Joanna Lumley’s garden secrets: “Why I choose foliage over flowers”
The Ab Fab and Amandaland star discusses the Chelsea Flower Show, garden gnomes and why she would be a lily of the valley.
The Ab Fab and Amandaland star discusses the Chelsea Flower Show, garden gnomes and why she would be a lily of the valley.
National treasure and actress Dame Joanna Lumley speaks exclusively to Saga Magazine at the Chelsea Flower Show 2026, discussing this year’s show, her favourite flower and why her garden is her sanctuary.
I’ve been coming to Chelsea for years and never fail to feel inspired by it. I hanker after a tidy garden – mine is so untidy but I do love it. I tend to be drawn to woodlandy gardens but this year it’s The Lady Garden Foundation’s “Silent No More” garden that has really stood out for me. It’s sensational. It was designed to bring attention to the five kinds of gynaecological cancers that women get, so has such an important purpose. It’s made a big impression on me and I love the sense of fellowship of the space.
I also love the small balcony and container gardens that cram so much into a small space and show that all you need is a window ledge to get started with growing.
Gardening has become this country’s obsession, hasn’t it? And I think it’s because the great thing is that you’re learning all the time and you get braver the more you learn.
You’ll put a little tree in or plant some shrubs and change their shape and watch your space evolve over time. And it’s a great thing that you can do it gradually and cut your cloth to suit your purse, adding plants when you can. You don’t have to do it all overnight.
In my garden there’s a certain amount of shade, so I’ve become more of a leaves and foliage person to suit the space.
The range of acers you can get is mesmerising – their leaves are as sensational as any flower.
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My garden is a sanctuary – a place of real peace. It’s magic. Birds love it, foxes love it, cats love it.
Actually, cats sometimes love it a bit too much, so occasionally it can be a bit smelly!
I don’t have any gnomes in my own garden, but if people love them, why not? And everything else has a place at Chelsea so it seems right for garden gnomes to be here, too. Plenty of people have statues in their gardens and gnomes are just another kind of statue.
I painted one of the gnomes for this year’s show – the RHS is auctioning them off to raise money for its work with schools and they sent me one to decorate. I thought “How hard can it be?”, but actually it was terrifically hard!
I took inspiration from The Fairies poem by William Allingham and gave him a green jacket, a red cap and added a little feather to his hat like the owl’s feather from the chorus.
It would have to be a lily of the valley because they smell divine and my birthday is on 1 May.
In France there’s a tradition for children to give small sprigs of lily of the valley to older people on 1 May as a symbol of luck, happiness and the return of spring.
Absolutely everything. But especially the extraordinary peonies.
And nasturtiums – I adore them and I missed out on them this year as I was away filming.
It’s become very voguish to say that gardening is good for mental health. But that’s not a new thing – it’s been that way since time began. Throughout history our ancestors would come in from a day spent working outside and would feel good. But we tend to spend all the time inside now, looking at screens and then wondering why we feel down.
The answer is get outside, get out in nature – it’s the power of life. Get gardening, get growing and see what nature can bring you. Even if it’s only a flower in a pot, that small thing will feel good.
(Hero image credit: Gaby Huddart)
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