For the first time in its 108 year history, the world-famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show is taking place in autumn. The 2021 Show, which was rescheduled due to the worldwide pandemic, would have taken place in May, but now runs from 21 to 26 September.

Exhibitors embrace the new season as they prepare for the historic RHS Chelsea Flower Show (photo © RHS)

Late flowering plants, grasses and edibles will take centre stage at this year’s show, which will welcome many unfamiliar sights as it showcases the very best in autumn horticulture. Held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London since 1913, Chelsea Flower Show is organised by the Royal Horticultural Society. the world’s leading gardening charity.

Autumn is the season of harvest, so this year’s show will celebrate fruit and vegetables. A brand new Italian inspired feature - ‘The Great Pavilion Piazza’ - will showcase a selection of seasonal plants and produce, with asters and dahlias featured alongside squashes and pumpkins.

Ferns and hostas usually deliver the fresh greenery that has been so prominent in designers’ spring palettes in recent years, but grasses are at their very best in September so, for the first time in many years, there will be a display solely of ornamental grasses in the Great Pavilion.

RHS COP26 Garden designed by Marie-Louise Agius (photo © RHS)

With the UK hosting the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November, the RHS has brought the RHS COP26 Garden to this year’s show. Taking a key message from COP26, the garden will demonstrate how our gardens, plants and public green spaces can play an integral part in protecting biodiversity, our planet and people and ensure a greener, more resilient future for us all.

Alistair Griffiths, RHS Director of Science, said: “The RHS COP26 Garden is an incredible display showing how we can both harm our planet through gardens but also, more importantly, how, through our outside spaces we can, through nature based solutions, proactively do good to help biodiversity, the environment and protect the planet, something that is absolutely vital in this climate crisis and our survival. Never has it been so important to shine a light on these critical issues.”

RHS COP26 Garden designed by Marie-Louise Agius (photo © RHS)

Recent years have seen more naturalistic styles come to the fore at RHS Chelsea, however this year sees a resurgence in the art of shaping plants. With autumn being one of the best times for trees and shrubs, topiary will be a popular display in the Great Pavilion.

Late summer and early autumn see many flowers fade, but seedheads offer plenty of interest and structure. Florence Nightingale is recognised the world over as the founder of modern nursing, and her favourite plant was the foxglove. While the flowers will be over in September, designer Robert Myers will instead be incorporating the seedheads into The Florence Nightingale Garden, which marks the bicentenary of her birth.

The Florence Nightingale Garden: A Celebration of Modern-Day Nursing, designed by Robert Myers (photo © RHS)

Janet Redler, Chief Executive of Janet Redler Travel & Tourism, said: “It was such a shame that the Chelsea Flower Show in May had to be cancelled for the second year running, but it is fantastic news that it is taking place in autumn this year instead. The show is the highlight of the gardening calendar for many of us and it will be a delight to see the autumn displays this time, which I am sure will be just as impressive as the spring blooms we are used to.”

If you or your group would like to enjoy a tailor-made garden tour in the United Kingdom and Ireland, perhaps including a visit to next year’s Chelsea Flower Show in May, please do contact our friendly team today.