Pictured — Rosy & Rob Hardy in their 22nd RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal winning garden, 2017
Winners of 24 RHS Chelsea Gold Medals for exhibits of cottage garden perennials, Hardy's has been a familiar name on the show circuit for decades. Each exhibit is a reflection of what we do every day at the nursery — growing plants we believe in, beautifully.
In 2020, Hardy's was awarded RHS Master Grower status at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. To qualify, nurseries must demonstrate that they:
- Propagate a high percentage of their plant material at their own nursery
- Use methods that are ethical and sustainable where possible
- Are involved with plant breeding or the development of new varieties
- Produce a range of unusual, garden-worthy plants
- Support the RHS Shows and RHS Gardens
- Have achieved past awards and medals
- Give great customer service
It is one of the RHS's highest accolades for a working nursery — and a reflection of the same values that have guided Hardy's since 1988. To mark the award, the RHS filmed Rosy at the nursery, telling the story of how Hardy's began, what drives us today, and our long relationship with the RHS Shows.
Rosy's Book
Rosy Hardy is recognised as the most successful female exhibitor in RHS Chelsea Flower Show history, with 24 Gold Medals to her name. In 2017, to mark 25 years of exhibiting at the world's greatest flower show, she wrote it all down.
Chelsea Gold traces the nursery's modest beginnings — back garden, car boot sales — through a quarter century of growing for Chelsea. It shares 80 of her top plants for problem places, her secrets for colour combining, and the plant combinations behind some of those Gold Medal-winning gardens.
At £5, it's the best-value gardening book you'll buy this year.
