From Malvern to Chelsea – Our First RHS Show Season

If somebody had told me a year ago that May 2026 would involve exhibiting at our first RHS Flower Shows, appearing on BBC Gardeners' World, chatting with celebrities in the Great Pavilion and coming home with two Silver-Gilt medals, I would probably have laughed.

Yet somehow, that is exactly what happened.

Looking back now, the whole month feels like a blur of Pelargoniums, packing vans, motorway miles, late nights, early mornings, adrenaline, stress and excitement.

It was certainly a month we'll never forget.

Malvern – Learning to Adapt

We always knew May was going to be busy. Mail order season was in full swing and, alongside that, we had committed ourselves to exhibiting at our first RHS Flower Shows.

What we hadn't planned for was the weather.

After a winter of dull, grey skies and limited light levels, many of the plants we had hoped to showcase simply weren't ready. As RHS Malvern Spring Festival approached, it became increasingly clear that our carefully planned display wasn't going to happen.

With only days to spare, we found ourselves redesigning the whole exhibit around the plants that were actually performing well. It wasn't ideal and certainly wasn't stress-free, but sometimes gardening has a habit of reminding you who's really in charge.

Thankfully, we had fantastic support around us. The team at Keder Greenhouses provided one of their greenhouses for the display, allowing us to create an Urban Plant Collector's Garden filled with unusual species, hybrids, heritage varieties and some exciting plants from my personal collection. Friends, family, fellow exhibitors and the RHS team all helped us overcome the inevitable challenges that seemed to appear at every turn.

By opening day, the display looked very different from the one we had originally planned, but it still achieved exactly what we wanted: showcasing the incredible diversity and versatility of Pelargoniums.

The response from visitors was wonderful. Many people discovered varieties they had never seen before and some plants proved so popular that we quickly started selling out.

Then things became even more exciting.

On Thursday afternoon, the BBC Gardeners' World team arrived with Rachel de Thame to film at the stand. Watching Rachel explore the display and share some of her favourite plants was a genuine pinch-yourself moment. Her admiration for the beautifully scented Pelargonium 'Pink Capricorn' proved particularly popular and, after the programme aired, we struggled to keep up with demand!

The icing on the cake came when we discovered we had been awarded a Silver-Gilt Medal.

For our first RHS show, it felt like an incredible achievement and gave us confidence as we turned our attention towards the biggest challenge of them all – Chelsea!

From Malvern to Chelsea

The celebrations didn't last long.

We packed down Malvern on Sunday, unloaded the van back at the nursery and almost immediately began preparing for RHS Chelsea Flower Show. There was barely enough time to catch our breath.

By Tuesday we were in London unloading props and surveying our space inside the Great Pavilion.

Even now, writing those words still feels slightly surreal.

As we drove onto the Chelsea showground and the Great Pavilion came into view, the enormity of what we were doing suddenly hit me.

My first visit to Chelsea was back in the early 1990s, helping Hazel Key stage the National Pelargonium Collection exhibit. At the time I could never have imagined that one day I would be returning with my own display.

Seeing the Great Pavilion standing in front of me felt like a genuine full-circle moment. Amid all the stress of staging, plant lists and logistics, it was one of the few occasions where I stopped, took it all in and realised what an incredible opportunity this was. For a few moments, the pressure of preparing for Chelsea disappeared and I found myself thinking back to that young teenager helping stage plants with Hazel all those years ago and hoping that I do her proud!

Like many things we do at Growing Crazy, our Chelsea plans had come together rather later than most sensible people would recommend. While many experienced exhibitors spend years planning their displays, we had only finally committed a few months earlier. Every decision seemed to be happening at the last possible moment.

The display was designed to celebrate Pelargoniums grown in traditional terracotta pots, alongside the craftsmanship of Whichford Pottery as they celebrated their 50th anniversary. We wanted to show visitors that Pelargoniums could be elegant, sophisticated and perfectly at home in a classic garden setting.

Back at the nursery, the final plant selections were still causing us a few sleepless nights. Some varieties were flowering beautifully, while others were stubbornly refusing to cooperate. As every exhibitor knows, plants don't always read the schedule.

The centrepiece of the display was always going to be four large specimens of the magnificent Regal Pelargonium 'Lord Bute'. They were a gamble, as they don't naturally flower this early in the season, but if they performed well they would be spectacular.

Thankfully, they rewarded our faith and started to break into flower in time and soon became one of the highlights of the display.

 

Welcome to the Great Pavilion

Building a Chelsea exhibit is unlike anything else.

