For many gardeners, the growing season starts with the RHS Malvern Spring Festival, the first big show of the year and a chance to see inspiring gardens and buy plants.
It’s the 40th anniversary of the launch of the festival – although the 38th show due to pandemic cancellations – and it’s heralded with a new design contest, several nurseries making their floral marquee debut and new faces in the lineup of speakers.
‘Our theme is Plants and People, celebrating the connections between plants and our daily lives, whether that be from the food we eat or the air we breathe to gardening and our well-being,’ says Jane Edwards, Head of Shows.
There will be inspiration for both indoor and outdoor gardeners with eight show gardens and eight designs using houseplants. Meanwhile, the 12 school gardens will showcase the work of the next generation of growers.
Leigh Johnstone. Photo: Rob Luckins New this year is the Give it a Grow theatre hosted by Leigh Johnstone. It’s designed as an educational hub with practical advice, demonstrations and tips on everything from propagation to natural screening for gardens.
Nicki Chapman will be hosting the main stage for the first time and welcoming several speakers who are also making their Malvern debut. Rachel de Thame will talk about growing plants that benefit pollinators. Sarah Gerrard-Jones will be sharing her love of houseplants, Anya Lautenbach will be giving tips on money-saving growing, and Adam Alexander will talk about heritage vegetables.
Show regulars, including Alan Titchmarsh CBE, Chris Collins, Adam Frost and Frances Tophill are among the other speakers – Adam and Frances will also be doing some cooking on the Kitchen Garden Theatre stage where Mark Diacono is the host. It will be set alongside an allotment designed by Jon Wheatley that has a Mediterranean theme to one area and another part where all the plants have three uses to help get the most out of available space.
‘Malvern is more than just a gardening show,’ says Jane. ‘It’s an immersive experience. There’s lots to see, do and get involved in.
‘It really is for everyone whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out. There’s lots to engage in from the gardens to the shopping, food and family activities.’
The festival runs from May 8-11 with the introduction of the first ‘Dog Day’ on Sunday May 11 when dogs will be allowed subject to some restrictions. Details and tickets for the festival are available at rhsmalvern.co.uk
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THE GARDEN DESIGNERS
RHS Malvern has long been the launchpad for designers’ careers – Chris Beardshaw, Paul Hervey-Brookes and Martin Wilson all started there before going on to RHS Chelsea – and the gardens are a popular part of the event with visitors.
This year sees new designers and familiar faces in the judged section with styles ranging from naturalistic to tropical. There will also be two feature gardens.
LUKE GUNNER
Gloucestershire designer Luke Gunner will be celebrating the Cotswolds when he makes his show garden debut at Malvern.
Marking 60 years of Cirencester firm Cotswold Estates and Gardens, it will include many iconic Cotswold features from beech woodland to stone walls.
A water rill will echo the stone-sided water courses found in the area. A ‘ford’ will double as a splash pool and the lychgate familiar from the region’s churches will be reflected in a covered seating space.
‘The idea is to use things that are found around the Cotswolds and turn them into garden features,’ explains Luke, who has been with the firm for four years and is the grandson of its founder.
A specially designed, diamond-shaped water feature will add movement and sound, and the diamond theme is repeated in plants with silver foliage. Other plants, such as Stachys byzantina or lamb’s ears, reflect the Cotswolds’ historic link with the wool trade.
Many of the plants, including a field maple (Acer campestre), have been recovered from clients’ gardens where they were unwanted or in the wrong place.
There will also be a return to the spotlight for a large Syringa palibin, which was also used on the firm’s 50th anniversary garden at Malvern, which won silver-gilt and the People’s Choice award.
EMILY CROWLEY-WROE
Cotswold designer Emily Crowley-Wroe is exploring the way plants can be used to improve urban spaces in her Malvern show garden.
Working with Newport’s community charity Maindee Unlimited and its volunteer gardening team Greening Maindee, Emily, from Bourton-on-the-Water, is creating an immersive, colourful space.
A trompe l’oeil mural by artist Andy O’Rourke will provide a striking backdrop to layers of plants and trees that have chosen for their pollution-filtering qualities or ability to cope with poor soil. They are also slow-growing and easy to maintain.
Paths will draw people into a central area with handcrafted gabion seating and planters.
‘The garden will show how the most unlikely spaces can be revitalised through community initiatives,’ explains Emily who has previously won two silver-gilt medals and a Best in Show at Malvern.
‘The aim is to draw in passers-by. I want people to feel immersed and close to nature.’
After the show, the garden will be relocated to a road junction at the entrance to Maindee, an area with the least green space in Newport.
