It began with a simple idea.

Not to separate wildflowers from the rest of the garden, but to welcome them in.

For too long, they’ve been treated as unwanted plants. Best suited to meadows and margins, rather than designed spaces. But that distinction has never felt entirely right.

With our 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show exhibit, Wildflowers Without Borders, our aim was to challenge that.

To show wildflowers planted alongside cultivated perennials, not as a contrast, but as a complement. Structured planting, softened with something more natural. A balance between control and spontaneity.

Because when the two are combined, the result feels more dynamic. More resilient. And ultimately, more reflective of how plants grow in the landscape beyond the garden.

A clear shift towards natural, resilient planting has emerged at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in recent years. Long regarded as a bellwether for garden design, Chelsea Show Gardens now favour a more naturalistic style, where wildflowers play a central role rather than a supporting one.

Once confined to meadows and roadside verges, they are now being woven into garden schemes with intent. Valued not just for their appearance, but for their resilience and their role in supporting the wider environment.

In 2025, we were proud to be part of that change. Our exhibit, celebrating native British wildflowers, was awarded a Gold Medal by the RHS Judges. Recognition of both the display and the direction it represents.

What’s notable is not simply the presence of wildflowers in garden design, but how they are being used. Increasingly, designers are placing them alongside cultivated perennials, creating planting that feels structured yet not try-hard. The distinction between wild and formal is becoming less defined.

This was central to our own approach. A planting scheme that brought the two together, considered, but never overly controlled.

There is also a growing emphasis on designing with the landscape in mind. Gardens are no longer treated as separate from their surroundings, but as part of a wider whole.

Our display drew inspiration from the Kent countryside, where our seeds are grown and harvested. Looking to hedgerows and natural habitats, rather than imposing something entirely new.

The appeal of wildflowers, however, extends beyond aesthetics. Their environmental value is fundamental. They support pollinators, improve soil, and encourage biodiversity to return. As part of our Chelsea exhibit, we introduced a seed mix developed specifically for soil health, combining deep-rooted and nitrogen-fixing species to help restore the ground over time.

This mix has already been used in the rose garden at Sissinghurst Castle Garden, where it is supporting the natural regeneration of the soil.

A highlight of the week was the opportunity to meet HRH King Charles III during his visit to the Great Pavilion. We presented him with a packet of the mix and spoke briefly about the thinking behind it.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of this shift toward using wild species is how accessible it is. Incorporating wildflowers does not require a complete redesign. A few native species in a border, a small area left to grow more freely, or a seed mix chosen with care can all make a difference.

It is, ultimately, a change in approach. Less control, more observation. Working with the conditions of a place, rather than against them.

The presence of wildflowers at Chelsea is not a passing trend. It reflects a broader rethinking of what gardens are for, not only spaces of beauty, but of balance and sustainability.

Our Gold Medal-winning exhibit in 2025 was part of that wider movement.

A way of showing that British wildflowers belong not just in the countryside, but in our gardens too.

From the field with love,

Charlotte x