RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2022 launches the RHS show season
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Raymond Blanc
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l-r Monty Don and James Alexander-Sinclair
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Show garden by Peter Dowle for Leaf Creative
RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2022 kicks off the Royal Horticultural Society’s show season with its greenest ever show celebrating the wonderful worlds of gardens, plants, flowers and food.
Hosted at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern, from May 05-08, and set against the backdrop of the picturesque Malvern Hills, the show is springing back after a two-year absence due to the pandemic.
Shows Manager, Jane Edwards, said: “We are thrilled to be launching the RHS show season with a true celebration of horticulture and our greenest show ever. We have made a pledge to deliver an event that champions sustainable practices across all areas and inspires our show goers with a host of planet-friendly gardening ideas to adopt at home. Plants, gardens and green spaces, whatever their size, have been vitally important during the pandemic, and so we wanted to put on a festival that will bring more greenery and gardening into our lives. The brand new RHS feature garden, the Vitamin G garden, does exactly this, offering practical ways to benefit from a daily dose of Vitamin G (gardening).
A new Nourish area explores how plants and food support our physical, mental and social wellbeing and the new Floral Green, located in front of the Floral Marquee, champions the burgeoning British Flower Growing and Cut Flower industry.”
We will also be marking Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee with a new permanent garden celebrating her reign. We couldn’t be happier to be back, we’re counting down the days until we can welcome everyone again.”
NEW FOR 2022
SUSTAINABILITY PLEDGE
RHS Malvern Spring Festival will be the greenest show held at the Three Counties Showground. In line with the RHS Sustainability Pledge that was released in 2021, RHS Malvern has undertaken its own stretching targets to continuously improve its impact on the environment and empower its visitors to make more planet friendly choices.
More information will be released in due course but below are some of the sustainable practices that are being implemented:
- New free water refill stations have been installed across the showground to minimise usage of plastic bottles. Visitors will be encouraged to bring their own bottles
- All waste will be removed from site, sorted and either recycled or incinerated and converted into refuse derived
- All compost for show gardens and feature gardens is sourced locally from Worcester County Council and derives from garden waste converted into compost
- Plastic bags have been replaced with biodegradable, paper or tote bags for use in the Floral Marquee, Plant Village and Plant Pavilions and visitors are being encouraged to bring their own bags for life
RHS FEATURE GARDEN – THE VITAMIN G GARDEN
Centred around evidence-based research, conducted by the RHS Head of Science, Dr Alistair Griffiths, the Vitamin G garden will demonstrate how visitors can incorporate a daily dose of Vitamin G (Gardening) into their everyday lives and highlight what those benefits can bring.
FLORAL GREEN
Located in front of the famous Floral Marquee, the new Floral Green area will play host to the British Floristry Theatre. A brand-new British Floristry theatre that champions the British Flower Growing and Cut Flower industry will feature a spectacular centre piece of floral crowns to wow the crowds alongside a theatre with a timetable of inspirational talks and demonstrations championing seasonal floristry and buying British.
AFFORDABLE GARDENS
Comprising of three typically sized gardens that are designed to a strict transparent budget starting at just £500. Seeking to inspire the visitor to have a go, these spaces will be championing real gardens for real people.
NOURISH
Brand new for 2022, the Nourish area is a dedicated zone that interprets and explores the role of horticulture and food in our health and wellbeing. The positive role that they can have in helping combat the stresses we face in our ever-busy digital age. A theatre will feature talks and demonstrations to inspire visitors to make positive choices.
MAKING A WELCOME RETURN
SHOW GARDENS
This year’s Show Gardens, shortly to be announced, have a simple theme – Celebration. Always a number one destination at the show, garden designers will inspire visitors with a host of take home ideas and transportational spaces.
SHIPPING CONTAINER GARDENS
The popular Shipping Container gardens return for 2022, this category offers creative solutions for making the most of smaller spaces.
FLORAL MARQUEE
The enormously popular Floral Marquee will be filled with specialist nurseries and packed with award-winning displays where visitors can browse and buy from the very best in the business.
THE SCHOOL GARDENS CHALLENGE
RHS Malvern Spring Festival is one of the only RHS Shows in the UK to have a collection of show gardens designed and built entirely by young people. Led by former BBC Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins, The School Garden Challenge inspires youngsters across the country to design and build their own special themed gardens – this year the theme explores the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to honour her Jubilee year.
PLANT VILLAGE & PLANT PAVILIONS
This exciting open-air shopping experience plays host to specialist nurseries, each showcasing a wonderful array of top quality plants. As one of the main destinations at the show, this is a plant lovers’ paradise, especially during the famous sell-off on Sunday.
FESTIVAL THEATRE
Festival favourite, Chelsea garden designer and BBC presenter, James Alexander-Sinclair, returns to host a lively line up of leading experts and familiar faces. Visitors may take a seat and enjoy demonstrations, talks and exciting features as personalities share their knowledge and passion for all things gardening and food. Confirmed experts to be announced soon.
GROW AREA
The Grow & Show pavilion will offer gardeners an opportunity to show-off their best flowers, bulbs, alpines, vegetables, pot plants, ever-popular succulents and photography. First time gardeners will have access to National Plant Societies in a marquee brimming with knowledge and advice. The National Allotment Society will be bringing a feature garden which will be fit to bursting with take home ideas on how to get the best from your plot.
FOOD & DRINK PAVILION
A foodie hotspot, the Food & Drink Pavilion is a magnificent celebration of British tastes with bountiful offerings from the country’s best-loved artisan producers. Expect the freshest field produce, big cheeses, bread of heaven, specialty gins, decadent bakes and more.
FOOD & DRINK THEATRE
Hosted by award-winning food writer Mark Diacono, with support from Chef, Valentine Warner, this animated live kitchen presents a line-up of delicious cookery demonstrations from culinary experts and the country’s top chefs.
RHS Malvern Spring Festival takes place from Thursday 05 May until Sunday 08 May 2022. Tickets are now on sale. Free entry for children under the age of 16 is available throughout the festival. For more information on ticket prices, please call 0344 338 5400 or visit www.rhsmalvern.co.uk.