Texture-Rich Plants from The Nascent Shade Garden at RHS Badminton

Embracing the Shade: My Top 5 Texture-Rich Plants from RHS Badminton

I have just returned from the RHS Badminton Flower Show, where I had the absolute privilege of designing and exhibiting the award winning Nascent Shade Garden for Macmillan Cancer Support, in collaboration with the wonderful team from Artisan Landscapes.

The garden was inspired by the ancient proverb, "A society grows great when its people plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit." At the heart of the design were several grand birch trees, which cast gorgeous, dappled shadows across the entire garden.

Unsurprisingly, the garden was a celebration of plants that thrive in partial shade, which the RHS defines as receiving roughly 3 to 6 hours of direct sunlight a day.

When designing the planting scheme, I really wanted to champion these conditions. There is a common misconception that shade gardening is dull or limited, but I wanted to show that partial shade can be deeply calming, sophisticated, and anything but boring.

By focusing on lush foliage and contrasting forms, you can create a sanctuary that feels alive and tactile. Here are my top 5 plant choices from the garden, selected specifically for their incredible foliage, structure, and texture:

1. Hakonechloa macra

• The ultimate designer’s grass. Its soft, bright wide green blades cascade, bringing gentle movement, rustling sound, and an almost luminous quality to dappled shade.

2. Dryopteris filix-mas

• Essential for architectural height and structure. Its upright, feathery fronds bring a classic woodland texture that catches the light and adds a brilliant, lush backdrop for softer foliage.

3. Cenolophium denudatum

• Valued for its delicate, dark green, finely divided foliage. Its airy umbels float gracefully above the lower planting, weaving the scheme together with soft, cloud-like texture.

4. Cyrtomium fortunei

• Chosen for its striking, leathery fronds that look almost like holly leaves. It provides a fantastic contrast to the softer ferns, adding a bold, sculptural element to the planting scheme.

5. Polygonatum verticillatum

• A wonderfully delicate plant with elegant, arching stems and narrow leaves arranged in neat whorls. It adds height, and an airy, textural lightness to any planting.

Gardening in shade isn't about working around a limitation, it's about leaning into the quiet, textural beauty that these cool spots allow us to create.

Elle

x

Hakonechloa macra

Dryopteris filix-mas

Cenolophium denudatum

Cyrtomium fortunei

Polygonatum verticillatum