19 inspirational, touching and funny Chelsea Flower Show pictures
Last week's Chelsea Flower Show produced all sorts of weird and wonderful display – we sent photographer Charlie Hopkinson along to record his favourite sights.


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Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
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'The watch is Head Boy of men’s accessorising': Ginnie Chadwyck-Healey and Tom Chamberlin's Summer Season style secrets
When it comes to dressing for the Season, accessories will transform an outfit. Ginnie Chadwyck-Healey and Tom Chamberlin, both stylish summer-party veterans, offer some sage advice.
By Country Life
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George Monbiot: 'Farmers need stability and security... Instead, they're contending with chaos'
The writer, journalist and campaigner George Monbiot joins the Country Life podcast.
By Toby Keel
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'I'd willingly give a year of my life for a fortnight there': The green dream that is the garden of Derreen
Exotic woods, labyrinths of narrow, mossy paths and thousands of tree ferns make this an internationally important garden, writes Charles Quest-Ritson. Photographs by Jonathan Hession.
By Charles Quest-Ritson
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Six of the best Clematis montanas that every garden needs
Clematis montana is easy to grow and look after, and is considered by some to be 'the most graceful and floriferous of all'.
By Charles Quest-Ritson
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The man who trekked Bhutan, Mongolia, Japan, Tasmania and New Zealand to bring the world's greatest magnolias back to Kent
Magnolias don't get any more magnificent than the examples in the garden at White House Farm in Kent, home of Maurice Foster. Many of them were collected as seed in the wild — and they are only one aspect of his enthralling garden.
By Charles Quest-Ritson
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The 'breathtakingly magnificent' English country gardens laid out on the Amalfi Coast, and the story of how they got there
Kirsty Fergusson follows the Grand Tour to Campania in Italy, where the English combined their knowledge and love of plants with the rugged landscape to create gardens of extraordinary beauty.
By Kirsty Fergusson
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Have your say in the Historic Houses Garden of the Year Awards 2025
By Annunciata Elwes
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Evenley Wood Garden: 'I didn't know a daffodil from a daisy! But being middle-aged, ignorant and obstinate, I persisted'
When Nicola Taylor took on her plantsman father’s flower-filled woodland, she knew more about horses than trees, but, as Tiffany Daneff discovers, that hasn’t stopped her from making a great success of the garden. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
By Tiffany Daneff
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An expert guide to growing plants from seed
All you need to grow your own plants from seed is a pot, some compost, water and a sheltered place.
By John Hoyland
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The best rhododendron and azalea gardens in Britain
It's the time of year when rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias and many more spring favourites are starting to light up the gardens of the nation. Here are the best places to go to enjoy them at their finest.
By Amie Elizabeth White