From the glamour and excitement of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show to the laid-back charm of the Great Comp Summer Show, our round up of this year’s best flower shows, festivals and events.
We'll be updating this article through the year so be sure to check back for what's new. Bookmark it for quick and easy re-finding!
So, let's make some plans and make the most of what's going on. Here's what you've got to look forward to in 2025...
For more fascinating garden festivals this year, see: 11 cool, alternative garden festivals and events to enjoy this summer
Gardens Illustrated events and show guide 2025
On now
Until 10 August: Unearthed: The Power of Gardening, London
See exhibits including the first mechanised lawnmower and 16th century gardening manuals at the British Library.
Open Check website for opening times
Tickets £15
Location British Library, 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB
Web events.bl.uk
Until 7 September: Laura Ellen Bacon at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Derbyshire-based artist Laura Ellen Bacon is creating a huge, immersive woven willow installation in Yorkshire Sculpture Park's 18th century chapel. She'll use 80 bundles of sustainably produced Somerset willow, before it's dismantled and reused in the landscape to create wildlife habitats.
Open 10am - 4pm
Tickets £7 - £11 / free with certain memberships
Location Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, Wakefield, WF4 4LG
Web ysp.org.uk
Until 14 September: Bridget McCrum: The Conference of the Birds, Oxfordshire
Blenheim Palace's Walled Garden will host a brand-new art exhibition this summer, featuring 20 of Bridget McCrum's beautiful stone and bronze bird sculptures. Now in her nineties, Bridget has created one final stone piece, which is included in the exhibition.
Open 10am - 3:45pm
Tickets Free with gardens entry ticket (£31)
Location The Walled Garden, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1UL
Web blenheimpalace.com
Until 21 September: Cecil Beaton's Garden Party, London
Pore over photographs, paintings and drawings in this exhibition exploring how gardens and flowers influenced the famous fashion photographer, artist and costume and set designer Cecil Beaton.
Open 10am - 5pm
Tickets Free with admission, £7.50-£15
Location Garden Museum, 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB
Web gardenmuseum.org.uk
Until 28 September: On The Hedge, Surrey
This photography exhibition at RHS Wisley puts hedges and topiary centre stage, celebrating their role in both rural and urban settings, and their ability capture particulate matter, reduce noise pollution and provide an important home for wildlife. You'll see work from over 30 photographers and a newly commissioned piece by Anna Kroeger, who is using materials from hedges to process and tone her photographs more sustainably.
Open 10am - 5pm
Tickets Free with garden admission, book online and save up to 25%
Location Wisley Ln, Wisley, Woking GU23 6QB
Web rhs.org.uk
Until 28 September: Of The Oak, Kew Gardens, London
One of Kew's most impressive trees, the Lucombe oak, will be the focus of a brand-new six-metre-high digital and auditory artwork revealing the web of water, oxygen and carbon at work underneath the bark and soil across the four seasons. Get involved by moving in front of the oak to affect its motions and synchronise your breathing with its rhythms when you visit.
Open 10am - 6pm
Tickets free with general admission to Kew (£1 - £24.50)
Location Kew Gardens, Richmond, London, TW9 3AE
Web kew.org
Until 29 September: Trebah Garden Exhibition, Cornwall
A rare chance to discover more about the history of one of Cornwall's most loved gardens, from the Middle Ages and through its transformation into a globally recognised sub-tropical paradise from the 1800s onwards. Pore over rare archival documents and never-before-seen photos spanning almost 200 years.
Open 9:30am - 5pm
Tickets Free with entry from £16.50
Location Trebah Garden, Mawnan Smith, Cornwall, TR11 5JZ
Web trebahgarden.co.uk
Until 1 October: Saving the Blue Poppy from Extinction, Quebec
If you're based in Canada, or taking a trip this year, you may want to drop in to see this vibrant exhibition at Retford Gardens in Quebec. Featuring stunning digital artworks by photographer T.M. Glass, it celebrates the people who have worked to save the Himalayan blue poppy from extinction over the past 100 years.
