A visit to a garden and flower show makes for a wonderful group day out providing visitors with inspiration and expert advice on everything from garden design to which bulbs to plant and when, backed by great food and entertainment for all ages thrown in for good measure.
As our nation’s love of all things fauna and flora shows no sign of waning, 2022 promises to be a year of resurgence for gar-den and flower shows, making up for lost time and the disruption of the last few years.
Here is a sample of what is in store and where to head for in the coming months.
It is perhaps no surprise that the Royal Horticultural Society
(RHS) Flower Shows and events dotted across the UK and calendar are a popular draw for many groups.
If you are looking for summer inspiration, the RHS Malvern Spring Festival, at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern from 5th to 8th May is the place to head for. That is followed later in the month by the RHS Chelsea Flower Show which returns to its tradi-tional spring slot following last year’s one-off autumn event, run-ning from 24th to 28th May in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Next up comes the world’s largest annual flower show, the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival which takes place against the backdrop of one of London’s most historic royal palaces, Hampton Court from to 4th to 9th July. Following its return to Cheshire’s picturesque 1,000-acre deer park last summer, the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park takes the spotlight from 20th to 24th July.
August brings a further two great events with the RHS Garden Hyde Hall Flower Show from 3rd to 7th August, before the RHS Garden Rosemoor Flower Show across the weekend of 19th to 21st August. The focus then turns from summer heads into autumn come September at first the RHS Garden Wisley Flower Show from 6th to 11th September, before the Malvern Autumn Show over the weekend of 23rd to 25th September.
Equally as popular are the two Harrogate Flower Shows events held to capture the essence of the seasons they are staged in. The 2022 edition of the Harrogate Spring Flower Show will take place at Great Yorkshire Showground between 21st to 24th April. Once spring and summer have made their presence, attention then turns to the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show which will be held at Newby Hall and Gardens from 16th to 18th September.
Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire will be staging their flower festi-val will run from 9th to 15th May, whilst Chichester Cathedral’s Festival of Flowers four-day spectacular takes place from 8th to 11th June.
Expect to see show gardens and an outdoor plant village at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire who will be staging their now annu-al flower show from 24th to 26th June.
A few weeks later, look forward to a weekend of colour and inspiration at Belvoir Castle’s Flower and Garden Show which due to demand has been relocated to the larger ‘ladies Field’ show site on 16th and 17th July.
The Chorley Flower Show will return to Astley Hall for its seventh edition from 30th July to 1st August with a gardening theatre, demonstrations from top gardeners, food and drink, live music, and walkabout acts all in store for visitors to enjoy.
