A show garden from this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show will be given a permanent home at Chester Zoo after the world-famous event.

Expected to open to visitors from late autumn, the Plant Heritage Missing Collector Garden will be rebuilt at the zoo once the show finishes.

Highlighting the role of plant collectors in protecting rare species, the garden will sit alongside several national plant collections already held at the zoo.

These include tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes), rare cacti such as Copiapoa, Matucana and Turbinicarpus, as well as South American orchids from the Pleurothallidinae group.

"It's such a natural fit that the Plant Heritage Missing Collector Garden should find a home at Chester Zoo," said Gwen Hines, chief executive of Plant Heritage.

"We're thrilled that it will have a life beyond Chelsea and will help to educate and inspire the zoo's millions of visitors about plant conservation and the amazing work being done by our volunteer National Plant Collection holders."

In August 2025, Chester Zoo became the first zoo in the UK to be recognised as an internationally important botanic garden by Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

Phil Esseen, head of plants at Chester Zoo, said: "For us, plant conservation and animal conservation go hand in hand.

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"We are excited to share the Missing Collector Garden with all our visitors, who will get to enjoy this beautiful and peaceful green space. We hope they will also be inspired to step into the gap left by the missing collector and care for a National Plant Collection."

The project also has strong links to Cheshire, with one of the garden's designers, Sally-Anne Rees of The Planting Design Collective, having grown up in Bunbury. The team also held many of their meetings at The Dysart Arms, whilst working on the design.

Several local businesses have also contributed to the garden's creation - with stone for sculptural features sourced from Blackham Reclamation, while timber for elements including an oak setts path is coming from Grosvenor TimberWorks.

The hedges that frame the garden are being supplied by The Big Hedge Co, and the designers have worked with Cheshire-based National Plant Collection holders Plantagogo.