societies, esteemed designers, and private enterprises, they may reflect show themes, such as Urban Living, an inspiration for the smaller city garden. 

There’s also an enormous pavilion housing countless nurseries and other vendors. Prizes are awarded for best displays, so these elaborate pop-up shops are as dazzling as the Chelsea Flower Show gardens. Nurseries specializing in single plants (hostas! hydrangeas!) rub elbows with thematic vendors (woodland! drought tolerant! carnivorous!). Candles, loppers, saws, greenhouses, water features, needlepoint, fire pits, linens, sculpture, jewelry, lighting­­: Enthusiastic shoppers will wish for an extra suitcase for all the tempting goodies offered by hundreds of vendors.

Talented florists vie for medals with ambitiously crafted displays. A new floral competition launches in 2020, with themes such as British Blooms, using flowers and foliage only from the United Kingdom; Pollination, focusing on plants attractive to insects; and Preservation, restricted to dried plants.

The Talks Theater, seating about 100, and the Potting Bench, an informal seated area, offer educational opportunities, demonstrations, and a chance to rest weary feet. Visitors can also recharge at a number of dining facilities, ranging from white-tablecloth-and-stemware to food courts. Champagne and Pimm’s cups are favored libations, and some restaurants take reservations.

The floral festivities spill out to the posh streets of Chelsea, a luxurious area worthy of additional tours of London. Chelsea in Bloom is a local civic competition coinciding with the flower show. Local high-end boutiques, restaurants, and hotels commission stunning floral installations for lobbies and storefronts, vying for coveted awards. The Chelsea Flower Show reverberates throughout the city, with myriad floral- and garden-inspired exhibits, events, pop-ups, and more at locations across central London. Many restaurants get in on the action with thematic drinks and food complementing the horticultural theme.

A day at the Chelsea Flower Show, a highlight of any green thumb’s trips to London will check a treasured box on a garden enthusiast’s bucket list. A memorable day spent wandering the grounds and snapping pictures promises to generate garden inspiration for years to come, along with unparalleled immersion into the gardening culture of Britain and the world.