This year's RHS Plant of the Year 2025 has been announced direct from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
The Plant of the Year is a competition held by the RHS to highlight new developments and innovations among the world of growers. The plants are all new to the UK and/or available for UK gardeners to buy since last year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
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Eighteen plants that have a 'new or improved feature' were on the shortlist, including an easy-to-grow orange salvia, two hostas, a fuchsia with a long flowering season, a dark purple and green miscanthus, a weeping, winter-flowering ornamental cherry that is suitable for all sizes of garden and containers and a hemerocallis that flowers for up to seven days.
The judges choose the shortlist based on novelty and innovation, garden performance and the likely appeal for UK gardeners.
This year's winner is Philadelphus PETITE PERFUME PINK ('P1')bred by Alan Postill and exhibited by Sparsholt College. It's the first truly pink-flowered Philadelphus with deep pink buds that open to fragranced flowers. The outside of the petals fade to pale pink with dark pink centres.
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In joint second place came Salvia TROPICOLOUR SUNRISE (‘Tropog021’) (Tropicolour Series) bred by La Rolando Uría and Francisco Lozano and exhibited by Middleton Nurseries and Hosta 'Silly String' bred by Hans Hansen and exhibited by Sienna Hosta.
Don't miss the RHS Chelsea Sustainable Product of the Year Shortlist
The annual RHS Plant of the Year winners and shortlisted entrants will be on display on the RHS Experience stand in the Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025 sponsored by The Newt in Somerset, which runs from Tuesday 20 May to Saturday 24 May.
The full shortlist for RHS Plant of the Year 2025
Salvia TROPICOLOUR SUNRISE (‘Tropog021’) (Tropicolour Series) JOINT SECOND PLACE
Breeder: La Rolando Uría and Francisco Lozano.
Exhibitor: Middleton Nurseries
This easy-to-grow Salvia requires no deadheading. Vibrant orange-red petals contrast with coppery yellow calyces, and its deep green leaves have striking purple undersides.
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Hosta 'Party Streamers'
Breeder: Hans Hansen
Exhibitor: Sienna Hosta
A dramatic departure from the usual heart-shaped leaves, this Hosta has gold-coloured, long, narrow, leaves with ruffled edges.
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Hosta 'Silly String' JOINT SECOND PLACE
Breeder: Hans Hansen
Exhibitor: Sienna Hosta
This Hosta has narrow blue leaves with intensely wavy margins, a dramatic departure from the usual heart-shaped leaves.
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Clematis ELPIS (Evigsy154)
Breeder: Raymond J Evison Ltd.
Exhibitor: Raymond Evison Clematis
A ruby-red Clematis with vibrant and strong foliage (a rare trait in red cultivars). Prolific blooms from new growth and tertiary flowers make a stunning display lasting from late April until June and repeating in early autumn.
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Agapanthus praecox subsp orientalis ZAMBEZI ('Kek5006')
Breeder: Keith Kirsten
Exhibitor: Gardeners Delight Nursery.
This Agapanthus has broad dark green leaves streaked with creamy yellow and edged by a golden-yellow margin.
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Salvia 'Peach Melba'
Breeder: New World Plants
Exhibitor: Proctor’s Nursery.
Large, two-tone peach and deep pink flowers in bloom for six months, creating a pollinator magnet. A neat bushy habit makes it ideal for smaller gardens, borders and containers.
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Rhododendron molle subsp japonicum PINK STAR ('Mapo 2')
Breeder: Martin Ponjee
Exhibitor: Sparsholt College.
Eye-catching, star-shaped, deep reddish-pink flowers, each with an extraordinary 20 to 30 petals. This richly flowering Rhododendron combines elegance with garden resilience, being winter-hardy to -15°C.
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Hemerocallis SEE YOU TOMORROW ('Huheo1')
Breeder: Michel van’t Hul
Exhibitor: Sparsholt College.
Unlike typical Hemerocallis (whose flowers fade after just one day), the flowers of this unique day lily each last up to 7 days.
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Deutzia PRETTISTARS PINK CLOUD ('Botex 015')
Breeder: Botanic Experience BV.
Exhibitor: Stonebarn Landscapes Ltd.
Profuse flowering and compact ball-shaped growth make this Deutzia ideal for ground cover, borders or containers.
Philadelphus PETITE PERFUME PINK ('P1') WINNER
Breeder: Alan Postill.
Exhibitor: Sparsholt College.
The first truly pink-flowered Philadelphus. Deep pink buds open to fragranced flowers, the outside of the petals fading to pale pink with dark pink centres.
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Geranium x oxonianum GOLD NUGGET ('Hillier')
Breeder: Alan Postill
Exhibitor: Sparsholt College.
A compact, mound-forming Geranium with unique bright golden foliage patterned with red markings. In early summer, pink flowers emerge that contrast with the foliage.
Streptocarpus 'Betty'
Breeder: Lynne Dibley.
Exhibitor: Dibleys Nurseries.
An easy-to-grow, compact houseplant that flowers year-round with vast numbers of large, sky-blue flowers with a flash of deep purple.
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Prunus CRYSTAL FALLS
Breeder: Ken Tobutt
Exhibitor: Plant Heritage.
The first weeping, winter-flowering ornamental cherry. Its steeply weeping form means that it is suitable for all sizes of garden and even containers.
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Hydrangea FAIRYTRAIL WHITE ('Wnhydfbvywmh') (Fairytrail Series)
Breeder: Mr. Ushio Sakazaki of WinGen LLC
Exhibitor: Blue Diamond Garden Centres
Mophead-shaped flowers are a breakthrough in this type of Hydrangea. The long trailing stems have flowers at every leaf node, covering the entire plant.
Rhaphiolepis indica 'White Cloud'
Breeder: Peter van Groningen
Exhibitor: Sparsholt College.
A compact, evergreen shrub with a mounded habit and prolific white fragrant flowers over a long period. Suitable for container growing or the front of a border, in sun or light shade.
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Fuchsia MAMBO 'Kerfumam' (Patio Dancers Series)
Breeder: Tim Kerley of Kerley & Co.
Exhibitor: Blue Diamond Garden Centres.
MAMBO is one of five cultivars in the Patio Dancers Series. It combines the aesthetic traits of traditional fuchsias with the smaller habit and earlier flowering of modern cultivars, creating masses of large, intricate blooms over a long flowering season.
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Lomandra longifolia MINER'S GOLD (Km-mg24')
Breeder: Keith Miner and Jen Miner
Exhibitor: Ashcroft’s Perennials and Ornamental Grasses.
The first golden Lomandra – an innovation among grass-like ornamental plants. Its striking golden foliage and elegant, weeping habit make it a standout selection for designers and gardeners, either as an accent plant or for mass ground cover.
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Miscanthus sinensis 'Lady in Red'
Breeder: Krzystof Slowinski
Exhibitor: Ashcroft’s Perennials and Ornamental Grasses.
‘Lady in Red’ has a beautiful mix of dark purple and green leaves in the summer, undergoing a spectacular autumn colour change to vivid red as temperatures drop.