NOW the festivities are well and truly over, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be desperate to get outside to stand, hand on hips, surveying your surroundings.
What will you do this year? What worked so well last year you’ll be doing it over and over — and what, crucially, will you be doing differently?
I’ve spoken to horticultural experts to see what they’re predicting will be big in 2026.
MICHAEL PERRY: QVC gardening presenter, aka Mr Plant Geek
ORCHIDS have fallen out of favour in recent times.
But there’s innovation on the way, with brand new shiny Phalaenopsis, which have a sweet fragrance, with some awesome new colours coming through — from bronze to maroon.
Match them with your interiors for a sassy design move!
Hanging baskets? Not so easy, are they? Try more succulents and drought- tolerant choices.
Try out Sedum, Crassula and plants you’d usually see in rockeries or on the succulents bench in the garden centre for a real twist on things.
It means the watering needs will be minimal, so you can sit back and just enjoy that display with minimum effort.
ZOE CLAYMORE: Chelsea-winning designer
EXPECT more mulching and compost to feed the soil and less plant-specific feeding, or buying 15 different fertilisers when one mulch is best — as more people are time-pressed and cash-poor.
LIZ STEWART: Runs Scotland’s Gardens Scheme
WHILE once open gardens had to be weed-free, pristine and perfect, increasingly we see garden owners focusing on gardening for the planet — there are some lovely real-life examples of small, urban “have it all” family gardens (for example, with sociable spaces for adults, play areas and growing areas).
Herbs and healing are a thing, as are gardens that have a real environmental focus.
TOM MASSEY: Garden designer, Your Garden Made Perfect host
I THINK we’ll see a move away from overly formal or manicured gardens towards landscapes that genuinely cope with climate extremes.
This means tougher, more resilient planting, a better understanding and protection of soils and greater provision of shade, particularly in public parks and gardens.
LYNNE MOORE: Moore And Moore Plants, Billericay, Essex
THE main themes from 2025 to carry over would probably be white flowers and late summer/autumn flowering grasses.
Anything with a white flower sold really well all through the season.
Most late-season flowering varieties of grasses flowered well and hence sold very well.
GUY BARTER: RHS Chief Horticulturalist
THE rising cost of living will see even more people supplementing weekly food shops by growing their own.
Blackcurrants will see a resurgence thanks to new varieties bred that are sweet enough to be eaten fresh.
Adventurous container plants that go outside in summer, but indoors in winter, such as Lantana, are a talking point.
And 2026 will be the year of the tomato (due to high yields after the dry 2025 summer).
HANNAH & NICK WADE: Gardeners Delight Nursery, Devon
WE have sold an amazing amount of hardy cyclamen coum these last few weeks.
This variety is fully hardy, and the delicate flowers are so resilient to winter weather.
They come in coloured shades from rose pink to white.
These little beauties brighten up a winter garden from January to March and are great for planting in pots and containers for the winter, or under shrubs and trees that give them summer shade.
They’re an excellent source of food throughout the winter and spring for pollinators and insects.
PAUL SEABORNE: Pelham Plants, East Sussex
FOLLOWING on from the rise in interest in recent years in pollinators, edimentals and sustainable soil practices, we think the public will focus on sustainable horticultural purchasing.
For example, buying tools that last, building relationships with local expert growers, selecting long-lived perennials suited to tough, hot summers and wet winters, and asking expert growers for advice, rather than impulse buys and “fast fashions” in discount big-box retailers.
Also in Veronica’s Column this week….
A Competition to win a Stiga battery pruning shear and saw worth £199
For more gardening content, follow me @biros_and_bloom
WIN! OUR friends at Stiga are offering one lucky reader a brilliant Stiga battery pruning shear and saw worth £199 – the perfect solution for all your pruning needs.
To enter, visit thesun.co.uk/stigapruner or write to Sun Stiga Pruning Competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP.
Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm, Jan 17, 2026.
T&Cs apply.
