Welcome to our 2025 Programme of Rare Plant Fairs!

We're delighted to welcome you to our 31st season of Rare Plant Fairs. We have a great programme of thirteen events this year.

Kingston Bagpuize House,  May 2023

About Our Fairs

Once we get hooked on gardens and gardening, we all become fascinated with new and unusual plants. Whether we specialise in collecting a particular group of plants such as roses, snowdrops, irises, etc., or are just interested in anything that is rare or novel, we’re constantly on the lookout for that special plant. However, finding the plants that we need or want (not always the same thing!) is not always easy. The best sources are the many specialist growers and nurseries around the country, but many are based in remote locations, or may not be open regularly (or at all) to the public at their home sites. So how can these nurseries and the avid gardeners desperate to buy their plants be brought together? The solution lies in Rare Plant Fairs, held throughout the growing season from March to September.

American Museum and Gardens, May 2023

Held across the South and South West of England, South Wales and the West Midlands, all the events are set in beautiful and unique gardens, offering the visitor the complete horticultural day out, for novice or experienced gardeners alike. The original idea remains as good as ever, with the Fairs continuing to be extremely popular with both nurseries and gardeners. You can also relax and enjoy refreshments, often homemade, at all of our venues.

At every one of our fairs there is the opportunity to buy interesting and unusual plants from our nurseries, all of whom are genuine growers dedicated to offering you well-grown plants and advice on the plants they sell. The admission fee for each of our Fairs is a combined package and includes access to the Fair and Gardens, and the price is generally the same as, or less than, the normal admission fee for the garden only.

Please click on any one of the fairs in the list at the side of the page (at the bottom of the page on tablets and smartphones) to find full details of the event and a list of the nurseries and exhibitors attending. 

Our Gardens

All of our fairs are held at beautiful gardens, a number of which are not frequently open to the public. Each garden has its own unique character, some with histories stretching back centuries whilst others are more recent. Our gardens are regularly featured in the gardening press and on television.  Find out more...

Our Nurseries  

Our fairs are attended by many of the best specialist nurseries from across the country. We carefully select our nurseries to ensure that they are genuine growers who produce most or all of the plants that they sell themselves. The nurseries that exhibit at each fair are chosen so that we can offer the widest possible range of plants to our visitors, including perennials, shrubs and trees, alpines, bulbs and exotic plants. At some of our fairs we also have exhibitors offering garden-related products and services, such as plant supports, garden tools and implements and garden sculpture. Find out more...

Salthrop House, May 2023

Keep in Touch

You can keep in touch with all the latest Rare Plant Fair news via our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads. Or why not subscribe to our monthly newsletters? Sent out monthly between February and September, they contain all the latest information about our fairs, together with fantastic articles written by our nurseries, the owners and Head Gardeners at our host gardens, and great guest articles by gardening journalists and bloggers. 

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