Flower Shows - Hampton Court 2014 | Garden Design Inspiration

Sometimes the British summer seems to be filled flower shows!

Which personally I think is a good thing, not merely because I’m passionate about flowers and plants, but also because it gives a reason for socialising and meeting new people, new ideas, new products. Hampton Court 2014, the RHS Flower Show was no exception. Fortuitously, I think we had the day with best weather, plenty of sun without too much heat, so good for walking around.

Hampton Court 2014 – conceptual gardens

The conceptual gardens offer a chance to create a garden that encourages discussion of topics that are sometimes controversial.

This year they were themed around the seven deadly sins – sloth, greed, wrath, gluttony, lust, envy and pride. ‘Sloth’ won the best on show for this category, with garden spades as metaphors.

Nathan loved the ‘greed – dichotomy’ conceptual garden, depicting a confessional. He felt the contrast between the two sides was suitably blurred, the gold wall and wildflowers especially giving a humanly confused message.

I loved the fiery colours and smoke of the ‘wrath – eruption of unhealed anger’ conceptual garden. The smouldering effect, highlighted by the dark wall with its images of contained and exploding anger was very atmospheric.

The ‘Essence of Australia’ garden won best in show; deservedly. This might be a viewing angle that you haven’t seen on TV, proving that whichever way you looked at it, it was good.

It is a standing joke that Nathan always comes back from flower shows and trade shows with yet another axe or chainsaw. This year he didn’t, although he spent most of his time in the quiet tree house studying the battery operated power tools. However, these could be useful when we’re on site in residential gardens, as the fuel operated power tools can be rather noisy.

Reflections always make fascinating viewing – and good photos. Sometimes there’s confusion between which is real and which is the image – almost a doppelganger effect. Other times the reflection is itself a more interesting image than the reality. I found these gardens as fascinating in reflection as in reality.

Coffee – a prime ingredient in the Plews office. Imagine our olfactory delight when we came into the world vision garden. Inspired by the 30th anniversary of the Ethiopian famine, this garden was full of edible crops and flowers. The coffee beans are used here as a mulch; representing the arid desert that there used to be.

We loved the beautiful dry stone wall construction of these innovative fire pits from Lithic Fire. Suitable for both a contemporary garden when capped with smooth York stone or an informal look with riven stone they could even double up as seating when not in use – provided you put the lid on of course! We’ll be using these in a design soon, I’m sure.

As well as coffee, we’re fond of a glass of wine, so the grape vines growing in the Bacchus garden were a hit. We also liked the detailing on the top of the posts, a little item, but one of those finishing touches that can make a big difference.

Hampton Court 2014 – garden sundries

These native bluebells by Andy Stevenson will look attractive year round in your garden – and how delightful to group them under your trees where your real bluebells will be flowering in the spring.

Hampton Court 2014 – 100 Years since WW1 began

2014 is of course a year when we are remembering the outbreak of the First World War in 1914: hence the tank, and the scarecrow competition.

The ‘Lest we Forget’ garden is a vegetable plot in a trench; evocative; reminding us that the men in the trenches not only felt the need to grow some fresh food to augment their rations but that they hopefully found some headspace away from war when tending their crops. It was good to see annual cornflowers among the cabbages; this flower – ‘bleuet de France’ – is to the French what the red field poppy is to British Legion – a flower of remembrance.

As we left at the end of the day, I couldn’t help but take a moment to admire the sunset over Hampton Court Bridge, a fitting end to another year of the world’s largest annual flower show, Hampton Court 2014.

An eBook for you to download

As for gardens and the great pavilion in previous years, you could download our eBook,”RHS Hampton Court Flower Show – Plews View 2012-16” Available directly from our website. And if you would like to talk with us about designing your own ‘Hampton Court garden’, please get in touch!