Springier than Springsteen stepping lively on a leaking vessel with a young chicken and a bottle of mineral water, it’s got to be the RHS Malvern Spring Festival! Yes, as far as things with springs go, the annual Worcestershire grow season-opener is a class apart. Is there anything comparable when it comes to year-defining horticultural inspiration? Nothing springs to mind.
And we were there for the 2025 edition! Exhibiting and experiencing in equal measure. Sampling twenty-seven spectacular show gardens, all manner of plant and flower-related exhibits, indoor garden concepts, expert advice, plus shopping opportunities galore.
Our humble offering? We brought our power-free automatic plant watering systems to a public who snapped up our show-exclusive promos with such vim that they completely cleaned us out of kit!
Do we say all this to revel in the misery of non-attendees? Not much / not really. We just thought it’d be well worth bringing (or springing?) you right up to date on the incredible scenes upon which our eyes did feast. There’s so much to recommend about Malvern that it’d be a crime not to take you for a spin and get you fired up for forthcoming shows there later this year.
You’re growers and we’re growers, so our number one focus at a show like Malvern has to be the quality and style of plant life. Especially the plants that feature in the show gardens. Whilst some shows set a brief for their gardens, Malvern’s Spring Show gives designers a completely free hand – and is arguably all the better for it. Because virtually anything goes there’s a great deal of creativity on display. Without a brief to meet there are also fewer bars to entry – which encourages designers of all abilities.
We particularly enjoyed the Rain Garden, Wind Garden and Sleep In Beauty Garden as well as the Biosis: Mode Of Life which took top honours. Biosis took the form of ‘a rural, water-wise garden, circulating captured rainwater from a green roof and filtering through a blackthorn tower into a wildlife pond.’ Nifty that!
Parallel to the outdoor designs this year was a first for RHS Malvern – indoor competition show gardens. Needless to say, these were very much up our street, in our front door, and making themselves at home in every kind of room imaginable. Some really nice ideas played out amongst these designs. Without trying to be too trendy (!) we really appreciated Neo Flora[5], something completely different that totally usurped the usual idea of a teenagers’ space.
Malvern’s big theme of 2025 was ‘Plants & People’ Because of that there was an emphasis on ‘sustainable gardening and accessible plant care, gardening for wellbeing, and ways to incorporate plants into your everyday life. Cultivation to consumption and soil to plate.’
‘Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding’, we say! The organisers’ hot topics chimed beautifully with our own concerns. So it was hardly surprising that we at AutoPot got so comprehensively cleaned out by a diverse band of eco-aware, uncompromising, plant-obsessed growers, attracted to the event by a philosophy of self-sufficiency and self-care.
Heeding the call of AutoPot sales and advice, our MD Jason Ralph-Smith and U.K. North Sales Manager Jalal Edwards were in attendance, adding another pair of spectacular bald hills (moel-bryn) to the Malvern landscape. Alongside them was the always exquisitely ‘thatched’ Dan Dozzini – our U.K. South Sales Manager. Jest we should not, as the lads did a fantastic job of characterfully introducing visitors to our systems.
Of course our RHS show offering is now very much on-brand at RHS shows what with its being RHS endorsed dontchakow. In all seriousness, having such a recommendation is a massive fillip where introducing less initiated growers to the systems is concerned. Our eternal thanks are due to those who’ve cultivated with us over the years – growers who have done such a superb job of conveying the potential of our watering systems in a clear and evocative way. Peace out!
You really do not want to miss the opportunity to get to Malvern this year. Still to come are the blockbusting Three Counties Show (this summer) and the grand finale of the growing season – The Malvern Autumn Show.
We shall be in attendance once again at the latter event, represented by very special personalities, in a very special location, with some very special hosts, amidst some very special exhibits, running some very special offers, having a very special time. It’d be very special if you could join us.
All images copyright.
Main image and * images copyright RHS / Neil Hepworth. Used with kind permission.
† images copyright Malvern Spring Festival. Used with kind permission.
