Preview: RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026
- Su Whale
- May 13
- 2 min read
Floral highlights to be brought to you by the Interflora Floristry Trade Club
There is a lot of floral fabulousness at RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year, not just the well-established Chelsea Florist of the Year competition, but large scale installations to look forward to as well. The iconic RHS letters will be decorated by Hamilton Floral Studio, while the London and Bullring gates at the entrances to the showground both promise an abundance of British grown blooms, curtesy of Jam Jar Flowers and Brambly Hedge, the latter inspired by the children’s book series.
‘Floral Laboratory’
Expect to see flowers under the microscope as ten competing florists turn design into a laboratory experiment in a quest to be crowned RHS Chelsea Florist of the Year. Vying for the Ambassador's Award in ‘Creative Spaces’ will be more large scale creativity, while new for 2026 is ‘Flowers in the Forest’, three floral artists each with their own interpretation of nature.
Representing floristry colleges across the country, it is the turn of East Durham College whose students have been working hard creating a 4x4m installation, a fantastic opportunity to show off their talents to a national and international audience.
The Interflora Floristry Trade Club will be at Chelsea to bring you techniques, trends, new flowers, styles, ideas, indeed anything that excites us we will be sharing with you.
Free Flower Festival!
Chelsea and Belgravia in Bloom
Outside the showground the elegant streets and squares of Chelsea, Belgravia and Knightsbridge will be filled with the most incredible floral installations. Billed as London’s largest free flower festival; shoppers, tourists and show visitors can admire the ingenuity of the florist’s art up close.
This year, the theme for Chelsea in Bloom is ‘Out of this World’ which we are promised will see Chelsea transformed into an intergalactic wonderland, while for Belgravia in Bloom it is all about fantasy and magic as they bring ‘Fairy Tales of Belgravia’ to life.
Follow us for full reports on everything that Chelsea and Belgravia have to offer – we will wear out our shoe leather so you don’t have too!
Su Whale is a florist and freelance writer with over Thirty years' experience in the floristry industry. She is the author and publisher of three best-selling books: Cut Flowers, 4th edition (2020) Cut Foliage, 2nd Edition, (2021) and Houseplants (2019), all bookshelf essentials for the professional florist.
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