Never mind the celebrities in their floral frocks and shirts, it was the plants that were the stars at last week’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Every year breeders introduce dazzling newcomers you will want to take home and grow in your garden, patio or on a balcony right away.

Fashions in plants change with all the vagaries of the catwalk. Sometimes the trends are trivial. For example, a shade might match perfectly with the Pantone Colour of the Year. But there are more serious reasons for new cultivars taking off, such as a plant’s ability to withstand extremes in a changing climate.

Like anything else that goes in and out of fashion, plants are a matter of taste, so we’ve outlined the most fashionable plants to have in your garden this summer – and the ones to be avoided at all cost.

1. The King’s Rose

The latest rose from David Austin Roses is the darling of the season. It has been 12 years in development and came about after the then Prince of Wales met the late David Austin, and they discovered the first rose they had both grown was the bi-coloured Ferdinand Pichard.

Launched at RHS Chelsea last week, with proceeds going to The King’s Trust, this rose is a modern update on that, with large single pink and white flowers and a gentle myrrh fragrance. You can buy it in flower and plant it now, or wait until the winter and plant it as a bare root.

BUY IT: Bare root roses available to pre-order with David Austin from £26.50 (davidaustinroses.co.uk).

2. Miscanthus sinensis ‘Lady in Red’

This eulalia is a game changer, so it is no wonder it was shortlisted for RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2025. 

In summer its leaves are a beautiful dark green and purple, but it really comes into its own in the autumn when the foliage turns a deep shade of wine red in shocking contrast to the swaying panicles of silver flowers.

This herbaceous perennial prefers to be planted in full sun, and once established is both drought tolerant and fully hardy down to minus 20C.

BUY IT: 9cm pots available with Hayloft Plants from £16 (hayloft.co.uk).

3. Digitalis ‘Apple Blossom’

The trend for cottage garden flowers shows no sign of abating, but this unusual foxglove gives it a new twist. 

The flowers resemble those of an orchid, starting with creamy yellow blooms at the top, and white petals flushed with a lilac pink lower down.

It is highly pest- and disease-resistant and like most foxgloves is happy in moist soil and a bit of shade. 

Bred in the Netherlands, where it was spotted in 2023 and grown by a British plant company, it won the Horticultural Trade Association’s New Plant Awards last year.

BUY IT: 50 seeds available with The Botanic Nursery & Gardens from £5 (thebotanicnursery.co.uk)

4. Clematis ‘Bridgewater’

Horticulturist Raymond Evison is known as the ‘King of Clematis’ and every year he brings new varieties to his gold-winning stand in the Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea. One of a trio introduced this year, C. 

‘Bridgewater’ has lovely rich pink star-shaped flowers appearing from May to July, then returning for a second flush in September.

Plant it against a sunny wall or climbing a support in the middle of a border, but make sure the bottom of the plant is in shade as clematis like to have cool feet.

BUY IT: 7cm pots available with Hayloft from £18 (hayloft.co.uk)

5. Salvia ‘Peach Melba’

This new salvia, supplied by Sarah Raven, sounds good enough to eat and it is a feast for pollinators with its two toned pink and peach flowers. 

Its compact habit makes it great for the front of borders or displayed in a large container on a patio.

Easy to grow and in bloom for six months of the year, it can also cope well with hot dry summers so is ideal for our changing climate.

BUY IT: 9cm pots available with Sarah Raven from £10.95 (sarahraven.com).

6. Vianne’s ‘Chocolat’ rose

Roses are the flower of the moment. Not only are they enjoying a spectacular year and blooming early thanks to the recent high levels of sunshine, but they also feature in abundance in Jo Thompson’s romantic gold-winning garden for The Glasshouse charity.

This new rose from Blue Diamond Garden Centres is a classic deep crimson, highly fragrant hybrid tea rose. It has been launched in honour of author Joanne Harris’s new prequel Vianne, telling the story of the heroine of her bestselling book Chocolat.

BUY IT: 4.5l roses available to pre-order with Blue Diamond from £22.99 (store.bluediamond.gg).

7. Trollius europaeus

Natural looking flowers are here to stay and one of the best of these is the modest little globeflower. 

The golden yellow species form features in The Seawilding Garden, inspired by the landscape of the west coast of Scotland, which was the winner in the All About Plants category at RHS Chelsea.

There are also popular pale primrose cultivars including ‘Taleggio’ and ‘Alabaster’. It will tolerate sun, but prefers partial shade in moist, nutrient rich soil.

BUY IT: 3l pots available with Devon Pond Plants (devonpondplants.co.uk).

8. Iris ‘Frans Gold’

Blue irises have been in fashion since before Van Gogh painted them and this year is no different. 

They feature in many of the RHS Chelsea show gardens including Kazuyuki Ishihara’s Best in Show Japanese Tea Garden. ‘Frans Gold’ is just one of the many named cultivars of these slender, blue Siberian flag irises.

Other good cultivars include the darker ‘Tropic Night’ and the paler ‘Perry’s Blue’. They are best planted after flowering, between August and October.

BUY IT: 2l flowers available with Barnsdale Gardens (shop.barnsdale.co.uk).

9. Dahlia ‘Jonathan Buckley’

Having once been considered vulgar, dahlias have made an amazing comeback in recent years. They come in all shapes, sizes and colours, making them perfect for cut flowers.

This new variety from Sarah Raven is named after the well-known garden photographer and has a wildish flower with luminous pale pink petals edged with magenta around a golden centre. 

Dahlias flower in late summer through to autumn, so now is the perfect time to plant them for blooms later this year.

BUY IT: 3l pots available with Sarah Raven from £18.95 (sarahraven.com).

10. Streptocarpus ‘Betty’

Flowering houseplants are very on trend and this new Cape Primrose has a vintage appeal with large sky-blue petals streaked with deep purple and glossy green leaves. 

Shortlisted for RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2025, it has an upright habit and flowers from March to November. It is quick growing so buy it as a plug plant and grow it in a container to make the perfect centrepiece for a table.

BUY IT: 1 rooted cutting available with RHS Plants from £17.99 (rhsplants.co.uk).

And the five you wouldn’t be seen dead with

1. Coloured heathers

If you are entering a garden centre and tempted by a table of unnaturally coloured heathers, please do yourself a favour and walk on. 

Heathers are perfectly attractive in their natural shades of pink, white and purple, and are a great early source of nectar for pollinators, but there is no earthly reason to spray paint them every colour of the rainbow.

2. Phormiums

These New Zealand perennials were once all the rage in urban garden design. But in the UK climate the leaves can soon begin to look tatty. 

They don’t like cold, wet winters, although they are happy baking in the sun. If you must grow them, combine them with other plants rather than putting several in a bed together, which can be overwhelming.

3. Busy Lizzies

Impatiens are just one of the heavily hybridised annual bedding plants that you can pick up at supermarkets and garden centres, along with petunias, pansies, nemesia, double marigolds, and begonias. 

While these can all look very jolly, they have little value to pollinators and so are best avoided if you want to make your garden wildlife friendly.

4. Crocosmia

There are some lovely varieties of crocosmia, such as C. ‘Lucifer’ which has dramatic scarlet flowers. 

But the common form of this plant, which used to be known as montbretia, is highly invasive. It can spread quickly through borders, suffocating other plants. 

The flowers when they arrive in mid to late summer are an insipid orange and not worth it.

5. Acanthus

Some people love this dramatic plant, also known as bear’s breeches, for its large distinctive glossy green leaves and spires of white flowers with purple bracts. 

But if you are drawn in by its charms, beware, because it is an absolute thug which can run riot in a border and is almost impossible to dig out.