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Hot Garden

The Hot Garden - one of two colour-themed gardens in the Formal Garden - more than lives up to its name, with waves of plants chosen for their heat and vibrancy.

Looking its best in...

  • Summer Helenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’, Monarda 'Gardenview Scarlet', Solidago 'Goldenmosa'
  • Autumn Kniphofia rooperi, Miscanthus sinensis 'China', Alstroemeria 'Red Beauty'

Planting for wow factor

Created in 2007 from a concept by Roger Webster, the broad idea was to create a prairie style planting, and many of the plants used are from the grassland habitats of North America. To tie the design together and give it more impact and intensity, bold blocks of the same plant are repeated throughout the garden.

Peak flowering is from July to mid-September, but many grasses and bulbs have been used to give structure and interest through the seasons.

Turning up the heat

Lots of plants help to create this spectacle, but some merit special mention, as the garden would not deliver the same level of vibrancy without them – Helenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’, Solidago ‘Goldenmosa’, and Hemerocallis ‘Pardon Me’ in particular.

Grasses such as Miscanthus sinensis ‘China’ provide important texture.

Did you know?

The colour-themed blocks of plants and the garden's seamless continuation from one colour to another is the essence of the Hot Garden and provides the 'wow' factor. 'Drop-in' planting is carried out in summer to fill any gaps and extend the display.

The Hot Garden is a beautiful and atmospheric space in mid-summer - a cacophony of smells, sights and sounds in which you can utterly lose yourself, even as a working gardener.

Monarda 'Gardenview Scarlet' provides a high point of deep red through the borders, punctuating the purples and oranges and is alive with bees and other pollinators. Pleioblastus viridistriatus is a striking deep yellow and wends its way through the borders, dividing, but at the same time pulling together the entire display.

Richard, RHS Garden Rosemoor Horticulturist

The Hot Garden is a beautiful and atmospheric space in mid-summer - a cacophony of smells, sights and sounds in which you can utterly lose yourself, even as a working gardener.

Monarda 'Gardenview Scarlet' provides a high point of deep red through the borders, punctuating the purples and oranges and is alive with bees and other pollinators. Pleioblastus viridistriatus is a striking deep yellow and wends its way through the borders, dividing, but at the same time pulling together the entire display.

Richard, RHS Garden Rosemoor Horticulturist

Plants in this section

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.