RHS Chelsea Flower Show Plant of the Year

Discovering which plant has been awarded the coveted title of ‘Plant of the Year’ is always one of the highlights of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Judged by a RHS expert panel, the plant has to offer something unique to the market, with judges considering three criteria: novelty and innovation, garden performance, and likely appeal for UK gardeners. The final decision is also informed by the wow factor of the plants on display at the show. Meet some of the past winners and new contenders.

A dwarf mock orange cultivar, Petite Perfume Pink stole the show in 2025 with its beautiful fragrance and unusual blushed pink blooms that flower through the summer, being magnets for bees and butterflies.

Shortlisted for RHS Plant of the Year 2026, Streptocarpus 'Sirius' is a stunning houseplant variety, admired for its large, inky purple blooms, marked with distinct veining that deepens in colour over time. Its rosette of deep green leaves forms a neat base, while the elegant trumpet-shaped blooms rise above on slender stems.

Being officially released at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Raymond Evison’s Clematis ‘Queen's Nurse, EviGsy159’, is also shortlisted for the prestigious RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year. The stunning climber is notable for its blooms of a deep pink, with paler edges and creamy anthers. Repeat flowering, from base to tip, the flowers from the older wood are almost solid in colour.

Geranium Rozanne is an incredibly popular hardy cranesbill that is easy to grow and produces a profusion of violet, saucer-shaped flowers with white centres, amid lush slightly marbled, deep green foliage. Ideal for filling gaps in the border, it looks particularly good beneath roses.

Much admired for its heart shaped, velvety leaves, which are deeply and dramatically veined, Anthurium ‘Michelle’ is a hybrid houseplant cultivar offering excellent shape, colour and texture. Resilient in nature, it requires lower watering and humidity levels than other anthuriums.

As the name suggests, Agapanthus Black Jack is a remarkably dark purple / blue African Lily, the buds of which emerge almost black. Hardier than most, this variety fulfils the usual canon of Agapanthus in that its almost architectural flowers, emerging from a mound of richly green, strap-like leaves, provide startling colour on lovely arched stems and attract bees.