Open Check website
Tickets $25
Location Les Jardins de Metis, 200 Rte 132, Grand-Métis, Quebec G0J 1Z0
Web jardinsdemetis.com
Until 25 January 2026: Garden Futures: Designing with Nature, Dundee
In this colourful new V&A exhibition showcasing more than 400 artefacts using light, sound, texture and garden scents, visitors walk through an immersive hedge maze, wooden greenhouse and woven floral wall among other nature-inspired spaces. Expect to see everything from the earliest international examples of design to contemporary creations by icons like Piet Oudolf; dresses made with wheatgrass roots to William Morris artwork and contemporary videogames.
The area surrounding the waterfront museum has also been revitalised with colourful and biodiverse planting.
Open 10am - 5pm
Tickets £7.50 – £16
Location V&A Dundee, 1 Riverside Esplanade, Dundee, DD1 4EZ
Web vam.ac.uk
AUGUST 2025
9 August - 28 September: Drumlanrig Castle garden tours, Dumfries & Galloway
Take a tour of Drumlanrig Castle's 40-acre gardens, including its 183m Long Terrace Walk, Woodland Garden and noteworthy rhododendron collection, as well as its restored Victorian glasshouses and distinctive Heather Houses.
Head gardener Robbie Black has been at Drumlanrig for over 25 years and will lead visitors through the grounds. Book for the 9th or 16th August, or 27th September for a standard garden tour, or the 10th or 17th August, or the 28th September to enjoy it with a Sunday roast too.
Tickets From £11
Location Drumlanrig Castle, Thornhill, Dumfries & Galloway DG3 4AQ
Web drumlanrigcastle.co.uk
SEPTEMBER 2025
4-6 September: Drawn From Earth, Shropshire
This mixed exhibition at specialist nursery Wildegoose will feature drawings, paintings and etchings by Mary Elliott and other artists who work with natural materials and are inspired by the natural world. Also on show will be sculpture, ceramics, basketry and handwoven works - all amongst the naturalistic organic garden at Wildegoose.
Timings TBC
Tickets TBC
Location Wildegoose Nursery, Lower Millichope, Munslow, Shropshire, SY7 9HE
Web wildegoosenursery.co.uk
5 September: A Day with Shane Connolly, County Down
Here's a chance to spend a day learning from Shane Connolly, one of the top floral designers - and florist to the King and Queen. It's hosted by Hilltop Flowers in Belfast, and there will be floral and tablescape demonstrations, talks and a Q&A with Shane himself. Lunch, coffee and cakes from local chefs are included, plus a gift bag of floral surprises.
Timings 10am - 4:30pm
Tickets £155
Location Clandeboye Courtyard, Clandeboye Estate, Bangor BT19 1RN
Web hilltopflowers.co.uk
5-6 September: Talking Plants, South Yorkshire
Get inspired at this two-day symposium of talks, debates and workshops, titled ‘Digging into the Detail’. Speakers include big names from the gardening world, like garden designer Nigel Dunnett, Swedish plantsman Peter Korn, the Horniman Museum's head of horticulture Errol Reuben Fernandez, garden designer Jo McKerr and gardener John Little.
The event will explore questions about biodiversity, substrates, sustainable propagation and maintenance, and give guests insight and practical tips to take home.
Tickets From £130
Location Victoria Hall, Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 2JB
Web eventbrite.co.uk
11 September: The Long View of Landscape, London
Celebrating the work of Hal Moggridge, described as the UK's foremost living landscape architect, this special event aims to inspire others with a closer look at his achievements, discussions on the future of landscape design and contributions from key designers like Tom Stuart-Smith.
Join from 10:30am for the main event, or from 5:30pm for drinks and nibbles with Hal and friends.
Timings 10:30am - 8pm
Tickets From £55
Location Royal College of Physicians, Regents Park, 11 St Andrews Pl, London NW1 4LE
Web folar.uk
12-14 September: The Faery Tale Castle: Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival, London
A flower festival with a difference: this three-day event celebrates all things gothic and faery-tale. Think a witch’s perfumery, flying carpets, a goblin market and giant spiders, all crafted by over 30 of the UK's best floral artists.
This is the UK’s most sustainable flower festival, and so all the creations are made with British-grown flowers and single-use-plastic-free materials.
