This year at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, we’ve created something truly special - a garden that feels like a quiet retreat. Inspired by the idea of a hidden sanctuary, our Secret Garden is calm, immersive, and filled with roses that each tell part of the story. At 16m x 16m, it’s our most ambitious stand yet, but also our most personal.

At the heart of the garden is a circular space - peaceful and enclosed - with a simple fountain at its centre. Around it, we’ve planted Desdemona (Auskindling), with her delicate blush tones and gentle fragrance. She softens the space and sets a tone of stillness and clarity.

This central bed is encircled by a pathway and a low hedge, bringing structure and rhythm, and enclosed by a neat yew hedge. The effect is almost like an inner sanctum – a space set apart, still and thoughtful.

Set within the edges of this circle are three bronze sculptures, created by the late Pat Austin, wife of our founder David C. H. Austin and mother of chairman David J. C. Austin. These pieces bring something deeply personal to the garden. Pat was a gifted sculptor, and her work captures a quiet humanity that feels completely at home among the roses.

From this calm centre, the garden opens into a bed filled with some of our favourite English Roses. Lady of Shalott (Ausnyson) brings sculptural beauty, with her warm orange-apricot blooms that seem to glow in the light. Princess Alexandra of Kent (Ausmerchant) adds drama with her large, deeply cupped blooms in vibrant pink. Gertrude Jekyll^® (Ausboard), with her rich pink petals and powerful, unmistakable scent, makes a bold and beloved statement. Gabriel Oak (Auscrowd) adds depth and strength, with dusky crimson-pink flowers and a robust, upright form. Scepter’d Isle^® (Ausland) offers poise and elegance with her soft shell-pink tones and subtle myrrh fragrance. Vanessa Bell^® (Auseasel), with her pale lemon colouring and open, airy shape, brings lightness and lift to the planting.

Each rose offers something distinctive, yet they work together in harmony to create a space full of character and emotion.

This generous planting is followed by a curved path that guides visitors beneath a series of rose-covered archways. Each arch is home to rambling roses, chosen as much for their personality as their beauty. These arches gently draw you through the garden, adding height and movement, and creating shifting moments of light and shadow as you walk beneath them.

Just beyond the arches, a tidy hedge of Queen of Sweden^® (Austiger) encircles the whole garden. With her upright habit and blush-pink blooms, she brings a sense of quiet enclosure - a final soft frame that holds everything together.

This garden isn’t just about what’s beautiful. It’s about how each rose plays a part. The planting tells a story through contrast, rhythm and feeling. Some roses ground the garden with strong shapes and dependable flowering. Others bring movement, lightness or a surprise moment of colour.

Within the borders, climbing roses add vertical interest and a sense of gentle lift. Our standard roses stand taller among the planting, giving structure and a little formality. Desdemona’s (Auskindling), graceful form reappears here, offering a consistent thread of softness. Princess Alexandra of Kent (Ausmerchant) brings bold colour and vibrancy, while Gabriel Oak (Auscrowd) adds structure and strength to the outer layers of planting.

Each variety has been chosen not just for how it looks on its own, but for what it adds to the garden as a whole. It’s a space that evolves as you move through it, where every view offers something a little different – a change in scent, a shift in shape, a new combination of colours.

A Garden That Invites You In

While the planting is abundant and generous, the feeling we wanted to create is one of peace. The soft fragrance of Desdemona (Auskindling), the intensity of Gertrude Jekyll^® (Ausboard), and the scent from the rambling roses above all work together to encourage you to pause. To look a little closer. To breathe more deeply.

It’s not a garden that asks to be rushed. It’s one that rewards attention - the kind of place where time slows down, even in the middle of the busy Chelsea showground.

A Garden to Take Home

Though this garden was created for Chelsea, many of the ideas behind it can be brought into your own space. Layering different rose types - shrubs, climbers, ramblers and standards - adds richness and depth. Mixing bold colours with soft ones, upright growth with tumbling forms, brings a sense of movement and story. Adding structure, like hedging or vertical elements, helps shape that story and guide the eye.

More than anything, we hope this year’s stand shows how a garden, even a small one, can become something meaningful. A place of calm and beauty. A place that feels like yours.