Glassware Glistens in Award Winning 'Tales from the Riverbank Garden'

Tales from the Riverbank garden for RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 won a coveted gold award, and included to help set the scene was Emma Britton ‘perfect for the garden glassware’. Designed as a beautiful floating home with the garden blending seamlessly with its natural surroundings, this balcony garden was inspired by traditional riverside living.

Emma Britton Meadow Glassware with its organic design really complemented the ethos of this beautiful garden, along with so many other talented artisans, all carefully selected and curated by garden designer, Susie Kennedy.

About Tales from the Riverbank Garden

Staged as a small but perfectly formed floating home set-up with a fully functioning garden that would seamlessly blend in with a natural riverbank environment, this garden really gave the feeling of providing a refuge for its owners after a busy working day – ideal for taking a moment with something cool to drink!

The garden celebrated the arts and crafts of a bygone era of riverside living that has seen a revival lately. Greater numbers of people are seeking a simpler, more connected way of life. It also reflected community and working together to preserve the integrity of the riverbank and invite the outside in. Key features included a dipping tank, an outdoor entertaining and cooking area. The garden also cleverly utilised the boat’s roof for growing edibles.

Planting

Native aquatic plants that grow along the river-bank, in a pink, yellow and white colour scheme, came together with pops of seasonal colour. Suited to container growing, the garden also showed how edibles and aquatics can grow and thrive together in a small space. Promoting growing seasonal edibles for preservation and storage highlighted the possibilities for reducing our reliance on imported and/or expensive produce.

Sustainability

Incorporating a dipping tank in the garden provided additional, practical water storage in an attractive, weight-conscious design. Using sustainable and repurposed building materials in the creation of the space wherever possible showed real innovation.

Award Winning Garden Glassware

My Meadow Tumblers and Carafe took centre stage on the little table at the very front of the Tales of the Riverbank balcony garden, along with some familiar BBC gardening personalities at times! Pulling up a chair in this contemplative garden and taking it all in was a simply beautiful experience.

You can read more about the garden and its talented designers here. And explore the Emma Britton Meadow Collection here.

ALL IMAGES: Rebecca Lewis, Poshyarns Photography. Garden Designers: Susie Kennedy and Kate Henning.

If you’d like to chat to Susie about a garden design for you head to: www.kennedys-ipa.co.uk/garden-design-studio