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Chelsea Flower Show Gets Flirty, Wired and More in Step With a New Crowd

Chelsea Flower Show is trying to loosen the tie and unbutton the collar.

One of this year’s big signals came from Aphrodite’s Hothouse, a gold medal-winning pleasure garden by James Whiting, founder of Plants By There. Backed by Bath-based sexual wellness company Lovehoney, the display leaned hard into romance: deep reds, pinks, velvety heart-shaped leaves, plus anthuriums, orchids and hanging nepenthes. Whiting’s idea was simple: if younger people are less likely to have outdoor space, meet them where they live, with houseplants and a design language they already understand.

That shift runs through the show. The Royal Horticultural Society says it wants gardens that speak to new communities, and this year’s line-up makes that plain. The Silent No More garden uses planting and form to open discussion around gynaecological cancers. Another project, created with young people from The Children’s Society, draws on the Japanese idea of imperfect beauty. The Young Minds garden focuses on the mental health pressures facing young people.

Then there is Enmeshed: Positive Pathways, from Pilton artist Dimitris Koutroumpas and floral designer Gaia Eros. Built from reclaimed computer circuits, native woodland flowers and living fungi, it explores technology, ecology and shared resources through the image of above-ground mycelium. Sponsored by RELOVE Technology, which has given nearly 100 million devices a second life, the installation also includes plant-and-mushroom soundscapes that have left some visitors in tears.

Posted on 22 May 2026