Ian McBain wins best in show at Rhs Malvern Spring Festival
Ian McBain’s ONE won best in show at rhs malvern spring festival at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern, Worcestershire, where the winners were revealed from 7-10 May. The garden, built by Pickwell Paving, was inspired by the eight million people living alone in the UK.
The festival featured six RHS-judged Show Gardens, and Lifted by Birds, designed by Tom Saunders, Jon Pilling and Amie Wheeldon, won gold. The Floral Marquee brought together 70 nurseries, with Hampshire Carnivorous Plants named the best exhibit in that area.
Charlotte Daubney at Malvern
Charlotte Daubney, marketing and events Coordinator for Taylors Bulbs, said she was nervous about the company’s debut at RHS Malvern and pleased the display won gold. She said: "I was really nervous for our debut at RHS Malvern as we have put a modern twist on our usual show exhibition, but the reaction has been amazing from judges and visitors and being awarded gold shows we made the right decision. It’s been a real team effort to get us here from planting and growing the bulbs, selecting and cropping the best flowers, getting everything here in one piece and arranging the display so I’m really pleased for us all that we’ve come away with a gold! It’s going to be a quick turnaround now to get back from Malvern and ready to go again at RHS Chelsea."
2026 festival changes
RHS Malvern Spring Festival marked the launch of the 2026 RHS Show season across the UK and carried the theme Roots of the Future – Honour the past, grow the future. The 2026 festival introduced two new categories, Blooming Borders and Floral Tablescaping, while RHS-judged indoor plant gardens returned after debuting in 2025.
One of four new feature gardens was The Biophilic Blueprint by Grow Tropicals in the Festival of Houseplants, and Clay, the super soil, designed by Cheltenham-based Martyn Wilson, was another. The festival was expected to welcome over 90,000 visitors across four days, with Alan Titchmarsh CBE, Monty Don OBE, Frances Tophill, Adam Frost and Sue Kent among the returning figures.
For visitors, the show now sits at the start of the wider RHS season, with the new categories and feature gardens expanding what judges and exhibitors are being measured against at Malvern.
