The Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

April 14, 2026

The Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

The heart and centre of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the Great Pavilion is packed with bursting florals, leading scientific research and innovation as well as immersive and transportational exhibits. Here are the highlights inside the truly phenomenal big tent!

The Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

At the centre of the Great Pavilion is the Monument Feature: RHS x CITI Season of Abundance designed by Imogen Perreau. An homage to the energy and abundance of May, this immersive planting installation draws on the symbolism of Beltane, a Celtic festival rooted in folklore that marks the shift from spring to summer.

A fully immersive walk-through exhibit will be constructed by Blue Diamond, featuring 35 metres of path and 4,000 plants, taking visitors on a journey of drought tolerant planting, growing food in small spaces and sustainable gardening practices to explore the possibilities of modern gardening. Also looking to transport visitors and calling back to the nursery’s home, Raymond Evison Clematis will evoke a Guernsey seashore with a serpentine walkway meandering between boats bursting with clematis.

Exploring the relationship between fabrics, plants and dyes, Sparsholt College’s Washday Hues will use a washing machine alongside a swathe of vibrant florals in reds, oranges and yellows to educate visitors on the history and modern use of natural dyes.

David Austin Roses returns with a Cotswold-inspired circular garden featuring curving paths lined with rose beds and arches climbing with blooms. Spanning a generous 16x16m, the exhibit is dedicated to the beauty of roses in all their forms allowing visitors to walk among the roses, experiencing shifting fragrance, colour and light at every turn, just as they would in a living garden

Celebrating 125 years of growing and their second appearance in the Great Pavilion, Frank P. Matthews will be showcasing the diversity and beauty of Malus and trained fruit forms in bud and flower. With a great variation in blossom, foliage and form, the display will demonstrate how both ornamental and productive trees can be used creatively. Also talking trees, Miles Japanese Maples will be bringing his collection of acers to RHS Chelsea, all grown from seed in the past 9-10 years to show the different growth stages of the striking tree.

Lincolnshire Pond Plants return to the Great Pavilion and will be bringing a raised aquarium with cascading water and a pond containing a plethora of plant life to demonstrate biodiversity in action.

She Grows Veg are bringing Feast to the Great Pavilion – a woodland-inspired dining space championing growing your own flavour-rich heirloom vegetables at home. Highlighting the wellbeing, zero-food-miles and organic benefits of homegrown produce, the exhibit will feature a table setting to connect the garden, kitchen and plate.

Alongside their first ever Show Garden, Plant Heritage will also be hosting six nurseries in the Great Pavilion showcasing a series of National Collections. One of which, The Brantwood Trust, will be featuring their National Collection of Wisteria marking the first time in 15 years that wisteria has had a major presence in the Great Pavilion. Featuring florals in Plant Heritage’s signature colours, Greenways Pelargoniums will educate on the history of the highly scented plants. Finally, also exhibiting their collection and starting at RHS Chelsea, British Cosmos will be giving away one million seeds to help spread the love of the plant.

Showcasing the latest and most innovative developments in horticultural science, the GreenSTEM zone is also located in the Great Pavilion and features the RHS Bringing Nature Home exhibit, using evidence-based research and interactive displays to empower gardeners to enhance their local habitats for biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. Visitors will similarly be encouraged to support climate resilience through acoustic technology and interactive tools in the UKCEH Nature Decoded exhibit.

Scents & Sensors by APHA explores how the olfactory senses of humans, dogs, and electronic noses can be used to detect plant pests and diseases while The University of Lincoln is presenting Robocrops: Plant Selection, Beyond the Visible, showcasing how AI can identify invisible plant traits, accelerating the breeding of resilient and sustainable crops. Nature Inspired Protective Engineering created by Blast EcoShield demonstrates how vegetation can be engineered to mitigate explosive blast waves and protect human life.

This year’s Floristry category in the Great Pavilion themed around ‘Floristry Laboratory’ features ten judged Floral Creations in rectangular frames and three larger Creative Spaces pieces that will explore the boundaries of science and art through sustainability and innovation. Aesthetically the constructions will emulate a clean, cool feel, while balancing contemporary, modern and traditional floristry styles.

And finally, to celebrate the concentration of excellence in the Great Pavilion, the RHS is releasing a Tips and Trends report from the exhibiting 2026 Growers and Nurseries, sharing the noticeable gardening trends and expert advice shared with their own customers for the most successful blooms and growth.

RHS Great Pavilion Tips and Trends report is available here: rhs-great-pavillion-tips-and-trends-report-2026.pdf