Chelsea Flower Show 2023 winners: the medal-winning gardens at this year’s horticultural extravaganza

There are rarely any bad gardens at Chelsea, but the past few years the show has at times felt a little like something has been missing. Not this year.

From earth and grass just three weeks ago, the show gardens have risen to be horticultural masterpieces, with such attention to detail in the planting and design they look like they have been there for years, sometimes hundreds.

As is the case with Cleve West’s Gold winning Centrepoint garden, set amongst the rubble of a derelict Victorian terrace house, and Jihae Hwang’s ‘A Letter From a Million Years Past’ garden, which uses an amazing range of Korean plants to show the relationship between people and nature.

The Great Pavilion is also on another level this year, feeling fuller than ever with exhibits from some sensational plant nurseries, florists and even mushroom growers.

The David Austin roses have never smelt stronger, perhaps all down to their new introduction ‘Dannahue’ a highly fragrant apricot coloured rose that takes centre stage.

It’s getting hotter

There is a subtle move to gardens that are more Mediterranean in style, acknowledging the changing climate, especially in London and the South of England.

Look out for the earthy tones of Silver-Gilt winning Hamptons Mediterranean Sanctuary garden, Designed by Filippo Dester of Garden Club London, and the beautiful Stone pines in Sarah Price’s Cedric Morris inspired Gold winning garden on Main Avenue.

Wild has not gone away

Gardens embracing nature are still big at this year’s show, with Jihae Hwang’s Gold winning Korean mountainside landscape, and Jon Davies and Steve Williams Silver winning Centre for Mental Health Garden, using rubble and weeds to show how nature turns human spaces into healing spaces.

But nor have gardens

For all the talk of weeds before the show, you’d think there was nothing else in the gardens at this year's show. Far from it. Luscious planting can be found in the Gold winning gardens of Charlie Hawkes, Chris Beardshaw and Harris Bugg, showing that gardens don’t have to just be rubble and weeds.

Harris Bugg Studio

Horatio's Garden

Cleve West

The Centrepoint Garden

Sarah Price

The Nurture Landscapes Garden

Chris Beardshaw

Myeloma UK - A Life Worth Living Garden

Jihae Hwang

A Letter From a Million Years Past

Paul Hervey-Brookes

RBC Brewin Dolphin Garden

Gavin McWilliam and Andrew Wilson

Memoria & GreenAcres Transcendence Garden

Mark Gregory

The Savills Garden

Darren Hawkes

Samaritans’ Listening Garden

Tom Massey

The Royal Entomological Society Garden

Jon Davies and Steve Williams

Centre for Mental Health’s The Balance Garden

Jilayne Rickards

The Fauna & Flora Garden

Charlie Hawkes

National Brain Appeal The National Brain Appeal's Rare Space Garden

James Smith

London Square The London Square Community Garden

Kazuyuki Ishihara,

The Biophilic Garden Otsu - Hanare

Filippo Dester

Hamptons Hamptons Mediterranean Garden

Martyn Wilson

The RSPCA Garden

Thomas Hoblyn

The Boodles 'Best of British' Garden

Taina Suoni & Anne Hamilton

Cavernoma Society The Cavernoma on My Mind Garden

Emma Tipping

The St George 'Alight Here' Balcony Garden

Rosemary Coldstream

Feels Like Home

Katherine Holland Garden

Design The Folio Society's Reading Room Garden

Christina Cobb

The Restorative Balcony Garden sponsored by Viking

Amelia Bouquet and Emilie Bausager

The Platform Garden

Joanne Edmonds and Camilla Windsor-Clive

The Hampden Stargardt Garden

The Chelsea Gardener

The Shifting Garden

Gini Denison-Pender, Philippa Craddock and Anna Garner

The Doorstep Library Garden: Words Take You Places

Julie and Andrew Haylock

The Mary Anning Space to Learn Garden

Joe & Laura Carey

The Talitha Arts Garden

Nicola Semple and Susan Begg

Teapot Trust: Elsewhere Garden

Camellia Taylor

The Natural Affinity Garden for Aspens

Harry Holding

School Food Matters The School Food Matters Garden

Jane Porter

Choose Love Garden

Alexa Ryan-Mills

The Sadler's Wells East Garden

The Best Exhibit in the Great Pavilion: Kells Bay House & Gardens for The Ferns of Kells Bay Gardens

The New Design Award: Mushrooms - the homegrown edibles collection - by Caley Brothers

Best Discovery Exhibit: Sparsholt College’s Rustic Recipes Reimagined

Best House Plant: Geb & Green’s Steam.Clean.Plant. Repeat

Best Floristry Exhibit: The Beauty of Recycling Floral Bin by Hubbards Florist

Ambassadors’ Choice: Emma Thistlethwaite for Annual