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This year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show opened its doors to the public today. Yesterday, we stepped away from our stand for a first look during Press Day, taking an early tour of the show gardens and getting a sense of the ideas shaping this year's designs.
From climate resilience to creative technology, and from bold storytelling to playful spectacle, the show offered an early glimpse of the themes running through this year's exhibits.
Here are the key themes emerging across the show gardens and installations:
Designing for a more extreme future
Many gardens are now imagining what UK landscapes could look like in 15 to 25 years. This means more resilient planting, drought tolerance, and naturalistic designs that move away from traditional manicured borders. Gravel, structure, and climate-adapted species are increasingly central.
Gardens as storytelling and social commentary
More exhibits are being used to explore wider social issues, from conservation and biodiversity to mental health and wellbeing. Increasingly, gardens are designed to communicate messages and reflect real-world challenges, rather than exist purely as aesthetic spaces.
A key thread this year is narrative-led design. Gardens guide visitors through an intentional journey to help explain or explore a story. In the show garden for Parkinson's UK, designer and presenter Arit Anderson uses a serpentine route through contrasting planting zones to reflect the complexity of living with Parkinson's.
A tactile, water-rilled "hand-rill" in smooth engineered Accoya wood guides visitors through the space, echoing the flow of water along the path. Fragrant and medicinal planting adds sensory depth, creating a garden designed as much for experience and understanding as for visual impact.
A balance of seriousness and spectacle
Alongside these weighty themes, the show still embraces spectacle and humour. Celebrity involvement adds theatre and familiarity, widening the event's cultural reach beyond horticulture.
Playful and unexpected installations also bring a lighter touch. This year, more provocative and conversation-starting ideas, including a Lovehoney-sponsored houseplant display, sit alongside traditional show gardens, creating moments of surprise as visitors move through the space.
The result is a show that never feels static or one-dimensional. It is thoughtful and issue-led, but equally playful, entertaining and culturally alive.
From show gardens to everyday inspiration
Across show gardens, balconies and container displays, there is a clear balance between creativity and practicality. Planting is increasingly designed to thrive in changing conditions, while still feeling aspirational, immersive and achievable.
The balcony and container gardens, in particular, highlight the power of small spaces. They show how even the smallest corners can support wildlife and bring nature into everyday life, regardless of experience or space.
With practical ideas woven throughout, these gardens help make planting feel more accessible. They encourage more people to experiment, start small, and take part.
AI in gardening
AI is steadily reshaping the gardening world, and nowhere is this more visible than at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. What began with Tom Massey using AI for tree health monitoring has evolved quickly, with AI now influencing the design of multiple show gardens. The shift is clear, from a diagnostic tool to a creative partner in shaping layouts and planting schemes.
Beyond the show, tools such as the Spacelift app by Matt Keightley are bringing this capability to everyday gardeners, helping them make more confident, informed decisions about their outdoor spaces.
In short, AI is no longer just observing gardens. It is actively helping design them.
If you're thinking about bringing some of these ideas home, garden furniture is a great place to start. It's an easy way to take inspiration from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and begin shaping your own outdoor space, whatever size you're working with.
Pop by our main stand just outside the Grand Pavilion (Exit 5 / GP5), or our second stand on Pavillian Way (PW226) - we'd love to see you there!
