Royal Windsor Flower Show to be opened by Alan Titchmarsh this June

The Royal Windsor Flower Show is back this June and will be opened by honorary president Alan Titchmarsh.

The 117th show will take place at The York Club in Windsor Great Park on Saturday, June 8.

Organised by the Royal Windsor Rose & Horticultural Society – which recently received confirmation that the King will take over as patron from the late Queen Elizabeth II – the one-day event celebrates nature, gardening, cookery, traditional crafts and old-fashioned fun.

Running from 10am to 6pm, visitors will enjoy a range of entertainment and activities alongside plenty of food and drink throughout the day.

This will include Talks Theatre which will feature inspiring talks from gardener and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh, dynamic floral designer Yan Skates and chefs Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi and the show’s ambassador Chris Bavin.

Guests will also be treated to mindfulness with Dr David Hamilton and question time for gardeners with John Anderson, keeper of the Royal gardens at Windsor and Rosy Hardy from Hardys Cottage Garden Plants.

Great British Plant Nurseries, featuring ten top-flight nurseries from around the country, will be present on the day and traditional competition marquees will house sweetpeas, roses, cakes and crafts by people from the area.

Youngsters will enjoy hours of fun in the dedicated children’s area featuring a host of activities including gardening projects with Little Muddy Boots, Punch & Judy, crafting with Busy Buttons CORE Charity, and a circus training camp.

This year’s show focuses on the theme of nature’s principles of Harmony, inspired by the King’s book Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World.

The main walk-through central garden designed by Alan Williams of Landform Consultants and sponsored by ComXo is called ‘What Do You See?’

The garden invites all visitors, particularly youngsters to look more closely at the intricacies of nature, and planting a seed of thought that caring for the environment will lead to a more sustainable life.

Using geometry found in nature, the garden has been designed around the orbit pattern of earth and venue, which makes a five-petal flower shape every eight years.

A specimen tree sits at the centre of the circular design.

Radiating from the tree, five petal shaped beds, all made form woven hazel hurdles, will be planted with a plethora of ornamental and edible plants.

The outer ring of the garden layout will feature the community orchard, providing food and shelter for wildlife and humans alike.

In between the petals, wildflowers will provide for a nectar-rich habitat for pollinating insects and bees.

Working alongside beekeeper Jim Cooper, Alan will bring five different types of hives showcasing the things that beekeepers are doing to support healthy bee colonies.

For the first time, the central garden is being relocated to Bishopsgate School, which is located on Crown Estate Land in Englefield Green.

Led by headmaster Peter Thacker, the school is developing its curriculum to engage youngsters in nature, gardening and the environment.

The initiative runs alongside the show’s school gardening outreach programme, which supports 12 local schools each year.

Youngsters are helped by the show’s specialist horticultural adviser to create richly planted wheelbarrows and grow their own crop of potatoes to be displayed for all at the show.

Each school will take their pupils to biodynamic farm Waltham Place, which offers a range of tactile, visual and multi-sensory experiences, including a kitchen garden, rare breed animals, a compost heap, and a woodland featuring flora and fauna.