RHS - Royal Horticultural Society

12/10/2026

Will an onion under your pillow help you find love? Can lettuce stave off the worst of a hangover? Here are just some of the weird and wonderful folklore attached to vegetables 🫜

🫜 During the Medieval era, superstition had it that evil spirits lurked in lettuce beds.

🫜 While shelling garden peas, it was the custom for a young, unmarried woman to keep an eye out for a pod with nine peas. If she placed this pod on a door lintel, the first single man to walk through the door would be the one she married.

🫜 In English folklore, beans were placed on graves to keep ghosts away.

🫜 In Westphalia, Germany, it was thought that encountering a turnip while en route to woo a loved one signified that the man was unacceptable to his lady and was bound for rejection.

🫜 Dreams also held significant value: dreaming of turnips denoted fruitless toil whereas to dreaming of carrots signified profit and strength. To dream of eating cabbage implies sickness to loved ones or loss of money whereas to dream of cucumber denotes that you will speedily fall in love.

Uncover some of the unexpected myths and beliefs associated with vegetables in our upcoming talk ‘Vegetables, Dreams and Folklore’, Held online on Tuesday 20 October at 1pm, inspired by Richard Folkard's 1884 ‘Plant Lore, Legends and Lyrics’. Find out more: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rhs-lindley-collections-online-vegetables-dreams-and-folklore-tickets-1992579100729?aff=odcleoeventsincollection

11/10/2026

It's time to celebrate the magic of moss! Not only does it soften hard landscaping edges with lush greenery, it can also be used as a top dressing for planters and is perfect for terrariums.

Here are five mosses to grow suggested by expert growers Moss Clerks:

🌱 Carpet moss (Hypnum cupressiforme)
A versatile moss that thrives on walls, rooftops, woodland floors, between paving stones and even in lawns.

🌱 Glittering wood moss (Hylocomium splendens)
Ranging from dark green with red stems to flame orange with yellow tinges, this attractive moss grows in both sun and shade.

🌱 Haircap moss (Polytrichum strictum)
This moss has a primitive root system through which it takes up to 70% of its nutrients, unlike other mosses which take them from the surrounding environment. One of the most robust mosses, haircap can tolerate full sun when growing in moist soil.

🌱 Broom fork moss (Dicranum scoparium)
Also known as woodland cushion moss, it's ideal for moss lawns and provides striking contrast with its bright green colour.

🌱 Woolly fringe moss (Racomitrium lanuginosum)
Often seen growing in Iceland, it forms large tufts that appear white when dry and can remain dormant for many years.

Find out more about moss: https://www.rhs.org.uk/garden-inspiration/plants-we-love/the-magic-of-moss

10/10/2026

This World Mental Health Day, find out how to optimise your garden for wellbeing with design principles and plant combinations that can enhance your mood, as outlined in our new Wellbeing Garden Blueprint 🌻

https://youtu.be/3yAMH5HdknA

Join Dr. Ashby Sachs, a leading RHS Researcher in Wellbeing and Hor...

10/10/2026

Happy ! Show us the fungi growing in your garden 👀

We'll go first with these Dyer’s mazegill, bird's nest fungus, beefsteak fungus and giant funnels captured by RHS Senior Plant Pathologist and in-house fungi expert Jassy Drakulic 🍄

09/10/2026

The RHS and The King's Foundation Curious Garden has been relocated from RHS Chelsea Flower Show to Farnborough College of Technology, creating a permanent educational and community resource 🌿

Originally designed for RHS Chelsea 2026 by Frances Tophill in collaboration with Alan Titchmarsh CBE, Sir David Beckham and The King, The Curious Garden has been adapted for its new home by The Landscaping Consultants, while retaining core elements, including the oak-framed Museum of Curiosities which will be used as an outdoor classroom. Key planting such as The King's Rose, Rosa 'Sir David Beckham', honeysuckle, iris and nasturtiums will preserve the character and spirit of the show garden.

The Curious Garden will give students at Farnborough College hands-on opportunities to learn through plants, creativity and horticulture, while creating a shared space for the college and the wider community.

📸 Oliver Dixon Photography

09/10/2026

Evening primrose is one of the best plants for supporting night-time wildlife! When grown alongside ivy, nicotiana and devil's-bit scabious, it can make a valuable contribution to garden biodiversity. Here's everything you need to know about it:

💛 Unlike most flowers, its large yellow blooms open in the evening and remain open for moths throughout the night. Highly visible in low light, they also produce a sweet fragrance that attracts night-flying moths.

💛 These moths, particularly hawkmoths, visit the flowers to feed on nectar and pollinate the plant as they move between blooms.

💛 Most British bats feed on insects rather than nectar. By attracting large numbers of moths and other nocturnal insects, evening primrose effectively creates a feeding station for bats hunting after dark.

💛 It supports numerous species of butterflies, provides pollen for both specialist and generalist bees, and its seed heads are enjoyed by birds during winter.

💛 Ideal for wildlife borders, gravel gardens and meadow-style planting, it's easy to grow from seed and thrives in a sunny position with poor, sandy soils.

Find out more about boosting wildlife in your garden by growing evening primrose: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/86498/oenothera-biennis/details

08/10/2026

On this week's Gardening with the RHS podcast, we're exploring the fascinating world of fungi!

Ahead of UK Fungus Day this Saturday, RHS Plant Pathologist Jassy Drakulic explores the fungi found in our lawns 🍄

We also chat to The Plant Review editor James Armitage about the story of Blanche Ada’s Thornycroft apples, while Gareth Richards and Melissa Mabbitt answer your gardening questions.

Listen to the episode to find out more: https://podfollow.com/rhs-gardening/view

08/10/2026

From healing a broken heart to stopping doom-scrolling, Times columnist Ann Treneman has a garden-based solution for every problem you may encounter 💐

Ann’s new book ‘The Garden Cure: 100 Remarkable Remedies for the Curious Gardener’ is a sumptuously illustrated, modern-day herbal that tackles problems of the mind, body and spirit, peppered with a plethora of fascinating facts and intriguing stories along the way.

Discover 'The Garden Cure' and our other publications: https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/publications/books

07/10/2026

Garlic is the perfect crop to kick-start your grow your own journey!

Easy to grow and low maintenance, garlic is planted in autumn and harvested the following summer. RHS Horticulturist Joe Lofthouse shares his top tips on growing garlic, including how to choose a variety, preparing your planting site, planting cloves and caring for your crop 🧄

Watch to find out more:

If you're looking to venture into the world of growing your own foo...

06/10/2026

Has gardening taught you any life lessons?