SA landscape central to Chelsea Flower Show medal win
A garden showcasing the South Australian landscape has won a medal at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London, with its materials then heading to support Cleland National Park koalas living overseas.
The ‘Journey Beyond the Tracks: From Adelaide to Perth’ garden has won a Silver-Gilt medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London.
SA Tourism Minister Emily Bourke said the garden’s high profile was expected to draw more visitors to South Australia with latest tourism data for the year ending December 2025, showing visitors from the UK contributed $154 million to the state’s visitor economy.
Bourke said the win and the garden were a “unique platform” to share the state’s stories and to encourage people to visit “the National Park City of Adelaide, our world-class wineries and unique tourism offerings”.
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The RHS Chelsea Flower Show attracts more than 140,000 visitors over five days and the BBC television coverage of the show reaches an average audience of more than 22 million people.
Parker-Smith’s garden reflects the diversity of landscapes within South Australia, Western Australia and the Nullarbor Plain, and it was jointly sponsored by Journey Beyond, the South Australian Tourism Commission and Tourism Western Australia.
Parker-Smith worked with nurseries in Spain and the UK to grow plants for the garden, following an inspirational research trip to Australia in 2025 where he spent time in Adelaide and regional South Australia before taking the Indian Pacific train to Perth, where he explored the city and some of Western Australia’s national parks.
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Jurassic-like grass trees, Xanthorrhea glauca, are in his design; along with Boronia Crenulata (Aniseed Boronia), the Banksia robur (swamp banksia), the Eucalyptus gunnii Azura, and the Adenanthos sericeus (woollybush) known for its soft velvety foliage.
Anigozanthos, commonly known as Kangaroo Paw, is another striking and vibrant Australian native plant which features in the garden.
Once the event ends, the plants would be re-homed in Kensington Gardens, in London, as part of a partnership with The Royal Parks focused on creating climate-resilient parks for future generations.
While the hard landscaping is heading to Longleat to create an Australian garden space to complement the estate’s existing Koala Creek experience, which is home to the only population of southern koalas in Europe.
The koalas were originally from Cleland in the Adelaide Hills.
“I have a strong affinity with Australia, having had my light-bulb career moment on a working holiday there a few years ago,” Parker-Smith says.
“It was in Australia that I decided to follow my passion for horticulture and study garden design; so it is wonderfully circuitous to be working with Journey Beyond, the South Australian Tourism Commission, and Tourism Western Australia on this Chelsea garden project.
“I was so inspired by my trip on the Indian Pacific last year and by the time I spent in Adelaide and Perth and in the regional areas beyond the cities.”
Journey Beyond CEO Chris Tallent said it was a privilege to work with Parker-Smith and to see it win the medal for “our garden which brings the Indian Pacific train journey to life, celebrating this epic rail route and the nature cities of Adelaide and Perth”.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from May 19 to May 23.
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