Community Cubes

Designed by 82nd Doncaster Rangers
Sponsored by RHS
 
This exhibit celebrates Girlguiding, the 300,000-strong organisation for 4–18-year old girls, designed in collaboration with the RHS. A campfire circle provides a focal point along a central path. Above are four hanging baskets filled with flowers in the colours of the Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers sections, symbolising the journey of growth, learning, fun and friendship that guiding supports. Elsewhere, planters wrapping around the space display flowers in colours representing the organisation’s six themes, such as green for ‘have adventures’ and orange for ‘take action’. 

Designed by Christine Leung
Sponsored by RHS

By 2050, the UK’s climate is predicted to feature hotter, drier summers, and milder, wetter winters, with heatwaves and flooding becoming more commonplace. This Cube showcases the RHS’ Plants for Purpose project, a pioneering programme that is labelling UK cultivated plants with their environmental benefits. An array of containers beneath a ‘shower’ includes plants that help mitigate flooding by capturing and temporarily storing rainwater, allowing infiltration to the soil, evaporation from the surface, and transpiration through vegetation returning water to the atmosphere. Additional plants provide cooling for buildings in hot weather, capture pollution in urban areas or support pollinators and wildlife. 

Designed by Emily Joy
Sponsored by RHS

This space offers a bold and colourful window into the landscape of the Yorkshire Wolds. Inspired by David Hockney’s iconic 1998 painting Garrowby Hill, the Cube aims to capture the spirit of the rolling East Yorkshire countryside through contemporary, layered planting. Drawing on Hockney’s vibrant and playful palette of blues, greens and pinks, the design also uses texture, shape and tone to echo the movement and rhythm of the land.

Just as the painting re-interprets the natural world through expressive colour and form, the planting within the cube transforms the familiar rural landscape into a dynamic and immersive visual experience. Each side offers a different perspective, encouraging visitors to walk around and explore how the colours and layers shift, creating an abstract yet recognisable celebration of the countryside. Intended to spark joy, this exhibit also challenges perceptions of rural planting and invites visitors to see the landscape in a new and imaginative way. 

Designed by Scott Jamieson and Thomas Buckle
Sponsored by RHS Wentworth Woodhouse

Celebrating the mystery, beauty and essential nature of bees, this Cube imagines a futuristic world in which bee populations are thriving with little need for human intervention, after adapting to both climate change and habitat destruction. An imagined, oversized beehive, made from copper wire, hangs from a dead Rhododendron branch. Catching the sun, it shines like armour and is a beacon of hope that, behind the scenes, our flora and fauna are finding ways to thrive. The pollinator-friendly planting has open flowers in orange and yellow hues. After the show, the Cube’s contents will be relocated within the gardens at Wentworth Woodhouse to continue the discussion about our pollinators’ pivotal role 

Designed by Sharon Hockenhull
Sponsored by RHS

This Cube is inspired by the Wellbeing Garden at St James’s University Hospital (known locally as ‘Jimmy’s’), designed by BBC Gardeners’ World presenter and garden designer Adam Frost. This exhibit provides a snapshot of the hospital’s garden in Leeds, and highlights the RHS Wellbeing Gardens Programme, an initiative to transform public outdoor spaces into vibrant gardens that promote physical, mental and social wellbeing while supporting the environment.

Developed in conjunction with RHS Community Outreach advisors and hospital trusts, the gardens foster community engagement for NHS staff, patients and local residents. Native trees dominate this Cube’s design and are underplanted with a selection of shrubs and perennials – including medicinal plants – reflecting the planting scheme at St James’s University Hospital. Echoing the hospital’s built environment, architectural timber details seamlessly integrate with the garden’s design, while a water feature reflects the lush planting and adds a sense of stillness. 

Designed by Samuel Galloway
Sponsored by RHS, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust

This pollinator-friendly space celebrates one of nature’s unsung heroes: the hoverfly. The second most effective pollinators after bees, these important but often-overlooked insects support biodiversity and natural pest control. To highlight this year’s RHS and Wildlife Trusts’ hoverfly-championing ‘Wild About Gardens’ campaign, the Cube is filled with take-home ideas for visitors to create areas in their own gardens where hoverflies can thrive. Airy umbels, which make perfect landing spots, and native wildflowers are set among log piles, naturalistic hoverfly lagoons, and a striking willow sculpture to entice the insects in. The Hoverfly Haven acts as a timely reminder that even small habitats are crucial for protecting our at-risk species.