At this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, amid displays that took years to cultivate and days to enjoy, Frank P Matthews was awarded a Gold Medal for its celebration of the Malus genus. For a nursery now in its 125th year, the recognition was not a surprise arrival – it was the result of nearly a decade of quiet, deliberate preparation.
The award-winning display featured more than 50 flowering Malus trees alongside specialist trained fruit forms. Yet behind the finished exhibit lay far more than a single season's work. Some of the trees on display had been nurtured for almost a decade, while the original inspiration for the stand began during the Covid-19 lockdown period, when Nick Dunn, Director and co-owner of Frank P Matthews, started grafting unusual crab apple varieties with the ambition of one day bringing them to Chelsea.
"It took us six years before we could exhibit the trees," he reflects.
This year's exhibit was supported by Lombard Odier, whose partnership with Frank P Matthews reflects a shared belief in long-term stewardship, resilience, and entrepreneurship across generations.
Watch the story behind Frank P Matthews’ Gold Medal-winning exhibit at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026:
Behind the medal: years before the bloom
The Gold Medal comes at a significant moment for the nursery. Alongside celebrating its 125th anniversary, Frank P Matthews recently received a Royal Warrant, recognising its longstanding work with the Royal Household and Royal Parks. The nursery also saw one of its new introductions, Prunus 'Sumaura-fugenzo' JAPANESE LANTERN™, shortlisted for RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2026, reflecting its continued focus on innovation and new variety development.
Behind those achievements lies a highly specialised skillset developed over generations. Preparing the Malus display for Chelsea required years of cultivation, careful planning, and precise timing to ensure the trees reached peak condition during show week.
“Sometimes we have to sit back, let nature do its thing, and trust in the process,” says Stephanie Dunn James, Managing Director and fourth generation of the family business.
It was only Frank P Matthews' second appearance at Chelsea, following a Silver-Gilt medal in 2025 – and yet the depth of expertise on display reflected more than a century of accumulated knowledge.
That balance between patience, craftsmanship, and adaptation has helped shape the nursery's reputation over more than 125 years, from traditional propagation and tree training techniques through to the introduction of new ornamental varieties for future generations of gardeners.
Lombard Odier and Frank P Matthews: where shared values take root
For Lombard Odier, the partnership with Frank P Matthews reflects qualities that extend well beyond horticulture. As a privately owned firm now in its 230th year, Lombard Odier has long worked with entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses navigating the complexities of growth, succession, and continuity of ownership.
Reflecting on a visit to the nursery earlier this year, Mark Goddard, UK CEO at Lombard Odier, points to the combination of expertise, resilience, and adaptability that has allowed Frank P Matthews to evolve across generations.
"Businesses that survive are the ones able to adapt and evolve over time, but without losing their core identity," he observes.
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learn more That sense of kinship between the two businesses resonates strongly with Lombard Odier's own approach – and with the values that have shaped Frank P Matthews across four generations of family ownership.
"You can't stand still," Mark Goddard continues. "You have to continue to innovate and evolve, but at the same time remain stable through different environments and withstand the pressures and challenges that inevitably arise over time."
Enduring through generations
For Mark Goddard, businesses like Frank P Matthews also reflect the enduring importance of long-term entrepreneurship within the UK.
"Frank P Matthews clearly demonstrates that there is a healthy UK business-owning environment out there that can last through multiple generations," he adds. "The fact that the family have built the business from a small initial enterprise 125 years ago to now displaying at RHS Chelsea, and demonstrating the incredible expertise that exists, is really quite impressive."
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That ability to endure over time increasingly depends on resilience and adaptability. For Frank P Matthews, many of those pressures come from the realities of horticulture itself – from weather conditions to changing growing environments. More broadly, businesses across the UK continue to navigate economic uncertainty, changing regulation, and shifting markets.
Adaptation at Frank P Matthews has rarely meant reinvention. The move to peat-free growing media, now central to how the nursery operates, began as a response to supply constraints before becoming a permanent commitment – one that also recognises the environmental cost of peat extraction and the importance of protecting the land for future growing. Investments in solar energy and water recycling have followed a similar logic, as has the ongoing development of new tree varieties suited to changing climatic conditions, extending the nursery's relevance for the next generation of growers and gardeners.
That same discipline is visible across the nursery as a whole: preserving traditional growing techniques and specialist expertise, while continuing to introduce new varieties, invest in sustainability, and adapt for future generations.
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learn more What a century of patience looks like
The Gold Medal at Chelsea represents more than a single horticultural achievement. It reflects a business that has evolved patiently across generations, while remaining grounded in the same values of quality, care, and considered thinking that have shaped the nursery for more than 125 years.
For Frank P Matthews, the achievement also arrives at a moment of continued momentum – from its Royal Warrant to the recognition of new varieties and ongoing innovation ahead of its next century in business.
At Lombard Odier, as a family-owned business with more than 230 years of history, we support and work closely with families and entrepreneurs navigating many of these same questions around continuity, resilience, and long-term stewardship.
“Having the patience to wait for your reward is a good thing,” says Nick Dunn. “It’s a good thing in life in general.”
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