RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 - A marathon not a sprint...

On the first day of RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026, we entered the site wearing coats, scarves and trousers. By the end, it was 30+ degrees, and we were trying to keep cool by dipping our toes in the award-winning natural swimming pool opposite us! (With their permission, of course!)

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a marathon, not a sprint. Preparation starts the year prior, applying for a trade stand in August for the opportunity to exhibit at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in the following May. If the application is successful, our space is confirmed in October, giving us 6 months to plan the stand, make stock and to prepare (build, paint, etc.) as much as possible off-site in advance of the big build.

We start setting up at 6 am on the Wednesday before the Show’s opening, with 5 days to transform our stand from an empty shell space to an RHS Chelsea-worthy exhibit and functional retail space. This year, the early days of the Show were brightened by another 3-star award from the Show’s retail judges, for a ‘High quality presentation.’

Being on site early each day (typically by 7.15 am) allows us to briefly explore the site before the gates open to visitors at 8 am. Our favourite Show Garden this year was the ‘Flourish in the City Garden’, a Small Show Garden designed by the Carey Garden Design Studio. Inspired by London’s oyster heritage and ‘celebrating the hidden pearls of London’, the garden was full of subtle colour combinations and textures, pale rockroses, fragile icy poppies, glowing salvias, and a verdigris copper-edged series of rills with tinkling water flowing through the garden.

Favourite plants were the pale blue salvias, white rockroses and spikily fluffy Pulsatilla seedheads.

In addition to the inspirational planting designs, Chelsea is very much about catching-up with old friends, as well as meeting new people. We were wonderfully surprised by a visit to our stand by Niroko (pictured below middle and right) who has transformed one of our Wildflower Meadow Tea Towels in to this beautifully appliqued jacket – perfect Chelsea attire!

We’re very grateful to our returning customers who make their way through the Show’s crowds specifically to find us year after year, for a chat and to find out what’s new. This year we launched the A Blackbird Sang Lampshades:

And three new indoor Pot Stem designs (Aquilegia, Wild Daffodil and Wild Iris):

We had a new stand neighbour for 2026, Kate and the Natural Swimming Pool Ltd. Kate’s stand was incredible and was rightly awarded 5 stars by the judges and the Director General’s Best Trade Stand 2026 award. We were so lucky to look out on to the beautiful planting and the bubbling pool throughout the week. And being able to cool our weary feet in it whilst temperatures soared was an added bonus!

Catching-up with Paul the Chelsea Pensioner, whom we first met in 2022, is an annual highlight and this year we learnt about the Chelsea Pensioners’ own in-house garden competition which runs within the Hospital’s barracks alongside the Flower Show.

Being located on Pavillion Way also gives us an opportunity to get to know many of the nursery growers who exhibit and sell their plants in the Grand Pavilion. Daily chats over coffee about the adaptation to growing in peat free compost, preparing high quality plants to the Chelsea standard (and deadlines), and sales. If you are ever in the East Lothian area, we recommend Letham Plants and Cut Flowers for their fantastic Astrantia and Peonies!

Finally, after the hectic plant sell off which always occurs at 4pm on the last day (Saturday) of Chelsea, the big pack-up and breakdown begins. This year we were off-site by early Sunday morning – 11 days of being on-site removed, gone, in just a few short hours. It’s surreal how quickly each Chelsea becomes another tired but happy memory.

After dropping everything back to our warehouse, it was nice to be home and to spend the Bank Holiday Monday in our own garden. Until we start doing it all again in August… In the meantime, join us at RHS Badminton Flower Show and RHS Sandringham Flower Show in July! Our full 2026 events listing can be found here.

2026 was our 7^th year of exhibiting at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, to read more about our previous stands, please read our "A Blackbird Sang at RHS Chelsea Flower Show since 2019" blogpost. Thank you, as ever, for supporting our small business. Genny & Tony

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