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UBS to sponsor exhibit at the heart of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show giving visitors a glimpse into life on a plant nursery

The Great Pavilion, the jewel in the crown of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, is full of vibrant displays by some of the UK’s finest plant nurseries. This year, for the first time, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is partnering with UBS, global financial services firm and largest truly global wealth manager, on an immersive, walkthrough feature giving visitors an insight into a grower’s daily life, showcasing the work that goes into growing the award-winning plants on display at the world-famous flower show and their own gardens.
 

At the heart of the show, around the monument in the Great Pavilion, RHS x UBS A Day on the nursery: insights into life as a grower will showcase the hard work and skill of nursery growers, highlighting four nurseries who specialise in edibles and wildflowers. The nurseries include two first time exhibitors; Kent Wildflower Seeds, the first known wildflower nursery to exhibit in the Great Pavilion, and She Grows Veg, a new nursery bringing heirloom varieties of vegetables to the show. The other two nurseries are mushroom specialists, The Caley Brothers, who won gold for their first display of mushrooms last year and award-winning family grower of herbs and edible plants, Kitchen Garden Plant Centre.
 
The four nurseries have each received a grant from UBS to help towards the costs of exhibiting at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and providing produce in its various stages for display in the feature and their own stands.
 
The feature is designed by upcoming designer, Emma Tipping, who has been mentored by multi award-winning grower, Rosy Hardy, who returns to RHS Chelsea after creating her last gold medal winning display for her nursery Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants in 2019 after over three decades at the show. 
 
Sarah Poll, RHS Head of Shows Development said: “We are thrilled to be working with UBS to provide financial support to four of the UK’s specialist plant nurseries and enabling us to create an educational feature which gives our visitors a rare behind the scenes insight into the growing process of the show stopping plants that make up the displays at our shows.  The RHS and UBS is committed to championing UK British Nurseries and hopes the feature will encourage more people to support and buy from the UK’s independent nurseries, have a go at plant propagation at home or be inspired to start a career in the growing side of the horticultural industry.”
 
The display is made up of an arrangement of raised beds, which will hold much of the planting from the nurseries, and features key growing structures often found on a plant nursery including a potting shed, polytunnel and a shaded pergola. Plants will be exhibited at various stages throughout their lifecycle, from seeds and seedlings to mature plants, and some even making their way into a compost heap – showing the full lifecycle of plants. Sustainable growing methods adopted by the nurseries, including using peat-free compost, companion plantings and using biological controls instead of pesticides, are also highlighted.
 
Growers from the four nurseries along with Emma and Rosy will be hosting talks on the feature throughout the week giving visitors further insights, tips and advice into the growing process.  
 
Bea Martin, Group Executive Board Lead for Sustainability and Impact, and UK CEO, at UBS said: “We’re delighted to partner with the Royal Horticultural Society on this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show as part of our aim to promote more sustainable approaches. We look forward to welcoming over 150,000 guests, including many UBS clients and staff, and connecting them with ways to explore sustainable principles alongside an exciting range of heritage and native plants and fungi to be enjoyed at home. We’re pleased to bring together and showcase some of the UK’s most innovative and sustainable nurseries and growers, with the aim of inspiring people to harness the power of nature.”
 
RHS Chelsea Flower Show, sponsored by The Newt in Somerset, runs from 21 to 25 May 2024 at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, for more information and to buy tickets visit rhs.org.uk/chelsea.
 
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For more information, interviews and images please contact the Shows PR Team at [email protected]

Notes to editors

RHS Chelsea Flower Show sponsored by The Newt in Somerset
Dates: 21-25 May 2024
Location: Royal Hospital Chelsea, London, SW3 4SR    
Tickets from £37.00 (plus admin fee)                                                                                                 
 
About the RHS
Since our formation in 1804, the RHS has grown into the UK’s leading gardening charity, touching the lives of millions of people. Perhaps the secret to our longevity is that we’ve never stood still. In the last decade alone we’ve taken on the largest hands-on project the RHS has ever tackled by opening RHS Garden Bridgewater in Salford, Greater Manchester, and invested in the science that underpins all our work by building RHS Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science. 

We have committed to being net positive for nature and people by 2030. We are also committed to being truly inclusive and to reflect all the communities of the UK.  

Across our five RHS gardens we welcome more than three million visitors each year to enjoy over 34,000 different cultivated plants. Events such as the world famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show, other national shows, our schools and community work, and partnerships such as Britain in Bloom, all spread the shared joy of gardening to wide-reaching audiences.
 
Throughout it all we’ve held true to our charitable core – to encourage and improve the science, art and practice of horticulture –to share the love of gardening and the positive benefits it brings.
 
For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk   

RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262
 
About UBS
UBS is a leading and truly global wealth manager and the leading universal bank in Switzerland. It also provides diversified asset management solutions and focused investment banking capabilities. With the acquisition of Credit Suisse, UBS manages 5.7 trillion dollars of invested assets as per fourth quarter 2023. UBS helps clients achieve their financial goals through personalized advice, solutions and products. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the firm is operating in more than 50 markets around the globe. UBS Group shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

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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.