From beautiful, landscaped gardens to spectacular floral displays, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a gardener's dream. But how can you recreate these show looks at home? Here are our pick of easy trends to try in your own garden.
Plant bold colour
This year's show gardens were full of bold colour. From the rich purples, blazing oranges and warm yellows of Arit Anderson’s Parkinsons UK garden to the jewel-toned reds of the Boodles Garden. We also loved the joy of The Seasalt Painted Garden, with it's bright orange wall and blue containers full of flowers.
Get the look at home with Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ or ‘Caradonna,’ richly coloured Irises, West Country Lupins, Delphiniums, lush Peonies, Cosmos ‘Cherry Chocolate,’ Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ and tissue-paper Poppies.
Grow naturally
Sarah Eberle’s The Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: ‘On the Edge' garden is inspired by the overlooked fringes of towns and cities. Her naturalistic planting was a stand out theme at Chelsea 2026.
You don’t need to go fully wild in your own garden. Get this look by planting borders with Hardy Geraniums, Achillea, Scabious, Astrantia, Thalictrum and Foxgloves, and let them self-seed freely. Add Alliums and Eryngiums for sculptural interest. A naturalistic border will settle in and improve with every passing season, rewarding wildlife and gardeners alike.
Climate-resilient gardens
As shown by The Project Giving Back Garden climate-resilient gardens remain an important focus at Chelsea. Many displays featured plants that cope better in unpredictable weather, and our increasingly drier summers.
For a low-maintenance, resilient garden we recommend Agapanthus ‘Blackjack,’ English Lavender, Pittosporum, Cotinus, Olives, Sempervivums and seed-headed grasses. They will look after themselves from spring through to the first frost, and add some Chelsea style with very little effort.
Wildlife-friendly flowers
This year native and wildlife-friendly planting remains a big trend, reminding us that even the smallest space has a role to play in supporting biodiversity.
Look for plants like Foxgloves, which are bumblebee magnets and self-seed year after year. Scabious is a favourite with butterflies, whilst Alliums are exceptional for bees and look amazing too. Salvia and Hardy Geraniums have a long-flowering season and are loved by insects well into the autumn months.
Small garden ideas
At Chelsea small gardens really are beautiful! Proving you don't have to have a big garden to grow a tree, we loved the flowering apple tree in the circular Alzheimer’s Society: Microbes and Minds Garden. We also spotted trees in containers in Katerina Kantalis' gold-winning, balcony garden A Little Garden of Shared Knowledge. This nostalgic space featured homely details like wicker garden furniture and vintage shelves, stacked with plants and herbs in terracotta pots.
Plant layered borders
The most memorable show gardens work in layers, and it's easy to recreate this in your own garden.
- Start with a structural tree like a white-stemmed Betula, an Acer, a Malus, or the Chelsea 2026 shortlisted Prunus ‘Japanese Lanterns’.
- Add mid-height interest with Hydrangea Paniculata, Lacecap or Quercifolia varieties, traditional roses, Acer palmatum or flowering Cornus Kousa.
- Finally in the front of your borders place Geranium ‘Rozanne,’ Heuchera, shade-loving Hostas, Tiarella and fragrant oriental lilies.
- Chelsea top tip! Choose a 'hero' plant and plant repeatedly through your borders to create flow.
For smaller spaces look to vertical plants. Clematis is a Chelsea classic, and 2026 sees the launch of Raymond Evison’s new varieties ‘Ithemba’ and ‘Eliza’, alongside the shortlisted ‘Queen’s Nurse’. Scented Jasmine (Trachelospermum) and Wisteria ‘Amethyst Falls’ are equally rewarding and can be grown in pots.