Timings 9am-4pm
Tickets From £15
Location Strawberry Hill House & Garden, 268 Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 4ST
Web strawberryhillhouse.org.uk
18-20 September: Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival, Bristol
Visit the Yeo Valley farm for talks by horticultural icons including Arit Anderson, John Little, Frances Tophill and Kate Bradbury. There will also be the chance to take part in hands-on gardening workshops and demonstrations, as well as buy seasonal plants and bulbs, and enjoy food and entertainment.
Tickets £10 per day / £44 for three-day ticket
Location Yeo Valley Organic Garden, Holt Farm, Bath Road, Bristol, BS40 7SQ
Web yeovalley.co.uk/
25 September: A Taste of Autumn and Spice at Goldstone Hall Hotel & Gardens, Shropshire
This Georgian manor house runs regular tours of its five-acre gardens in Shropshire, but this one includes the chance to enjoy a seasonally inspired, spicy tasting menu of local food afterwards - part of the area's Ginger & Spice Festival. You'll be shown around the gardens by Head Gardener, Ross Underwood, and Kitchen Gardener, Sarah Smith-Roe.
Timings 10:30am - 3pm
Tickets £65 (£52 for RHS members)
Location Goldstone Hall Hotel and Gardens, Market Drayton, Shropshire, TF9 2NA
Web goldstonehallhotel.co.uk
25-26 September: Working With Water: From Engineering to Ecology, Hertfordshire
Tom Stuart-Smith will host this two-day symposium at the new Apple House eco-barn at the heart of The Plant Library and The Serge Hill Project in Hertfordshire. With topics covering a wide range of areas, such as river restoration, sustainable water features and natural swimming ponds for domestic, historic and urban projects, it's set to be an informative event.
Guests will hear from water specialists, engineers, ecologists and horticulturists, including Professor Nigel Dunnett of the University of Sheffield, Melanie Sanders of Knepp Wildland Foundation and Christopher Woodwood from the Garden Museum.
Tickets include a vegetarian home-cooked lunch, refreshments and the chance to
explore Tom Stuart-Smith's Plant Library of 2,000 perennials and bulbs.
Timings 9:30am - 4pm
Tickets From £125
Location The Apple House, The Serge Hill Project, Hertfordshire WD5 0RZ
Web sergehillproject.co.uk
OCTOBER 2025
2 October: How to photograph gardens with Jason Ingram, Hertfordshire
Jason Ingram's work is often found within the pages of Gardens Illustrated, and this October he's leading a special workshop revealing the knowledge and experience he's built up over 25 years in the industry. The day starts with a talk on techniques - from composition to mastering light - followed by a hands-on practical session with helpful feedback.
Pause for a home-cooked vegetarian lunch and take time to explore the gardens, including the Plant Library of over 2,000 perennials and bulbs.
Timings 10am - 4pm
Tickets From £150
Location The Apple House, Serge Hill Lane, Bedmond WD5 0RZ
Web sergehillproject.co.uk
11 October: The Story Behind the Rainforest Garden at Chelsea
Zoe Claymore, the designer behind the British Rainforest Garden - winner of the People’s Choice Award - at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, is hosting a fundraising talk to support Devon's Stone Lane Gardens. She'll reveal the story of her Chelsea success and tips for gardening at home. Stay for the Q&A to ask your own questions.
Timings 7pm
Tickets £10
Location Endecott House, Chagford, Devon TQ13 8AJ
Web stonelanegardens.com
JANUARY 2026
15-16 January: Wilding Gardens, Manchester
Aimed at anyone interested in learning more about how our gardens are crucial for rewilding and biodiversity, this two-day conference of ideas brings together inspiring voices in horticulture and environmental science to show how we can garden to save wildlife and resources, and tackle climate change.
The event comes from Isabella Tree of the renowned West Sussex rewilding project Knepp, along with iconic garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith, and will feature leading figures including Professor James Hitchmough, Great Dixter's Fergus Garrett and ecological grower Poppy Okotcha, among many others.
Timings Thursday 10am - 6pm / Friday 9am - 4pm
Tickets From £100
Location University of Manchester, 176 Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PL
Web wildinggardens.co.uk
Dates and prices correct at time of publication. Please check details for each show prior to travelling.