What: RHS Sandringham Flower Show
When: Wednesday 22 – Saturday 25 July
Where: Sandringham Estate, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE31 – the Royal Family’s private estate
The Habitat Garden goes for gold
The Royal Horticultural Society, organiser of the world-renowned Chelsea Flower Show, has launched a new mega show in a prized venue… the Royal Family’s private estate.
The new show fills the historic setting with show gardens, extravagant plants for sale and places to eat and drink in the open air against the backdrop of the historic house and St Mary Magdalene, the church where the Royal Family gather each Christmas Day. King Charles – who became the RHS’s patron in 2024 – and Queen Camilla visited early on Wednesday’s opening of the five-day event to present awards for the best gardens on show.
The show spreads across the mammoth green space not far from the Norfolk seaside was rich in coastal colour and planting. One, a silver medal winner, was A Long Border For Climate Resilience, sponsored by the Norfolk Coast organisation which manages the protected landscape. This united dunes, shoreline greenery and chalk streams amid flint and brick walls as a nod to historic buildings. Another, Naturally Resilient: Inspired By The Norfolk Coast, was equally about drought-tolerant plants, surrounded by sand and shingle. Meanwhile, Gardens On The Edge, took in coastal erosion, the display easing from a lush country garden to a sparse, sandy landscape. Meanwhile the Habitat Garden, with sculptural dead tree and more deadwood, focused on home and food for both insects and birds – and won gold. Elsewhere Thomas Gainsborough, the Suffolk artist was honoured as we approach the 300th anniversary of his birth, by a garden that used elements of his grandiose art and his scenic birthplace
Nelson’s Shantymen sing out in praise of the RNLI
The coast was forever at the forefront. Swim Between The Flags celebrated RNLI lifeguards with dunes sculpted from local woven willow, a contemporary curtain of rain sending its spray across the grasses and flowers. A lunchtime highlight at the garden was a concert by 14-strong Nelson’s Shantymen, a rich chorus with guitars, mandolin, banjo, even a beatbox. Coastal songs rode the waves from Norfolk My Home to the Beach Boys hit Sloop John B.
Elsewhere, gardens and displays took in environmental issues, climate change, wetland preservation and much more that is important to our holidays.
King Charles was honoured with the RHS Royal Legacy Garden uniting his favourite plants with subtle forest touches. And Queen Camilla gave a special award to a display called The Queen Bee, with tin can bees flying through flowers in upcycled containers created by the children of Ingoldisthorpe primary school close to Sandringham.
Sandringham House as few see it, from a comfy chair with a coffee…
RHS Sandringham Flower Show is much more than a flower show, it’s a chance to wander through grassland dotted with ancient trees, to marvel at the astonishing garden sheds one can buy, and to relax amid iconic scenery. Some of the many retail opportunities are even in brightly painted beach huts. There are plenty of chairs and table serving the food and drink trucks and tents – from craftsman gins to barbecue ribs and just about anything you could think of – with astonishing views over Sandringham House. Another delight was St Mary Magdalene, just outside the show gates, but a rubber stamp gets you out and in again. There’s free entry to the ornate church, dating back to the 16th century but with many early 20th century features, including extravagant silverwork. Also free are short talks – I sat on a pew as a local expert regaled us with a charming potted history, also pointing out where the Royal Family sat for the Christmas service.
St Mary Magdalene, a Royal Family tradition on Christmas Day
Back inside the show, a stall run by local churchgoers was selling home-made cakes and cheese scones, offering a charming break under the trees in the most fabulous of settings.
How to do it
Sandringham sits between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton in North Norfolk. See RHS for details of it and other RHS shows including Wisley in Surrey, Hyde Hall in Essex and, of course, Chelsea.