JAMIE LANGLAND
For his second feature garden at RHS Malvern, designer Jamie Langlands is looking to nature for inspiration.
‘Hedge to Home’ will show how choosing native plants or cultivated varieties of them is a solution to having gardens that are resilient, good for wildlife and easier to maintain. In particular, plants that grow naturally in your neighbourhood are more likely to have adapted to local soil and weather conditions.
Jamie, who created ‘The Secret Escape’ feature garden at Malvern last year, will be planting a square border that’s been inspired by the Dorset countryside where he grew up, using silver birch, pine and heather.
‘It’s going to be very naturalistic,’ he says.
He’s hoping the design will encourage people to think beyond the plants they can get at a garden centre.
‘Nature does it perfectly by itself. Instead of trying to fight it, we should just try to play with it.’
IAN McBAIN
Designing a garden for use well into the evening is nothing new but Ian McBain is taking it one stage further with a garden to sleep in.
‘The Sleep in Beauty Garden’ will feature a king-sized bed under a structure that has a living roof and star-gazing panel. Weather-resistant drapes will add to the comfort.
‘Lots of people go camping all the time so why not camp out in your garden but in comfort,’ says Lincolnshire-based Ian, who won silver-gilt with a garden at Malvern last year.
There will be specimen trees – Ian’s hoping to use silver birch and crab apple – and the dappled shade they create will give a calm atmosphere, allowing him to showcase shade-loving plants, such as mahonia, ferns and sarcococca in a series of raised beds made from reclaimed industrial metal crates.
‘It will be a very leafy, deliberately calm display of essentially greens.’
Sustainability underpins the design with paving made from offcuts of stone and gravel made from waste stone. The structure will be made from old scaffolding boards.
KATE MASON
Former Pershore student Kate Mason is bringing a touch of the tropics to RHS Malvern with her debut show garden.
‘The Hierarchy of Plants’ aims to show people how to look after tropical plants and how they can be used in a garden.
Based on Mazlow’s Heierarchy of Needs, it will be planted in layers. At ground level will be plants that are tough enough to overwinter outside, such as bananas and tree ferns. Above those will be things that need winter protection, including the evergreen maidenhair (Adiantum venustum). Pops of colour will come from traditional cottage garden favourites, such as iris.
Plants will be in raised beds around a central patio and water feature that has an atomiser for producing mist, giving a truly tropical feel. A wooden pergola over the garden will give added protection to the plants.
‘It will be very tropical, very bright and bold and filled with lush leaves,’ says Kate, who has won platinum awards and a Best in Show for borders at BBC Gardeners’ World Live.
RUPERT KEYS & CHERRY CARMEN
Three large grain silos will form the backbone of a dramatic feature garden at this year’s festival.
‘Grain to Garden’ is the result of a collaboration between landscaper Rupert Keys, founder of TASK Academy near Pershore, and designer Cherry Carmen.
The silos, all around 4m in diameter and 5m high, will be used to create an interactive experience for visitors. One will house a bar, another will have a disco ball and lights, and the third will be a place to ‘chill out’ with a firepit.
They will be set into a naturalistic garden with wildflowers, a pond and winding paths.
Rupert, who is also mentoring new designers at Malvern, said: ‘It will be a fun space to walk through.’
The garden will be kept in place until after the Royal Three Counties Show in June.
HOT STUFF IN THE FLORAL MARQUEE
One of the highlights of the RHS Malvern Spring Festival is the Floral Marquee where some of the country’s top nurseries compete for medals in the first big RHS show of the season.
This year, there are some new faces among the exhibitors – some have never been at an RHS show before while others are making their Malvern debut.
There’s definitely a hot theme with chillies from South Devon Chilli Farm, tropical plants from Kent-based Basma’s Plant Centre, and a range of drought resistant plants from Plants Let’s Grow from Nottingham.
Other newcomers are Lancashire’s Leafy Lytham with seasonal annuals and mixed perennials, cottage perennials from Cumbria-based Dan’s Plants, and miniature hosta specialists Hogarth Hostas from Berkshire.
Meanwhile, Pershore College, which has often had a stand outside on the showground, will be bringing a range of peat-free shrubs and perennials into the marquee. The college is celebrating 70 years of horticultural education and the display will highlight some of the changes over that time.
This year’s Master Grower is Hare Spring Cottage Plants, which specialises in camassia, sidalcea, and uvularia.
Stella Exley, who runs the Devon nursery, is delighted to be in the Malvern spotlight.
‘Two of our three National Plant Collections will be significant features in the display – camassia and uvularia. We’re planning to create a meadow that will run along the length of the stand with our collection of ‘hares’ adding a whimsical touch!’
