A nature led RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023

Happily the trend for charity focused and nature led spaces is firmly embedded at Chelsea now and long gone are the days of investment banks and such like sponsoring designs akin to formal ornamental based gardens found on a country estate.

This year there is a strong use of pastel colours (both in wall decoration and planting palette), gorgeously large boulders and brownfield site/crushed aggregate pathways, with a fine line between what I would term as naturalistic planting and wild flower planting (previously known as weeds). It was quite refreshing to learn that ‘weeds’ were nurtured and cultivated in order to take their well deserved place in many planting schemes and I was especially fond of the many buttercups I saw. However, recreating an overgrown nature reclaimed site, might not be so transferable to our domestic gardens.

Interestingly Verbena bonariensis did not have a place in any of the schemes this year!