In Bloom at Oxford’s Ashmolean runs until August 16

A major botanical exhibition at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum is giving visitors a close look at how plants, art and global trade have shaped everyday life.

In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World is listed at the Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, from March 19 to August 16, with opening hours shown as 10:00 to 17:00. Tickets are priced at £8.10 to £16.20, and the listing states that booking is available.

The exhibition is aimed at visitors interested in art, gardens, natural history, design and the stories behind familiar flowers such as roses, tulips, camellias and peonies.

Oxford exhibition details for visitors

The Experience Oxfordshire listing describes In Bloom as a major new exhibition that begins in Oxford and follows the wider routes through which plants travelled, were collected, traded and reimagined.

Rather than treating flowers as decoration alone, the exhibition places them inside a larger story: curiosity, exploration, commerce and the changing relationship between people and the natural world.

More than 100 objects tell the story of beloved blooms

The show brings together more than 100 artworks and objects. The listed material includes drawings, paintings, rare prints and ceramics, giving the exhibition a broad visual range rather than a single-medium display.

That mix matters for the subject. Plants have moved through gardens, trade routes, domestic interiors and scientific collections, and the objects in the exhibition reflect those different settings. A flower might appear as a botanical study in one context, a decorative motif in another, or evidence of wider economic exchange.

The source listing names roses, tulips, camellias and peonies among the blooms whose stories are explored. These are now familiar to many British gardens and homes, but the exhibition frames them as part of a much wider global history.

Plant explorers, trade routes and changing landscapes

In Bloom also looks at early plant explorers and the networks that shaped global trade. The listing highlights the curiosity and ingenuity involved in the search for exotic plants, while also pointing to the consequences of that pursuit.

According to the event description, the arrival and circulation of these plants transformed landscapes, economies and cultures. That gives the exhibition a broader edge than a straightforward flower show: it connects beauty with movement, collecting, demand and long-term change.

For Oxford visitors, the Ashmolean setting also gives the subject a museum context. The exhibition uses art and objects to trace how plants entered collections and visual culture, and how their movement left a legacy that the listing says still shapes the world today.

What to know before planning a visit

The exhibition is at the Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 2PH. The listed opening time is 10:00 to 17:00, and the price range is £8.10 to £16.20.

The event listing includes a “Book now” prompt, so visitors planning a specific day should use the official booking route before travelling. No access, transport, food or stall details were included in the supplied event information.

Source: Experience Oxfordshire Events

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This preview was written from the Experience Oxfordshire event listing and the supplied event brief.

Checks

• Confirmed the event name as In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World.
• Checked the venue as Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford.
• Used the listed opening hours of 10:00 to 17:00.
• Included only the stated price range of £8.10 to £16.20.

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Experience Oxfordshire Events

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Oxford

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2026-06-11 16:52

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#Ashmolean Museum#Beaumont Street#botanical art#In Bloom exhibition#Oxford events#Oxford exhibitions#plant history

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