As part of its continued commitment to inspiring gardeners of all levels, Miracle-Gro is sponsoring the vibrant Floral Fantasia Garden at RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Essex for the 2025-2026 season.
Through the partnership Miracle-Gro will provide peat-free compost, to the gardeners of the Floral Fantasia garden, reflecting the charity’s vision where gardening is a source of joy and fulfilment, building healthier lives, stronger communities and thriving environments.
Set in the heart of Essex, this unique garden has become a living showcase of seasonal planting, and innovation, highlighting the beauty and diversity possible in gardens of all sizes. Born in 2018 as a bold transformation of a former vegetable plot, the Floral Fantasia display quickly bloomed into a beloved destination, where visitors can experience a blend of traditional favourites and exciting new plant varieties in full bloom.
Bringing Floral Fantasia to life
Sponsoring Floral Fantasia aligns perfectly with Miracle-Gro’s campaign, Bringing Gardens to Life. More than just growing vibrant blooms, lush lawns, and bountiful produce, the campaign champions the broader benefits of spending time in the garden—whether through planting, playing, or simply relaxing outdoors. By supporting Floral Fantasia, Miracle-Gro is helping to create an inspiring, accessible space that encourages people of all ages and abilities to reconnect with nature and discover the wellbeing boost that gardening brings, at same time as showcasing the great performance of Miracle Gro peat-free compost.
This partnership offers a living embodiment of the campaign’s message: that gardens are not only spaces for growth, but also for joy, creativity, and connection. From the immersive plant trials to the colourful displays designed to spark imagination, Floral Fantasia provides the ideal backdrop to demonstrate how Miracle-Gro sustainable, peat free compost mixes help transform everyday gardens into vibrant, life-enhancing spaces.
The transition to peat-free gardening is one that the Miracle-Gro brand has helped drive since going completely peat-free in 2023. Miracle-Gro's years of research and investment in R&D and manufacturing to delivery exceptional quality and growing performance of peat-free compost ensures that gardeners can be confident that they will get great growing results in their own garden, whatever they are growing.
Karen Wilkinson, marketing director at Evergreen Garden Care said, “We’re thrilled to partner with RHS Garden Hyde Hall’s Floral Fantasia this season and show how Miracle-Gro products truly bring gardens to life. Our mission at Evergreen Garden Care perfectly aligns with that of the RHS, to nurture the nation’s love of growing with sustainable practices, and we hope in visiting the garden this year gardeners of all abilities are inspired to do so.”
The Peter Seabrook legacy
At the heart of Floral Fantasia is the legacy of Peter Seabrook – the late gardening icon, broadcaster, and passionate advocate for seasonal horticulture. Peter’s vision, supported by plant breeder Thompson & Morgan, helped shape the garden into a national hub for bedding plant trials and a vibrant platform for horticultural education and inspiration. Since his passing in 2022, a dedicated working group has carried the garden forward, ensuring Floral Fantasia remains a beacon for innovation, learning, and beauty. With Miracle-Gro’s support this year, the garden continues to flourish, welcoming a new phase of development under a thoughtful redesign by RHS Council Member James Alexander-Sinclair.
Peter’s lifelong love for sweet peas lives on here. Since the garden’s beginning, they’ve been grown each year to be cut for the Hyde Hall cafés — filling the air with scent. Look out for the commemorative Sweet Pea ‘Peter Seabrook’, with £1 from every packet sold going straight to the Floral Fantasia Fund, which provides yet another valuable income stream.
What’s in store at Floral Fantasia this season?
A major highlight of 2025 at Floral Fantasia is the eagerly anticipated RHS Begonia Trial, which will see over 400 plants take centre stage in a dazzling summer display. Running from early June through to September, this large-scale trial will showcase 105 cultivars across two distinct formats: 51 varieties grown in raised beds within the trial garden area, and 54 container-grown entries placed around the perimeter. With 162 begonias in pots and 255 in-ground specimens, the trial offers visitors a comprehensive look at the versatility and vibrancy of this much-loved seasonal plant.
Floral Fantasia is made up of two complementary zones; The Trials Area, four formal beds designed for comparative planting — where horticultural science meets summer spectacle, and The Flower Garden, an ever-changing canvas of beds, baskets, and containers brimming with creative combinations and seasonal style.
The trial will span a breathtaking spectrum of colours—from soft creams and delicate apricots to fiery scarlets, deep pinks, and rich cherry reds. Representing some of the most notable begonia collections in horticulture, including the Nonstop, Illumination, Bossa Nova, and Funky series, this year's entries demonstrate both diversity and innovation. Visitors will be invited to vote for their favourites through a People's Choice Poll running throughout the season, with official judging taking place on four key dates between July and September.
This unique garden brings together all the key players in the plant journey; breeders like Kerley & Co, who create new varieties through decades of development, propagators such as Ball Colegrave and Volmary who multiply plants for mass availability, and growers like W.D. Smith who finish the process, producing retail-ready plants for garden centres and supermarkets. Together, they support a one-of-a-kind public trial ground that brings the industry and the gardening public together.
The RHS Garden Hyde Hall Flower Show, featuring the Floral Fantasia Garden, is an annual event held at the stunning RHS Hyde Hall garden in Chelmsford, Essex, between Wednesday 30 July and Sunday 3 August.
