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19th May 2026
RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Johnsons' at Chelsea. Day one: the colour stories we're bringing home

Day one at Chelsea and the showground is doing what it always does - stopping people in their tracks. We spent today moving through the gardens with one question in mind: what's worth bringing home? Not just the varieties, but the combinations, the moods, the design thinking behind the colour. 

 

Here are three gardens that gave us plenty to think about.

Lady Garden Foundation: 'Silent No More'

The garden that moves through colour like a story… 

Darren Hawke's garden for the Lady Garden Foundation is a lesson in using colour with intention. The scheme doesn't stay still. It opens with soft pinks, mauves and greys before deepening into richer, more saturated tones as you move through the space. Five sculptures emerge from the planting, each representing one of the five gynaecological cancers the Foundation campaigns around. It's a garden that carries genuine weight, and the planting does its part.

Orlaya grandiflora threads through the borders. That beautiful, lacy white that lifts everything around it. Scabious adds depth. The overall effect is romantic but purposeful, and the colour progression is something you can absolutely replicate at home.

Get the look at home: 

Ammi majus Seeds | Clary Blue Denim Seeds | Orlaya Grandiflora | Scabious Black Knight Seeds | Wildflower Cornflower Seeds | Salvia Summer Potted Plants Collection | Geum Brights Potted Plants Collection | Lavender Rosea Potted Plant | 

 

Tokonoma Garden - Sanumaya no Niwa

Calm, considered, and utterly beautiful…

Not every show-stopping garden at Chelsea announces itself loudly. The Tokonoma Garden – Sanumaya no Niwa by Kazuyuki Ishihara proves that colour used with care can be more striking than colour used in abundance.

The palette here is built on deep, lush greens. Moss, fern and foliage layered to create depth and richness. Against that, irises emerge in soft purples and blues, their elegance heightened by the calm that surrounds them. It's a combination that feels both timeless and quietly breathtaking.

 

Ishihara is a holder of 14 RHS Chelsea Gold medals and nicknamed the "Green Magician" by the late Queen Elizabeth II. He has always understood that beauty in a garden comes from contrast and composition, not competition. Every colour here has space to be seen. Every plant has room to be appreciated.

 

Bring that thinking into your garden:

The secret is in the balance: a restrained backdrop that lets your chosen colours truly sing. Agapanthus, Hydrangeas, and Ornamental Grasses work beautifully in this way, each bringing their own colour, form, and seasonal presence to a scheme without overwhelming it.

Parkinson's UK: A garden for Every Parkinson's Journey

Jewel tones, done beautifully…

Arit Anderson's garden for Parkinson's UK divides itself in two: one half calm and wooded, the other alive with jewel-bright perennials. It's that second half that stopped us. Rich, saturated colour used generously and joyfully, with Foxgloves running through it all like a thread. After the show, the garden relocates to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, which feels exactly right. A garden that is this considered deserves a long life.

The colour palette here is a masterclass in going bold without losing harmony. Deep pinks, plum, warm orange. Varieties that hold their own in a crowded border and still sing.

Get the look at home: 

Foxglove Alba | Foxglove Seeds | Zinnia Purple Prince  | Zinnia Envy Seeds  | Calendula Pot Marigold | Cosmos Double Dutch Rose  | Echinacea Alan's Pride | Grass Melinis Silver Queen | Nicotiana Sirius White F1 Seeds | Forget Me Not Mixed | Panicum Heavy Metal Potted Plant | Geum Firestarter Potted Plant | Johnsons Clematis Piilu Potted Plant| Rose Ozeana | Rose Alba Maxima | Rose Minerva| 

 

Chelsea always leaves us with ideas, but this year it’s the colour stories that are staying with us most. From soft, layered romance to jewel-bright confidence and the quiet restraint of green-on-green planting, these gardens reminded us that colour is never just decorative. It shapes atmosphere, emotion, and the way a space makes us feel.

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