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RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022 is All About Plants

  • A new category of garden for 2022 champions the positive power of plants to improve lives and livelihoods.
  • These four gardens funded by Project Giving Back will be alongside the many specialist and expert nurseries exhibiting in the Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022.
  • Each one celebrates the work of a charity and the power of plants to positively influence mental health, community and industry, and have been created by designers under 40 who have never exhibited here before. 
  • All Project Giving Back funded gardens will be relocated to a permanent location after the show so that they can continue to benefit the good causes they are supporting.

A new garden category, All About Plants, which celebrates the many powers of plants will be the first garden category to feature in the Great Pavilion at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, sponsored by The Newt in Somerset, 24-28 May 2022.

As the show returns to spring after a two year absence, the All About Plants gardens will join the growers and nurseries in the Great Pavilion. They have each been designed to raise awareness of a UK charity and will visualise the many ways plants can positively influence mental health, community, and industry.

Steely greys, silvers and blues interspersed with pops of vibrant colour dominate the planting of ‘The Core Arts Front Garden Revolution,’* designed by Andy Smith-Williams. It strives to demonstrate the power plants have to reconnect communities and positively impact mental health. The design depicts two urban households that have combined their front gardens to create a positive space for gardening, socialising, and environmental gain.

Lottie Delamain’s ‘A Textile Garden for Fashion Revolution’* champions the physical power of plants as textiles. Nettles and cow parsley will feature as part of a planting scheme selected for its uses as dyes or fibres, re-establishing the connection between plants and textiles and challenging the impact of the fast fashion industry by leading us to ask “what’s in my clothes?”

Previously a mental health counsellor, Pollyanna Wilkinson uses her planting to reflect the journey of recovery many women face in motherhood and the mental health challenges that often come with it. ‘The Mothers for Mothers Garden: This too shall pass’* features a muted palette transitioning to bright and exuberant colour to reflect this journey from despair to hope.

A naturalistic tapestry of green, interspersed with moments of vibrant colour, demonstrates the immersive power of plants to enhance our connection to the natural world in Charlie Hawkes’ ‘The Wilderness Foundation UK Garden.’* Inspired by a child’s eye view of the natural world, the planting is lifted up to pull the viewer into the wilderness of the garden and instil a sense of awe and wonder in nature and inspire a desire to protect it.

Helena Pettit, RHS Director of Gardens and Shows said; “We are thrilled to be hosting this category of firsts at RHS Chelsea. All About Plants is the first garden category to be hosted inside the Great Pavilion and is filled by four first time RHS Chelsea designers. They have each interpreted the positive powers of plants in such unique and interesting ways and we can’t wait to see the designs come to fruition at the show.”

Hattie Ghaui, Director of Project Giving Back, said: “This group of exceptional small gardens really demonstrates the essence of what we’re trying to achieve by supporting gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Designers have been incredibly creative with their interpretation of their chosen good cause, and we hope visitors and viewers will fall in love with the immersive plant experiences the All About Plants gardens will offer and rush to find out more about the charities they support.”

Tickets to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show are currently available and can be purchased online at www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea

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Notes to editors

For more details and images, please contact the RHS Press Office at [email protected]

RHS Chelsea Flower Show All About Plants line-up for May 2022:

  • A Textile Garden for Fashion Revolution designed by Lottie Delamain supporting Fashion Revolution

    • Fashion Revolution is the world’s largest fashion activism movement, formed after the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013 which killed over 1,100 people. Fashion Revolution believes in a global fashion industry that conserves and restores the environment and values people above growth and profit.

  • The Core Arts Front Garden Revolution designed by Andy Smith-Williams supporting Core Arts

    • Core Arts is a leading mental health creative education centre providing best practice and best value in Mental Health care in London. Based in Hackney, it promotes positive mental health and wellbeing through a college-like environment of creative learning.

  • The Mothers for Mothers Garden: “This too shall pass” designed by Pollyanna Wilkinson supporting Mothers for Mothers

    • Mothers for Mothers offers support to women, their partners, family members and friends. Their aim is to encourage women experiencing anxiety, depression, distress or isolation during pregnancy and after the birth of their baby to easily reach out for immediate support.

  • The Wilderness Foundation UK Garden designed by Charlie Hawkes supporting Wilderness Foundation UK

    • Wilderness Foundation UK engages over 6,000 people per year with the benefits and enjoyment of wild nature. Programmes build resilience and improved mental health in vulnerable teenagers, children and adults with challenging lives.

For further information about RHS Chelsea Flower Show and other 2022 RHS Shows and full ticket-purchasing information, visit www.rhs.org.uk/shows. Service and admin fees apply.

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

Venue: Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London SW3 4SL
To book tickets visit www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea
To find out more about The Newt in Somerset, visit https://thenewtinsomerset.com/

About the RHS:

The Royal Horticultural Society, the world’s leading gardening charity, was founded in 1804 by Sir Joseph Banks and John Wedgwood. Our vision is to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place. This aspiration underpins all that we do, from inspirational gardens and shows, through our scientific research, to our education and community programmes such as Campaign for School Gardening and Britain in Bloom. We produce key publications, hold a world-class collection of horticultural books and botanical art, and sell the very best plants and gardening gifts.

The RHS is fundraising £40m to transform our gardens, outreach and education facilities, which includes redeveloping our flagship RHS Garden Wisley and opening a new garden, RHS Garden Bridgewater, in 2021. We are solely funded by our members, visitors and supporters. For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk.

RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262

 

About The Newt in Somerset

The Newt in Somerset is a working country estate in Somerset, between the towns of Bruton and Castle Cary. The original Georgian manor house and farm buildings sit amidst farmland, woodland, orchards and acres of gardens - shaped over centuries by successive enthusiasts, including renowned garden designer and writer Penelope Hobhouse, who first opened them to the public in the mid 1980s. The gardens’ latest incarnation was designed by landscape artist Patrice Taravella. Influenced by thousands of years of horticultural history, mixing ornamental and productive elements, they are a feast for the eyes and the stomach.

With a focus on Somerset heritage, sustainable agriculture and artisan production, the estate encompasses a luxury hotel and spa within Hadspen House and the Farmyard, designed by Karen Roos, in addition to restaurants, farm shops, immersive garden attractions and a Cyder Press & Cellar. For more information visit: https://thenewtinsomerset.com/

About Project Giving Back

Project Giving Back (PGB) is a unique grant-making scheme that provides funding for gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. PGB was launched in May 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on UK charitable fundraising. It will fund gardens inspired by a range of good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2022, 2023 and 2024. In 2022 PGB is supporting a total of 12 gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, all of which will be relocated to permanent homes after the show.

Find out more at: https://www.givingback.org.uk

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.