Chelsea prep highlights
RHS Chelsea Flower Show prep is active for May 18–23 — Sparsholt College will present 'Washday Hues', a show garden exploring the link between natural dyes and textiles. The Lady Garden Foundation will debut a 'Silent No More' Garden to raise awareness for gynecological cancers backed by ambassadors Trinny Woodall, Vernon Kay and Davina McCall, and Sophie Allport is bringing a new RHS‑licensed collection. (sparsholt.ac.uk) (cornishstuff.com) (getsurrey.co.uk) (totallicensing.com)
Washday Hues is designed by Lucy Lewis and Sparsholt’s multiple‑medal‑winning team, with several full‑time and part‑time mature horticulture learners central to the project. (sparsholt.ac.uk) Sparsholt’s display will be staged at GPD051 inside the Great Pavilion and the concept uses an eye‑catching washing‑machine prop as a literal first step in its plant‑to‑pigment narrative. (sparsholt.ac.uk) Students will present plants that can be grown in UK conditions to produce dyes, and the college ran practical natural‑dyeing workshops covering differences between animal and cellulose fibres as part of the build. (sparsholt.ac.uk) The Lady Garden Foundation ‘Silent No More’ Garden was created by Darren Hawkes and features four abstract, 2.5‑metre‑high sculptural forms fabricated in Bedfordshire by Ruddy Joinery from hundreds of precision‑cut plywood pieces and delivered to site for crane installation. (prolandscapermagazine.com) Hawkes also commissioned five nested sculptures—four by Hannah Hartwell and one by Antony Bryant—made in timber, alabaster, stoneware, bronze and glazed ceramic to personify the five gynaecological cancers, with peat‑free planting, local artisans and plans for most elements to be reused or relocated after the show. (theenglishgarden.co.uk) Sophie Allport’s limited‑edition RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 collection (mugs in two sizes, small tray, cotton tea towel, tote bag and signed print) will be sold online from 14 April 2026 and at her Chelsea stand, and the brand notes it has donated more than £500,000 to charities historically. (totallicensing.com)
