RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022: first details revealed

The first details of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022 have been released. Here's everything we know so far.

The Chelsea Flower Show show is back to its usual May slot, taking place from the 24-28 May 2022. In 2020 the show went virtual and 2021's September show – moved due to the pandemic – was a welcome diversion from the norm, but it's great to see the show back to its usual May timing with a return to more familiar themes.

And this year that theme is 'wild' as the organisers promise that "gardens teeming with native plants that benefit wildlife will take centre stage." So expect "blossoming hedgerows, lush woodland and wildflower meadows which will give the 2022 show its most naturalistic feel in recent years."

This is the first Chelsea sponsored by new partner The Newt in Somerset who are "encouraging gardeners to embrace the wild and bring nature back, using native species rarely seen at RHS Chelsea to transform green spaces into wildlife-friendly havens."

The prediction is that hawthorn will feature prominently alongside other woodland trees and shrubs including hazel, crab apple, weeping willow and hornbeam. Wild plants such as nettles, cow parsley, poppies and nectar-rich buttercups will add to the pastel colour palette and continue the wildlife-friendly, naturalistic theme.

Other themes include sustainability, climate change, the mental, physical and social benefits of gardens as well as a celebration of institutions such as the RNLI and the RAF. More content, including the new ‘All About Plants’ garden category will be announced soon.

Helena Pettit, RHS Director of Gardens & Shows, says, “We can’t wait to see the return of a spring RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2022 and welcome our visitors back after a two year wait. The show is jam-packed with stunning gardens and inspirational displays and with an abundance of wildlife-friendly planting, we won’t be the only ones buzzing!”

Highlights announced so far include:

• First-time RHS Chelsea designers Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt will be using native plants, including hawthorn and field maples, to demonstrate the dramatic transformation of land through beaver reintroductions.

• Designer Joe Perkins aims to highlight the connection between plants and fungi in our woodland ecosystems with his ‘The Meta Garden: Growing the Future’ which takes its inspiration from the British countryside and will feature almost 3000 plants and trees including sweet chestnut.

• Brothers Howard and Hugh Miller return for their second RHS Chelsea, designing a space with Alder Hey Children’s Charity. With a colour scheme inspired by the whites, creams and pinks of apple blossom, a ‘hedge tunnel’, a meadow and an orchard will conjure a ‘dream-like’ quality.

• The championing of biodiversity-rich spaces continues in the Sanctuary Gardens. For example, rich and vibrant green woodland planting and a immersive tree canopy will create a feeling of connectedness with nature in ‘A Garden Sanctuary by Hamptons’.

• Plus, four new All About Plants gardens will have their designs and designers announced soon…

Here's the full list of show gardens and their designers announced so far:

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022 Show Gardens:

• Alder Hey Urban Foraging Station designed by Howard Miller and Hugh Miller
• MEDITE SMARTPLY ‘Building the Future’ designed by Sarah Eberle
• St Mungo's Putting Down Roots Garden by Cityscapes (Darryl Moore & Adolfo Harrison)
• Brewin Dolphin Garden designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes
• The RNLI Garden designed by Chris Beardshaw
• Morris & Co. designed by Ruth Willmott
• ‘The Meta Garden: Growing the Future’ designed by Joe Perkins
• The Perennial Garden ‘With Love’, designed by Richard Miers
• The New Blue Peter Garden - Discover Soil by designer Juliet Sargeant
• The RAF Benevolent Fund Garden, reflecting on the Battle of Britain and designed by John Everiss
• A Rewilding Britain Landscape by Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt
• The Mind Garden designed by Andy Sturgeon

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022 Sanctuary Gardens:

• The SSAFA Garden supported by CCLA and designed by Amanda Waring
• A Swiss Sanctuary by Lilly Gomm
• The Place2Be Securing Tomorrow Garden designed by Jamie Butterworth
• ZEN Garden designed by Ishihara Kazuyuki
• Circle of Life by Yoshihiro Tamura
• The Body Shop Garden designed by Jennifer Hirsch
• A Garden Sanctuary by Hamptons, designed by Tony Woods
• Out of the Shadows designed by Kate Gould
• The Boodles Travel Garden by designed Tom Hoblyn
• Kingston Maurward The Space Within Garden by Michelle Brown
• The Stitcher's Garden designed by Frederic Whyte

For more information head to www.rhs.org.uk/shows. And to book tickets visit www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea

Dates for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022

RHS Chelsea Flower Show - 24 – 28 May 2022

23 May: Press Day

24 – 25 May: RHS members only, 8am – 8pm

26 – 27 May: RHS members and non-members, 8am – 8pm

28 May: RHS members and non-members, 8am – 5.30pm