The 2026 Shanghai International Flower Show runs from April 18 to May 10. As one of the main venues, Shanghai Botanical Garden offers visitors an immersive horticultural experience.

In the Community Garden zone, eight selected installations bring fresh and creative concepts to life.

A Dream of Old Shanghai

This garden tells the story of a young clerk arriving in Shanghai for the first time a century ago. In full bloom, its flowers evoke the soft glow of old Shanghai at dusk, while the drifting fragrance preserves subtle traces of the past. We hope every visitor passing through can feel the city’s breath and pulse — a letter written to the past, and a tender homage to old Shanghai.

Designer: Nanjing Forestry University, Tongji University, Southeast University, Nantong University

Constructor:  Shanghai Landscape Engineering Co Ltd

The Rice Garden

Centered on rice, the community garden captures the rhythm of life — sprouting in spring, growing in summer, harvesting in autumn, and resting in winter — while weaving together the cultural memories of home and longing for one's roots. The spatial experience unfolds through observation, understanding, and co-creation, featuring native, naturalistic flower borders and multi-sensory therapeutic elements. Interactive components include scientific knowledge about rice growth, a display of rice varieties from across the country, and interpretations of the Chinese character "米" (rice). Visitors can also leave their own imprints through photography and drawing. The installation features a steel frame with a wood-grain finish, paired with semi-transparent gauze printed with colorful illustrations. As the fabric sways in the wind and interacts with the light and shadow of the flower borders, it creates a poetic, immersive natural atmosphere that blends nature, art, and cultural memory.

Designer: Jingdezhen Vocational University of Art

Constructor:  Shanghai Landscape Construction Co Ltd

Little Leaf-cutting Ant, Big Mushroom Farm

This design draws inspiration from the collaborative behavior of leaf-cutting ants to create an immersive experiential garden, allowing visitors to explore and reflect on the philosophy of life. The space is divided into four areas —the Leaf Collection Garden, the Leaf Transport Pathway, the Mushroom Cultivation Zone, and the Harvest Base Camp—following the workflow of leaf-cutting ants, all connected by a circular route. In the planting design, tall sunflowers serve as the visual focal point, complemented by low ground cover as the base layer. A color palette dominated by yellow, accentuated with blue, purple, and white, emphasizes vertical stratification. Using straw-textured paint to create bionic ant nests, the design replicates the texture of natural ant nests and offers an immersive environment.

Designer: Southwest University

Constructor: Shanghai Shenzhou Greening Industrial Co Ltd

The Second Cup of Nature

When coffee becomes the 'lifeblood' of urban life, how can we offer people lasting relaxation and recovery beyond that initial energy boost? "The Second Cup of Nature" reimagines the Coffee Flavor Wheel as a botanical journey. Moving from "Floral Awakening" to "Herbal Soothing" and "Woody Aftertaste", the garden guides your senses through flowers, paths, and shadows. Feeling tired? Step inside and enjoy a refill of nature.

Designer: South China University of Technology

Constructor: Shanghai Landscape Engineering Co Ltd

A Gift Box for the Daughter

With the theme of "A gift box for the Daughter", this garden design draws on the collective memory of Shanghai's shikumen and lilong alleyway culture, aiming to create an urban garden that blends emotional resonance with ecological awareness. The design uses the concept of "gifts" as a guiding motif, transforming elements from alleyway clothes-drying scenes and spatial textures into an artistic canopy and recyclable modular planting boxes. Through two narrative threads, the garden unfolds three progressive plant-based spatial scenes, reimagining the fading image of old street life as a three-dimensional landscape that visitors can experience, perceive, and become part of.

Designer: Southwest University

Constructor: Shanghai Landscape Construction Co Ltd

The Community Trilogy

This project centers on circadian rhythm, proposing a time-phased healing concept that addresses the psychological needs of people of all ages through community life at different times of day. The design follows a "three times, three colors" approach: in the early morning, blue tones from delphiniums and blue fescue create a sense of calm; at midday, the palette shifts to yellow and orange to invigorate energy; and in the evening, purple tones from hydrangea, variegated pampas grass, rosemary, and purpletop vervain create a soothing atmosphere. Recycled CDs are used as hanging installations, producing shimmering light effects under sunlight or artificial lighting, while colorful PVC discs add a sense of lightness to the space.

Designer: Shanghai Jiao Tong University、Tongji University

Constructor: Shanghai Shenzhou Greening Industrial Co Ltd

The Wind is a Postman, the Flowers are a Reply Letter

The design translates the form and behavioral characteristics of homing pigeons into spatial structures and functional nodes. Flower beds are arranged to resemble pigeons in flight, while their role as messengers is brought to life through an interactive experience that conveys seeds, wishes and ecological awareness. Through seed installations, co-built planting areas, wish mailboxes, and interactive envelopes, community residents can forge emotional connections through communication and planting, collaboratively shaping a community garden.

Designer: Central South University of Forestry and Technology

Constructor: Shanghai Hengyi Landscape Construction Co Ltd

Symbiotic Reflection

Step into "Mirror Garden" and embark on an eco-therapy journey inspired by French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan's "mirror stage" theory. Using recyclable acrylic mirrors, the space dissolves boundaries and blurs the line between reality and reflection, inviting visitors to rediscover their relationship with nature. The experience unfolds progressively —escaping the daily hustle, exploring natural textures, engaging in inner reflection, and awakening ecological awareness. Native plants create warm-toned landscapes that soothe the soul, while all mirrors are modular and recyclable, emphasizing sustainability.

Designer: Shanghai Institute of Technology

Constructor: Shanghai Hengyi Landscape Construction Co Ltd

 

Source: Shanghai Botanical Garden