What visitors eventually see as a finished display is the result of countless small decisions, adjustments and refinements. Plants are moved, pots repositioned, labels tweaked and heights adjusted until everything finally feels right.

By Sunday afternoon, the stand was beginning to come together and the reality of exhibiting at Chelsea was starting to sink in.

Then the BBC arrived.

Rachel de Thame came to film part of the opening Chelsea programme and spend time exploring the exhibit. Fortunately, enough of the display had been completed to make it look as though everything was under control (great camera angle work guys!).

The surreal moments kept coming.

Carol Klein stopped by while filming nearby and casually mentioned that she had featured Growing Crazy in her latest Garden News article. We had absolutely no idea. One minute you're adjusting plant labels and the next Carol Klein is telling you she's been writing about your nursery.

A little later I looked up and found myself casually saying, "Hello Zoe," to Zoe Ball as she stopped to admire the display. It was one of those moments that felt completely normal at the time but very strange when you think about it afterwards.

Somewhere along the way, Chelsea had just become very strange indeed.

The Chelsea Experience

Just when we thought the stand was finished, Chelsea delivered one final challenge.

Late on Sunday evening, after taking a quick walk around the showground, we returned to discover part of the exhibit had been sprayed with water from a dust-suppression hose inside the Great Pavilion.

My heart sank.

With judging taking place the following morning, it was probably the last thing any exhibitor wants to discover. Unfortunately, some of our most delicate blooms had been caught in the process.

Thankfully the RHS team were incredibly supportive and did everything they could to reassure us. While there was some visible damage to a handful of flowers, we removed the worst affected blooms and hoped for the best.

Press Day at Chelsea was another experience entirely.

The Great Pavilion was filled with photographers, journalists, television crews and social media creators, all looking for the perfect story and photograph. Throughout the day we welcomed a steady stream of visitors to the stand, many of whom were familiar faces from television, radio and the world of horticulture.

Among them were Tom Allen, Will Young and Joanna Scanlan, all of whom were generous with their time and genuinely interested in the plants.

One particular highlight for Harry was meeting Dame Elaine Paige, who was absolutely lovely and happily posed for a photograph with him.

Meanwhile, Mum was delighted to see the King and spot David Beckham during the private preview. Despite being given strict instructions to remain calm around celebrities, that particular plan lasted only a matter of seconds before she dashed off in pursuit of a photograph with David!

The whole experience felt wonderfully surreal.

A Silver-Gilt at Chelsea

By the time medal day arrived, I felt remarkably calm, perhaps exhaustion had finally taken over!

I knew the strengths of the display and I knew its weaknesses. The weather earlier in the year had made some aspects of the exhibit difficult and there were plants that simply weren't quite where we would have liked them to be. All we could do was present the very best display possible with the plants we had.

When we walked into the Great Pavilion and discovered we had been awarded a Silver-Gilt Medal, it was an incredible moment. To achieve a Silver-Gilt at our very first Chelsea Flower Show, just days after receiving the same award at our first RHS Malvern exhibit, was something we could only have dreamed of when we first submitted our applications.

Heading Home

The rest of the week passed in a blur of conversations, visitors, old friends, loyal customers and fellow exhibitors.

By Saturday afternoon we were exhausted but incredibly proud.

The famous Chelsea sell-off was every bit as lively as people had warned us it would be before we packed everything away, loaded the van and began the journey back to Worcestershire.

As we finally got back into Evesham, exhausted but incredibly proud, it was hard to believe what had happened over the previous few weeks.

Our first RHS season had brought redesigns, setbacks, sleepless nights, BBC cameras, celebrity encounters, two Silver-Gilt medals and thousands of conversations about Pelargoniums.

Looking back, one thing became very clear throughout both shows: none of this would have been possible without the support of an incredible group of people.

From family and friends who helped grow plants, load vans, build displays and provide encouragement during the inevitable stressful moments, to fellow exhibitors, the RHS team, Keder Greenhouses, Whichford Pottery and so many others who offered advice, support and reassurance along the way, we were constantly reminded how fortunate we are to be part of such a generous and supportive horticultural community. 

While the medals may have our name on them, they really reflect the efforts of a much larger team and I will always be incredibly grateful.

Most importantly, it confirmed something we had hoped all along: there is a genuine appetite for the history, diversity and beauty of these remarkable plants.

From visitors discovering their first species Pelargonium to long-time enthusiasts sharing stories of varieties they remembered growing decades ago, the response throughout both shows was incredibly encouraging.

Now, after a little sleep, a lot of watering and catching up with life back at the Pelargonium Palace, it's time to start planning what comes next!