It all started just a stone's throw from the entrance, where we stumbled upon a garden entitled A Growing Obsession, inspired by the Victorian English garden. Elegant yet real, refined but natural, what struck me about this design was just how much could be done in such a relatively small space. Interest is packed into every inch, and you can quite easily see yourself taking a turn around the lawn, stooping to admire the salvias, reaching to smell the scented roses. This is the garden that summer days were made for.
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| A Growing Obsession, inspired by the Victorian English garden |
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| A Growing Obsession, inspired by the Victorian English garden |
Another favourite, The Pig kitchen garden, was always likely to appeal to me, and has given me much inspiration for my own plot of land. Here, a stunning arrangement was created, with the perfect balance of edible plants and floral displays, perfect for pollinators. I loved that the designers were able to display lettuces and beans as plants of beauty, grown for their colours, shapes and flowers, every bit as much as for their taste and nutrition. My own area of garden for growing vegetables is currently being transformed, very much with this concept in mind, and I look forward to creating my own version over the next 12 months.
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| The Pig kitchen garden |
On a similar ilk, A Herb Garden saw a gold medal award, and it's not hard to see why. The planting in this little space was second-to-none, and you could really see the benefit to wildlife that such a patch could provide. In amongst the lavenders, pineapple mints and lemon balms, my favourite herb of all, borage, poking billions of bright blue, star-shaped flowers through the foliage, a real treat to see (and a lesson in how to hide its unfortunately ugly, hairy stems from view!)
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| A Herb Garden |
On the other side of Hampton Court's Long Water, the show was dominated by the massive floral marquee. Within this hot and humid structure, yet more colourful displays, of which alliums, with their delightfully purple globes, seem to have been a particularly popular aspect. I must admit, the marquee was uncomfortably hot, and very busy, but finding the time to stop and admire the stunning displays was well worth it. Amongst my favourites was a wonderful display of dahlias (how can so many flowers look so different yet be of the same family?) and an explosion of bee-friendly colour featuring foxgloves, hollyhocks, poppies, clematis and campanula - an absolutely perfect arrangement.
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| floral marquee - dahlia display |
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| More colour in the floral marquee |
Back outside, we wandered over to the historic garden entries, where a gold medal went to the garden, Winnie the Pooh begins his journey. Memories of childhood flood immediately to the forefront of the mind, there's a poohsticks bridge, and wild planting that just celebrates the imagination of youth. Other historic gardens included The Tea Party, a celebration of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and the Amnesty International Magna Carta 800 garden, with a superb set of planting around tablets displaying the Magna Carta text.
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| Winnie the Pooh begins his journey |
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| Magna Carta 800 garden |
A fantastic day spent at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, and one that we came away from with myriad ideas for our own plot of land.
What a place it was!!! If you can't come home from the Hampton Court Flower Show with plenty of inspiration then there's something wrong with you!! And how apt that Borage should make its appearance in your former little plot of land! Lovely write up! ;-) ;-)
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