Every year, the RHS Malvern Spring Festival transforms the Three Counties Showground into a vibrant celebration of horticultural loveliness, design, and creativity. As one of the first major RHS shows of the year, it sets the tone for the gardening season, offering inspiration, innovation, and a feast for the senses.

The Show Gardens:

At the heart of the festival are the Show Gardens—a stunning display of talent and imagination. These gardens are more than just beautiful landscapes; they are expressions of artistry, storytelling, and environmental sustainability.

There are 8 show gardens to admire this year:

The Hierarchy of Plants – by Kate Mason. Silver Gilt

This is one of my favourite gardens as the planting is full to the brim with a mixture of exotics and cottage garden favourites such as the climbing Wisteria around the entrance.

This garden is a reflection of the fundamental human drive to fulfil one’s potential, inspired by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Designed as a tiered, tropical retreat, it blends the vibrant textures of cottage garden blooms with lush, exotic foliage, creating a harmonious balance of colour and structure. More than just a visual delight, the garden serves an educational purpose—offering insight on how to successfully over-winter tender and tropical plants, ensuring their survival and continued growth the following year.

Maindee Unlimited: The Greening Maindee Gateway Garden – Designed by Emily Crowley-Wroe. Silver Medal

This garden is a collaborative creation, brought to life by the community-led charity Maindee Unlimited and their dedicated volunteer gardening team, Greening Maindee. Their mission is to transform neglected areas into vibrant, inviting spaces that benefit both people and wildlife.

A striking trompe l’oeil mural wall, designed by local artist Andy O’Rourke, is a beautiful focal point, infusing the garden with colour. Running alongside the main pathway, the mural is softened by surrounding plants, seamlessly integrating art and nature. Winding paths lead visitors through trees and naturalistic planting, culminating in a central space featuring curved bespoke gabion seating and planters, designed for connection.

I love the colour palette and energy it creates – I felt positive and uplifted.

The Sleep in Beauty Garden. Designed by Ian McBain. Silver Gilt Medal

The Sleep in Beauty Garden embraces the magic of sleeping outdoors, transforming gardens into a tranquil night time retreat by embracing the peace and serenity of sleeping beneath the stars.

There’s a king-sized bed, with an overhead structure which has a living roof and a star-gazing panel, allowing dreamers to connect with the cosmos.

Sustainability is thought about throughout and they’ve used reclaimed and repurposed materials.

The trees were fabulous and I loved the reused containers planted with shade loving plants.

The Diamond Way: Cotswold Estates and Gardens 60th Anniversary Garden. Designed by Luke Gunner. Bronze Medal

The garden reflects a walk around the Cotswolds, with a covered seating area which has taken inspiration from a church lychgate. In front of it there’s a water feature with a diamond shape which represents a stone-sided watercourse with a ford crossing.

I particularly liked the opposite end which was planted with beech trees and underplanted with woodland plants such as Red Campion along with zesty Euphorbia and ferns.

The Rain Garden – A sustainable design showcasing water conservation. Designed by John Howlett. Gold Medal

The Rain Garden is inspired by the changing climate and flood risks that urban environments face. This garden draws inspiration from the tranquillity and beauty of traditional Japanese gardens. It demonstrates that with thoughtful design and planting, it’s possible to create a space that not only inspires but also addresses practical concerns, such as mitigating the impact of flooding caused by climate change.

The garden’s design features a monochromatic colour palette of whites, greens and subtle, rust-coloured accents. The calming sounds of water and rustling grasses create a tranquil, relaxing atmosphere.

The garden was densely planted with gorgeous Japanese Maples – one of my favourite plants! So it was difficult to see all he details of the design, but I loved it and it was very worthy of the Gold Medal.

St Godwald’s Retreat – A peaceful sanctuary inspired by nature. Designed by Marc Harbourne-Bessant. Bronze Medal.

The Garden is inspired by the life and times of St Godwald for whom the church in Bromsgrove is named after and is local to the Primrose Hospice & Family Support Centre.

Within the wattle and daub gazebo sits a ‘wind telephone’ which provides an opportunity to speak with a loved one that has passed, the wind carrying these words out through the stone portal and into the world beyond.

A memory tree from the hospice carries the names and stories of loved ones. A labyrinth formed with scented herbs beneath its branches. Within a wildflower glade beyond there is a space for meditation, or just to lie and be surrounded by the sounds of nature.

We chatted with Marc for a while about the story behind the garden design and how he created it – from the ‘broken’ slate archway symbolising loss and incompleteness to the ancient techniques used to create the garden. We shared stories of our families and how hospices support the community. It was a very thought provoking garden.

Garden of the Wind – A dynamic landscape shaped by movement. Designed by Yun Sunmi and Lu Wenjuan. Gold Medal

The Garden of the Wind is designed for an art and cultural institution as a therapeutic space that embodies Eastern philosophy and provides an unconventional exhibition space.

The wind in the garden can be experienced in different ways, Through the sound of the rustling leaves and the sight of their movement in the breeze and in the artworks throughout the space. In Korean, ‘wind’ and ‘hope’ are homophones, and the garden plays with the idea that when the wind blows in the garden, visitors feel a sense of hope and confidence.

The central building, co-designed with artist Ueda Rikuo, harnesses the dynamics of wind movement, to create wind drawings. Plants are chosen to show the dynamic movement of wind, and to reflect Eastern philosophical principles, both of which are essential components in Eastern gardens.

I loved this garden too – the planting colour scheme was so calming and I enjoyed watching the wind creating the artwork at the back of the building and with a smaller one at the front of the garden. I really liked how the pale pinks and grey foliage harmonised with the boulders. And the gentle steps up to the structure.

And the final show garden is….

Biosis ‘Mode of Life’ – A thought-provoking garden exploring ecological balance. Designed by Humble Bee Gardeners

Gold Medal

Best Show Garden

Best Construction

Environmental Innovation Award

The description on the RHS website explains it far better than I can…

In Mirabel Osler’s book A Gentle Plea for Chaos, she calls for a less regimental, more relaxed approach to gardening. Biosis: Mode of Life displays a conscious blurring between the wild and tamed and shows how innovative design is used to garden gently and embrace the wider community that we share our gardens with, echoing Osler’s ‘gentle plea for chaos’.

This is a rural, water-wise garden, circulating captured rainwater from the green roof of a bee wing inspired pergola and filtering through a blackthorn tower into a wildlife pond.

Medicinal and edible plants combine with a wild planting style, using ‘right plant, right place’ methodology to increase diversity and reduce maintenance. The reuse and recycling of materials brings art and sculpture to the garden and varies habitats across the site to increase biodiversity.

In addition to the show gardens there are several feature gardens, floral marquee and the amazing house plant show gardens – so there’s something for everyone’s style and budget. In addition to the gardens, there’s loads of talks and demos, ‘ask the experts’ and of course the annual visit by my favourite – Alan Titchmarsh!  It really is a great day out with a beautiful backdrop of the Malvern Hills.