My first Hampton Court

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I am back from my first visit to Hampton Court Palace flower show. Actually, I should make that my first flower/garden show ever! I had a great time but was shocked at the scale of the event! I was even more shocked at how many companies had taken up stalls and were trying to sell things. Anyone for a 6 foot tall bronze sculpture of a bull? Now that is not something you impulse buy :)

So what stood out for me? In no particular order (and I am sure most of my highlights from the show will surprise other people) -

Two of the small gardens – The Green and Light Garden and The Sadolin Garden of Regeneration. Now why did I like these so much? Well because I live in London and I can only dream of owning much outside space yet these two gardens give me hope. I think I would like my outside space to be like one of these two gardens. Both quite different – one a relaxing with friends space and the other functional food/cooking lovers space.

I also seemed to be attracted to the concept (weird?) gardens. My favourite being Tony Smith’s “In Digestion”. You stare through telescopes around the display at Lettuce (which digest nutrients from the soil) being eaten by insects which are in turn eaten by carnivorous plants. The white partitions with holes represent the digestive track :) I loved it.

My final highlight was a little show garden which I suspect many will just walk by. It actually won a gold medal! “The Fallen” by Sim Flemons and John Warland is a cemetary of plants where each headstone bears the name of a lost species. It raises attention towards the increasing number of native wildflower species in Britain that are on the edge of extinction.

After all the excitement of the show gardens I treated myself to an overpriced sausage lunch. Bring on the next show :)

Visit the Hampton Court Palace flower show entry in our visits section for more photos and comments.

4 Jul, 2007
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Comments

David

Thanx 4 that report and pics, Ajay, especially because I cannot get. I am, however, not too disappointed, because I'm not a great fan of these shows, possibly because, as you mention, there are too many vendors - and what about the carbon footprint for such shows? They are, however, quite good for ideas. I am thrilled to see that an entry by an infant school won a Gold medal for Best Small Garden, and that it was put together, not just by the children, but with input from parents and the local community. Well done Alton infant School!!!

4 Jul, 2007

Ajay

David, I have uploaded a picture of the Alton infant school entry to the visits section. They had a few kids there today giving out leaflets on their garden - great to see.

4 Jul, 2007

David

Hi Ajay, many thanks for the Alton pic. Have saved it in My Favourites so I can see it easily again. - david

5 Jul, 2007

Spritzhenry

Thanks for the photos and descriptions. Good for us folks who can't get there! Saw some of it on BBC2 last night, but they kept hopping round to visit people and not keeping to the actual show.

7 Jul, 2007

Sergey

Thanks, that's interesting! I find the food chain stand quite original. Guess there were many flowers as well? Anything worth writing about or posting pictures? Hope to hear more about other flower or gardening shows.

10 Jul, 2007

Nickyt08

The Sadolin Garden of Regeneration is the garden i helped build and plant! Im glad you liked it! It was a different matter building it, the rain never ended and everything was covered in mud, or plastic to protect everything else esp. brick paving from mud! Who'd of thought 2 unwanted reinforcing bars would fit into the design to hold the gooseberry standard up!!

25 Jun, 2009

Nickyt08

13 Jul, 2009

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Xela

Gardening with friends since
1 Mar, 2008

My first Hampton Court

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