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Incredible flower displays will take over Manchester on a Jubilee Trail next month

Daisy Jackson - 10th May 2022

Manchester will bloom into life next month as the Manchester Flower Show makes its return – and this year it will have a very special Jubilee Trail as part of the celebrations.

This year’s event will land on the same weekend as the Queen’s Jubilee, with a new celebratory trail commissioned by Manchester BID.

Visitors will be able to walk around 10 flower displays inspired by the Queen, marking her 70 years of service.

There’ll be everything from a giant floral bee to a classic red phone box bursting with blooms.

Beyond the official trail, shop windows, squares and statues will also be given botanical makeovers to mark another Manchester Flower Show.

There will also be al fresco food and drink, and plenty of activities and entertainment, at the urban take on a traditional flower show.

The event comes from CityCo and Manchester BID and usually springs up in late spring or early summer.

This year’s event, including the Jubilee Trail, will take place over the four-day bank holiday weekend, between 2 and 5 June.

The 10 Jubilee Trail displays to look out for at the Manchester Flower Show

The Crown

This huge planter will be filled with a mix of tropical palms and jewel-like English flowers.

You’ll find the crown-shaped structure in the Arndale outside Next, designed by Decordia.

Changing of the Guard

This new display will transport you to London without leaving St Ann’s Square.

FROG Flowers will install a display near Watches of Switzerland that will feature a Buckingham Palace guard’s hut, Trafalgar Square lions, and a very British show of red, white and blue flowers.

Queen Bee

One of the bee sculptures from the Wild in Art Bee in the City art trail has been upcycled and covered in artificial flowers for the Manchester Flower Show.

A real flower crown on the bee’s head has been designed by local florist Frog Flowers. You’ll find it upstairs in the Arndale, near Wilko.

The Crown Jewels

A throne surrounded by fresh and dried flowers – including delphiniums, roses, peonies, hydrangeas, alliums and agapanthus – will appear at the Royal Exchange.

If you snap a photo with it, tagging @verdurefloraldesign and @royalexchangemanchester (make sure you’re following both accounts), you could win a £100 voucher to spend with Verdure Floral Design.

Queen of Pop

Heading outside the Arndale now to New Cathedral Street, which will be taken back to the 1960s for a real taste of flower power.

Step through the Pop Art arch to find planters and wheelbarrows overflowing with blooms, inspired by Andy Warhol’s portraits of Queen Elizabeth II.

Horse Play

The Queen’s passion for horses will be celebrated with another display, this time a horse made of twisted willow leaping over a gate.

Artist Sarah Hayes will also create flower-filled drinking troughs at its base – you can see it at the Cross Street End of King Street.

The Ju-bee-lee Garden

Purple is the colour of the Jubilee, but it’s also the colour that attracts bees.

So the Ju-bee-lee Garden will be filled with purple lupins, delphiniums, lavender, salvias and verbena to draw in our buzzing pals to the site on Upper King Street.

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Urban Garden

St Ann’s Square will host a centrepiece of the Manchester Flower Show – an urban garden that’s both very now, and also very old.

With seven aged oak posts (one for each decade the Queen has been on the throne), cottage garden flowers, and three native trees, this garden invites you to explore its dappled shade and pretty colours.