Agnes van Rhijn, the stern socialite matriarch of The Gilded Age television series, surely would raise her patrician eyebrow at Fleurs de Villes at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. Anyone who knows Christine Baranski’s character Aunt Agnes knows the endearing curmudgeon would not approve of the fleeting opulence of so many fresh floral mannequins swanning through the rooms of Mabel and Leslie Cheek’s 1929 estate.

That type of extravagant creative pageantry sounds more like Agnes’s striving new-money neighbor, Bertha Russell.

No doubt, seeing that dramatic Agnes v. Bertha tension play out in petals will be the fun of Fleurs de Villes 2026, when local designers will bring to life the iconic characters of HBO Max’s The Gilded Age through floral sculptures in the mansion and museum.

Returning for a second year at Cheekwood, Fleurs de Villes creates immersive experiences with large-scale floral arrangements. In 2025, the Canada-based creative marketing enterprise popped up at Cheekwood with a suite of three-dimensional floral interpretations of two-dimensional portraits hanging throughout the mansion’s grand rooms.

Peggy Scott mannequin by Polycarp Flowers

Last year, Rose Hill Flowers lead designer Casey Sims translated Cheekwood’s oil painting “Lady in White” into a mannequin adorned with hydrangeas, roses and amaranthus. Rose Hill’s botanical marvel earned both Best in Show and People’s Choice honors.

This season, Sims and Rose Hill will bring new-money society interlopers Bertha and George Russell to life in the language of flowers. “I have been obsessed with the show ever since it came out,” says Sims, who often draws inspiration from flowers as portrayed by Dutch masters.

Translating railroad baron George and his socially strategic wife into plant material will require engineering, ingenuity and energy to recreate structures of 19th-century fashion in a medium that must be watered and refreshed to last nine days. Like the television show that inspires the event, the process and product promise to be bingeworthy.

Fleurs de Villes runs Aug. 1-9 at Cheekwood, with floral demonstrations, workshops, tours, designer talks and extended hours available during the exhibit. Visit cheekwood.org for tickets and schedules.