Blue Diamond Garden Centres are returning to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year, following their outstanding success last year that saw the company awarded its first ever Gold Medal, along with the prestigious ‘Tree of the Show’ accolade for the exceptional Acer palmatum ‘Shishigashira’.
Building on last year’s success, Blue Diamond is once again aiming for Gold with an ambitious garden exhibit, ‘Blue Diamond Garden Centres’: An Immersive Walk-Through our Home-Grown Collection,’ to be constructed by multi award-winning designer Peter Dowle and his team at Leaf Creative, Blue Diamond’s Customer Garden Design Service.
Blue Diamond’s garden exhibit will showcase the breadth, quality and relevance of plants grown directly in Blue Diamond’s nurseries, while addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing today's gardeners, and will be the only fully immersive, walk-through garden exhibit in the Great Pavilion.
Situated in a central location near to the Monument, it will also be one of the largest garden exhibits in the Great Pavilion, spanning 240 square metres and featuring over 35 metres of walk-through pathways for visitors to explore.
The garden exhibit will showcase Blue Diamond Garden Centres’ extensive and diverse plant range, with most plants available to purchase across all Blue Diamond Garden Centres nationwide, and is the only garden exhibit to include the multi-award-winning Prunus Sumaura Fugenzo ‘Japanese Lantern’, which is shortlisted for ‘The RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year Award’ along with Hydrangea Velvet Night® ‘Red Lace’ which is also short-listed.
Plants Shortlisted for ‘The RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year Award’.
Prunus ‘Sumaura Fugenzo’ JAPANESE LANTERN™ was first discovered in Japan in 1990, this extraordinary tree has finally been brought to market by Frank P. Matthews Trees.
Prunus ‘Sumaura Fugenzo’ JAPANESE LANTERN™ is truly eye-catching, thanks to its unique, multi-tonal blossom display. Its beautifully full, lantern-shaped flowers—each with up to 30 petals—open in soft green and creamy white, gently blush, and then deepen to a rich pink as they mature, creating a long-lasting and ever-changing show.
This tree brings interest beyond spring too. Young bronze foliage matures to fresh green, followed by vibrant autumn colour, while the lightly fragrant blooms add extra appeal. Reliable and easy to grow, it performs well in most UK conditions and adapts happily to a wide range of soils—making it a wonderful choice for gardens of all sizes.
Following remarkable success at the HTA National Plant Show — where it secured three awards, including a prestigious Gold Medal and the People’s Choice Award — it has now been shortlisted for ‘The RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year Award’.
Visitors to the Show will be able to admire this stunning Prunus on exclusive display within the Blue Diamond Garden Centres’ garden exbibit in the Great Pavilion and this is available to buy in all Blue Diamond Garden Centres.
Hydrangea Velvet Night® ‘Red Lace’
Bred by Botanic Experience, introduced by Van Son & Koot BV and available exclusively in Blue Diamond Garden Centres, this breakthrough hydrangea produces a truly distinctive combination of near-black, dark red foliage and vibrant red lace cap flowers—an unprecedented pairing in hydrangeas.
Thriving in moist, well-drained soil in partial shade, it offers season-long visual impact, with dramatic foliage providing interest beyond flowering, making it perfect for planting in borders or containers.
Both eye-catching and versatile, this innovation sets a new benchmark for ornamental hydrangeas.
This Hydrangea has also been short-listed for ‘The RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year Award’ and will also be showcased exclusively in Blue Diamond Garden Centres’ garden exhibit.
Key Themes within the Exhibit
Visitors can also expect to see an inspiring yet practical garden exhibit that brings together achievable gardening ideas and innovative design with all the plants in the garden having been grown on Blue Diamond’s UK nurseries, the majority of which are available to buy in Blue Diamond Garden Centres.
Exploring key themes such as drought-tolerant planting, growing food in small spaces, and sustainable gardening practices, the space will unfold across a series of thoughtfully curated zones including ‘Thrive Not Just Survive’ drought-tolerant planting in the Dry Garden, leading into a glass Plant House showcasing green walls of Tropical Houseplants, then into the Exotic Shade-Loving plants, Vertical Edible Walls, and the Tapestry Garden, a contemporary take on a Cottage Garden style of planting.
Enhancing the sense of theatre and drama, a striking water feature will serve as a showstopping centrepiece, delivering a truly immersive and memorable sensory experience.
- Plants that thrive, not just survive, in the Dry Garden
The garden exhibit will open with bold, drought-tolerant planting, demonstrating resilient beauty for a changing climate. Drifts of Salvia, Agapanthus and Thyme are paired with striking architectural plants such Astelia and Cordyline, anchored by a dramatic 40-year-old Yucca rostrata.
- An immersive horticultural journey
Visitors will then be drawn into a walk-through experience that transitions seamlessly from dry planting to a lush glass Plant House environment. Here, hanging plants, bold foliage and a tropical green wall, rich with ferns, Selaginella, Calathea and orchids-create a fully enveloping sensory experience.
The path will continue into a shaded, jungle-inspired landscape of tree ferns and acers, underplanted with grasses, shrubs and ferns. A rock water feature will add sound, movement and theatre, heightening the sense of escape.
- Real solutions for real gardens
Planting will then evolve into dappled shade scheme, one of the most common gardening challenges. Japanese maples and flowering dogwoods (Cornus kousa and Cornus florida) will take centre-stage, supported by a refined palette of whites, burgundies and soft blues.
- Small-space and edible inspiration
Visitors will then enter a walled garden through scented arches of Trachelospermum, where they will discover a contemporary vertical edible wall. Herbs, salads and strawberries grown on living walls, proving that productive gardening is possible even in compact spaces.
- Celebrating classics and new favourites in the Tapestry Garden
The journey will then meander into the Tapestry Garden, a contemporary take on the traditional Cottage garden and which will include three new and exclusive varieties of roses for 2026 – Rosa ‘Diddly Squat Farm Rosé Rose’, christened by Lisa Hogan, co-founder of Diddly Squat Farm, Rosa ‘Loving Arms’ on behalf of the charity Hospice UK, and Rosa ‘Rhubarb N’ Custard’ named by Gillian Hayes, the winner of Blue Diamonds’ Name the Rose Competition all of which will be formally launched at Press Day at RHS Chelsea Flower Show on the 18th May. These and other roses, will be mixed with cottage-style perennials in a harmonious palette of whites, silvers, soft yellows, blues and purples, punctuated with confident pops of colour.
- From Chelsea to the customer
The experience will conclude with views of a rose-clad walled garden, leaving visitors inspired and confident that this extraordinary range of plants is accessible at a Blue Diamond Garden Centre near them.
Blue Diamond Garden Centres’ garden exhibit will highlight both the realities and possibilities of modern gardening, combining accessible ideas for all with a clear commitment to peat-free growing and a more sustainable approach to horticulture.
To find out more and to follow our RHS Chelsea Flower Show journey, please visit;-
https://www.bluediamond.gg/rhs-chelsea-flower-show-2026
