Mediterranean muses, wild blooms and shrooms: Trends to watch from this year’s Chelsea Flower Show

The event is a highlight in any plant fan’s calendar – and Adele Cardani says presentations leant in to the informal, with an emphasis on how our gardens can nourish our minds and bodies

Growing strong: Centre for Mental Health’s The Balance Garden (Gary Morrisroe)

The Royal Horticultural Society’s prestigious annual five-day garden show, widely known as the Chelsea Flower Show, heralded the start of summer with an abundance of London’s best and brightest blooms. The most highly anticipated event in any floral fanatic’s calendar welcomed a number of Royal visitors, TV personalities, and celebrities clad in pastel-hued chiffon frocks and linen two-pieces. I’ve rounded up the emerging trends that landscape designers and al fresco creatives from across the country just couldn’t seem to get enough of.

Firstly, the show favoured la dolce vita tastes, with Mediterranean plant-packed scenes reminiscent of glittering poolside holidays spent in the dappled shade of olive groves – perhaps it’s the lingering The White Lotus effect. The Hamptons Mediterranean Garden by Filippo Dester was one such standout plot redolent with the look, feel, and smell of sun-soaked landscapes. It was a tranquil vignette where the warm textures of plaster pink architecture and blonde woods merged into nature. The palette of plants included clouds of scented shrubs, aromatic herbs, and drought-tolerant ornamental perennials, reflecting a changing climate where conscious water usage is essential.

Peace and quiet: the Hamptons Mediterranean Garden (Hamptons)