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Music, dancing and jellied eels all round: The 'colourful world of plenty' in the iconic garden at the Festival of Britain75 years ago, the Festival of Britain turned austere, post-war London into a fairytale of lights, sounds, colour and celebration — and at the heart of it all were the pleasure gardens at Battersea. Kathryn Ferry looks back on those gardens — an outdoor space that may have been the last of its kind.
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The ancient trees that laugh in the face of climate change and dinosaur-killing asteroidsCharles Quest-Ritson meets the 'living fossil' trees that survived mass extinctions.
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'Science has not been kind to moon gardening, but feeling part of a centuries-old gardening tradition is rewarding'The popular Continental concept of gardening by the cycles of the moon is gaining traction in Britain.
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The hedge can be a Queen of Puddings, a veritable pie, which could have its uses in all sorts of placesIsabel Bannerman needed to hide some solar panels, so decided that the best way to do it was by planting a hedge full of bountiful fruits.
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Has ‘gravel gardening’ ever been as perfectly presented? What we really thought about the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower ShowRomantic planting, running water and an abundance of trees in all their glorious forms reigned supreme in SW3 this year, reports Kathryn Bradley-Hole.
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These rarely-seen photographs of the Prince’s Palace of Monaco were taken by a world-renowned photographer and rediscovered in the Country Life ArchiveCountry Life contributor Geoffrey Roland Ballance died too young, but some of his finest work lives on in our Archive, finds Melanie Bryan.
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Forget a message in a bottle, how about a whole ecosystem? A five-minute guide to terrariums and their nasty historyThe solution to garden-less gardening began as a happy accident, has its roots in Victorian society and, also, the colonisers of Africa. The result, terrariums, are now beloved by hipsters everywhere, writes Lotte Brundle.
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Famous faces and moments you might've missed at the Chelsea Flower Show so farWe're halfway through the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, so it's probably as good a time as any for a recap.
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What not to miss at the Chelsea Flower Show: Clive Nichols and Kathryn Bradley-Hole on the Country Life PodcastClive Nichols and Kathryn Bradley-Hole join the Country Life Podcast live from the Chelsea Flower Show.
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'It would be very odd to be in a room without a plant, wouldn't it?': How to decorate with houseplants, inspired by our Chelsea Flower Show standAmy Merricks talks to Jane Kennerley about the importance and nostalgia of bringing the garden inside.
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Country Life at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show: Highlights from day two of the nation's favourite flower showCountry Life reported live from the second day of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London — here are the highlights of everything that happened at the world's most famous horticultural event.
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Chelsea Flower Show 2026: The entirely unofficial awards, according to Country LifeThe coveted Gold Medals are the preserve of the RHS's elite band of judges — but our team in SW3 had a different take on the best of RHS Chelsea 2026. Here are our highlights, our lowlights, and the things that made us smile.
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Mother Earth carved from a fallen tree, a dry-stone arch and plants sourced from fly-tipped garden waste: The story of the RHS Chelsea Garden of the YearThe Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: ‘On the Edge’, designed by Sarah Eberle, has been named RHS Garden of the Year at the 2026 Chelsea Flower Show.
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See all the medallists from the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower ShowThe judges have judged, the awards have been awarded — and these are the gardens that won the prizes at this year's Chelsea Flower Show.
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Country Life at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show: The highlights of the opening day at SW3Country Life is reporting live from RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. Join us for all the goings on at the world's most famous horticultural event.
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'Growing is in our DNA, what we're designed to do. It helps us make sense of things': Waiting for an allotment in BelfastIt may be years before Alexander Poots gets his own allotment, but maybe the waiting is part of the journey.
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What you'll see at RHS Chelsea 2026: Rustic royal cottages, curvaceous designs and a taste of the Australian outbackKathryn Bradley-Hole previews the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
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The silent extinction crisis threatening vanilla, magnolias — and the world’s tiniest waterlilyThe world's main source of vanilla, smallest waterlily and many magnolia species could disappear entirely, according to scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and others.
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If you consider the collective power of the UK's gardens, the potential to make a meaningful difference for nature is extraordinaryAs spring awakens the world around us, Sheila Das, the Head of Gardens and Parks at the National Trust, tells us how small acts of kindness can make a huge difference.
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'A grotesque mixture of Frankenstein plants that no nursery has ever nurtured': What happened when an experienced gardening writer turned to AIStuck for ideas on how to plant a new flowerbed, Caroline Donald asked the chatbots for advice. The answers ranged from ignorant to hideous.
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Queen Charlotte, Queen Victoria and the bluebells that erupt in a hidden pocket of wilderness at Kew GardensWhen Queen Victoria left an area of wilderness by the Thames at Kew to the nation, it was on condition that it be preserved in its natural beauty. After decades of abandonment, it is now being gently restored, writes Kendra Wilson.
