I finally
had the opportunity to attend the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show back in July. I’ve been to the Chelsea Flower Show a number of times with
groups, but never Hampton, so this time I took the opportunity while visiting
family in the UK in Yorkshire to zip down the motorway to London for the show.
Given the traffic jams the show generates, the zip kept sticking, but thanks to
a 4:00 AM start, my daughter and I made it for opening time.
Up at 4:00
AM to see flowers? Yes, but these shows, despite the name, are about much more
than flowers. They’re like Mecca for gardeners, top of countless bucket lists. They
feature gardens designed by the world’s best, the very latest in new plant
introductions, and more garden paraphernalia to purchase (including buckets) than
one could possibly imagine.
The shows,
both presented by the Royal Horticultural Society, are similar in content
though held at different times of year — Chelsea in spring and Hampton in
summer — which means the floral content differs, and at 25 acres (10
hectares), Hampton covers an
area more than twice the size of Chelsea. The latter is in the heart of London where
it’s easier to access by public transportation, and with a capped attendance it
does seem easier to get around. Due to the sprawling nature of Hampton and the
afternoon crowds streaming in, we did leave uncertain that we’d seen absolutely
everything, but did see plenty.
As
expected, the display gardens were immaculate; colours divinely coordinated in
the most surprising combinations that looked perfectly matched. Never again will
I say two particular colours don’t look well together. One group of gardens
used colour effectively to interpret a specific theme, that of the seven deadly
sins. The theme of anger was indeed blazing mad with Japanese blood grass, the
grass interplanted with reds and oranges of yarrow and echinacea pierced by golden
spikes of kniphofia, all in a bed of smoking lava.
Gluttony
was amusingly represented by giant food cans used as planters, the sardine can
appropriately a water garden. The concept for envy was depicted by a grassy
meadow in shades of brown. On a mound in the centre, enclosed by a screen of
green Perspex, a lawn of artificial grass clipped to perfection — the grass is
always greener . . .
These were
the conceptual gardens while others were categorized as summer gardens, large
show gardens (Australia took a gold), and smaller ones described as your
garden, your budget. These modest gardens were designed to demonstrate how a
high quality garden can be achieved on a budget; the budgets for these ranging,
ahem, from twelve to twenty-five thousand dollars. I may never look at a cell
pack of annuals the same way.
Those
attending the show with a far less restrictive budget than me had plenty of
opportunity to spend wildly. I was tempted, but had to pass on the giant bronze
statue of a snail and the huge stone horse trough planter due to my flight
baggage limit. I left the show with only a freebie packet of seed (Ammi majus).
Beyond the
gardens and market place of the show, there were wonderful learning opportunities.
A number of plant societies were present offering their specialized knowledge,
while a display by the RHS called the invisible garden contained a number of
interactive displays with microscopes. It encouraged visitors to discover the fascinating
unseen world of insects, fungi and the myriad of other creatures that are invisible,
yet so essential to a garden.
There was so
much to see and so little time as the zippy motorway home awaited us. It was
worth the drive.
No comments:
Post a Comment