24th – 28th May 2016
Once again, Chelsea will be packed with amazing plant displays and the best cutting-edge garden designs
For five days in May, the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea will be transformed into the world’s greatest flower show.Some of the show-stopping displays include:
- Photographic exhibits and a floral arch to celebrate the 90th birthday of the RHS patron, HM the Queen.
- A 60-foot carriage from Belmond British Pullman, which will form part of the 6,000sq ft planted-up station in the Great Pavilion
- The RHS Garden for Health, Happiness and Horticulture designed by Ann-Marie Powell, and the Modern Apothecary Garden designed by RHS Ambassador Jekka McVicar
- The memorable poppies tribute by Phillip Johnson at the entrance to the show
- Horticultural showman Diarmuid Gavin is back with The British Eccentrics Garden featuring bizarre garden gadgetry that comes to life every 15 minutes
- An acoustic garden inspired by world-leading percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie will play musical notes to visitors
- Horticultural inspiration from around the world, including Jordan, the Netherlands, Cambodia, Japan, Chile, Australia and more
Exceptional garden designs
In 2016 there will be spectacular show gardens, showcasing the exceptional talent of a handful of carefully selected garden designers. Each illustrates the possibilities of garden design, landscaping and plantsmanship, and collectively they deliver a broad range of design styles and celebrate diverse themes. Alongside the Show Gardens are the smaller garden categories. The Artisan Gardens pay homage to traditional and contemporary artisan skills, and the Fresh Gardens category incorporate innovative materials and challenging ideas.
Celebrating HM the Queen’s 90th Birthday
The RHS patron, HM the Queen, will be celebrating her 90th birthday in 2016. To mark the occasion, RHS Chelsea Flower Show features will include photographic exhibits and a floral arch.
Health, Happiness and Horticulture
The theme of this year’s show will champion the health and wellbeing benefits of greening-up our grey spaces. Features in the ‘RHS Greening Grey Britain Garden for Health, Happiness and Horticulture’, designed by leading garden designer and BBC presenter Ann-Marie Powell, provide ideas for visitors to take home to their own gardens.
Greening Grey Britain is an RHS call to action to get the nation to transform hard, cold grey areas into planted-up beautiful places, to improve lives and help the environment.
This theme is incorporated in several designs at RHS Chelsea this year. Chris Beardshaw’s collaboration with Morgan Stanley has produced a unique Show Garden that will be relocated to the heart of Great Ormond Street Hospital after the show as a therapeutic space for parents. Alison Doxey and Stephen Welch have designed ‘The Garden Bed’ as a green space for hospice patients.
‘Healthy gardens, healthy gardeners’ by Coventry University will explore how gardening can be a form of exercise, if undertaken in the correct manner. The interactive feature in the Discovery Zone will show how hard a gardener’s muscles are working as he labours.
Explore stunning floral and horticultural exhibits
In the Great Pavilion more than 100 specialist plant breeders, nurseries and societies will create breath-taking floral exhibits with plants at the peak of perfection. Among the highlights here you’ll also find the interactive Discovery zone with thought-provoking displays, many created by plant scientists and colleges, highlighting the significance of plant science.
Close by, the winners in the regional heats of RHS Chelsea Florist of the Year, RHS Young Chelsea Florist of the Year, and RHS Chelsea Floristry College of the Year, will be crafting glorious floral displays, while outside in the Floral Design Studio members of NAFAS will be competing for medals.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show
