The Queen Elizabeth II Garden in London's Regent Park has been unveiled by the Princess Royal on what would have been the late Queen’s 100th birthday, and it arrives at a point in the season when there’s already plenty to see.
Set on the site of a former horticultural nursery in Regent’s Park, the two-acre space has been transformed from glasshouses, gravel and concrete into something much greener, with trees, meadow planting and long borders filled with spring flowers.
Around 200,000 bulbs have been planted across the garden, and they’ve been designed to come through alongside blossom and early perennials, rather than in neat, separate waves. Over the next few weeks, that means there’s a lot to take in at once.
Instead of formal blocks of colour, planting has been threaded through the borders, so tulips and other spring flowers sit among lower planting rather than taking over. Blossom trees are dotted through the space too, so you walk beneath them rather than viewing them from the edges.
There are smaller details to look out for too. Lily of the valley, the Queen’s favourite flower, appears within the planting, alongside a magnolia chosen to flower around the time of her birthday.
A viewing platform, repurposed from a former water tower, looks out across the garden – and includes a detail that’s easy to miss. A skylight, originally designed with cast iron wildflowers, has a Corgi worked into it by the blacksmiths who created it, a quiet nod to the Queen’s well-known love of dogs.
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During the opening, the Princess Royal spoke about the role gardens have played over time "Gardens are important for a number of reasons, in terms of historical perspective," she said. " When she [Queen Elizabeth II] was growing up, the gardens were one aspect of life that changed dramatically during the war to become places where everybody grew things, and then the spaces afterwards became used for other things.
"This is a lovely evolution of that whole voyage of garden design."
The garden isn’t just about how it looks, either. Much of the redesign has focused on what the space can support. More than 40 trees have been planted, alongside wildflower meadow, native hedgerow and a pond designed for aquatic life. Channels run through the site to manage rainwater, while gravel areas have been kept to support insects already living there. Since completion, wildlife has already started to return, with pollinators, birds and small mammals recorded using the space.
Gardens were a constant throughout the late Queen’s life – she became patron of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1952 and remained closely connected to British gardening throughout her reign. This garden reflects that, but in a more modern way, balancing traditional planting with a stronger focus on biodiversity and how the space will change over time.
For now, though, it’s the next few weeks that matter most. This is when the garden feels at its fullest, before the season begins to shift. If you’re planning a spring day out in London, it’s one to have on your list.