Jemima Willis, Katherine Norbury, and Kate Hurst, all based near the Malvern showground, have designed a series of zones including a circular hoop of twisted branches and dried flowers, areas planted with drought tolerant things, plinth displays of locally grown blooms, and seasonal farewell flowers.
The installation has been designed to have several spots where visitors can take ‘selfies’ among the blooms.
As well as nurseries, the Floral Marquee will have exhibits from gardening groups, including The Cottage Garden Society, Rose Society UK and the National Allotment Society.
LOOKING AHEAD TO CHELSEA
Cutting edge technology from Gloucestershire will be used for the first time at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Longhope firm Innocrete3D are building the main structure for a show garden by designer Baz Grainger of Landform Consultants, using their 3D printing process.
A wall and support for a pergola and rainwater harvesting system will be created using waste material from the steel industry.
‘It is a recycled material that has very little cement in it,’ explains company spokesman Neill Ricketts. ‘From a sustainability point of view, it ranks very highly and is also pretty much impervious to water as well, which makes really good for durability and frost.’
Innocrete3D are planning to make most of the structure at the showground – a process that can be done in very little time.
Until now, much of the firm’s work has been for projects abroad and this will be their biggest to date in the UK. Their range includes statement pots with the biggest 2.4m high and they are hoping to expand from the current pale grey to a range of colours. They were displayed at Malvern last year on the Leaf Creative stand.
The ‘Killik & Co Futureproof Garden’ explores how to create a garden in the face of climate change.
In the Great Pavilion, two of the region’s nurseries will be staging exhibits, The Kitchen Garden Plant Centre and Green JJam Nurseries.
Herb growers Neil and Niamh Jones are planning an even bigger display this year as they celebrate the 10th anniversary of their nursery.
The Kitchen Garden Plant Centre stand will be 4.5m in diameter, up from their 3.4m gold medal-winning display last year.
‘We’re planning to create a garden with herbs,’ says Neil, who grows around 260 different varieties, all organically and peat-free.
It will be the Newent nursery’s fourth time at Chelsea, with a silver-gilt and two gold medals for previous displays.
A family wedding is the starting point for Green JJam’s 2025 RHS Chelsea exhibit.
Nursery owner Julia Mitchell is hoping to recreate a quiet corner in a family garden that’s being used as the setting for a wedding reception.
The nursery near Upton upon Severn specialises in penstemon, and plants with either white flowers or variegated foliage. It’s these that will used in the white themed display.
‘We’re going for soft, flowery and romantic,’ she says.
Plants that may be included, depending on the weather, include Dianthus arenarius, Geranium himalayense ‘Derrick Cook’ and white flowered cornus.
It will be the nursery’s third visit to Chelsea, having won a silver-gilt and gold previously.
Elsewhere, Cheltenham-based designer and judge Paul Hervey-Brookes will be judging the houseplant studios, and mentoring designers in the balconies and containers contests having been chairman of judges at Malvern earlier in the month.
Among the trade exhibits, Winchcombe sculptor Rupert Till will be displaying his wire artwork, Cheltenham greenhouse manufacturers Gabriel Ash will have cedar greenhouses, and Alex Puddy, of Architectural Heritage in Taddington, will be there with his Heritage Handmade Garden Collections.
There will be vintage garden ornaments from Moreton-in-Marsh firm Potting Up, semi-mature trees from Gloucester’s Nature First and a display by Muntons Traditional Plant Supports from Cirencester. Highgrove Gardens will also have a stand with food, drink and gardening gifts.
RHS Chelsea runs from May 20-24. Details rhs.org.uk
No garden? No problem…
A new RHS judged category at this year’s show taps into the growing popularity of houseplants. The Indoor Plant Gardens will demonstrate how it’s possible to grow even if you have no outdoor space.
Settings for these indoor gardens include the living room of a Victorian terraced house and a teenager’s bedroom, while one design will show how tropical plants grow in the wild and how you can replicate those conditions at home.
‘We’re opening up plants to a lot more people,’ says show manager Kate Dufton. ‘Whether it’s a bedroom or balcony, everyone can garden.’
Among the designers are Dibleys Nurseries, specialist houseplant growers who are well known for their gold medal winning displays at RHS shows, and several social media influencers.
Originally, show organisers had planned to have four gardens but such was the interest, they increased this to eight and even then, some applicants were disappointed.
The Indoor Plant Gardens will be in the Kildare Hall as part of the Festival of Houseplants, which was launched last year. Designs will be judged by the same rules as the Houseplant Studios at RHS Chelsea although these will not be gardens that visitors can enter.
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