Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
J
ohn Mason visited this 21st annual Flower Show, conducted by the RHS in early June
This is a show on a grand scale; according to many UK horticulturists, in some respects better than Chelsea.; Certainly, Hampton Court has more space than Chelsea, giving exhibitors more room to exhibit, and visitors more space to see what is on show
Features of this years show
Shakespearean Gardens
Six show gardens were created, each reflecting a different Shakesperean Play, then actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company performed exerpts from these plays at each of the gardens
Display Gardens
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As always, these were stunning showcasing the best of British and International design.
Two gardens stood out for me:
1. An Artists Garden
Designed by James Callicott, a teenager www.jamescallicott.co.uk
2. The Lego Garden
A delight for my 9 year old son Nicholas
Trends and Themes
Many of the gardens, as well as the show overall, featured sustainability themes such as growing fruits, vegetables and herbs or alternative energy. As has been the case in Australia; vegetable seed sales are growing rapidly in the UK, and the movement to grow more at home is strong.
The Floral Marquee
This was as always, a star of the show. This is an enormous tent, the size of several circus tents joined together; and filled with almost 100 different specialist nurseries presnting over the top displays for just about any type of plant you might imagine.
Plan to Visit in Advance
This show is on every July
Book your tickets in advance. If you join the RHS first, you can get a better deal.
Go early and be prepared to spend all day and still not see everything
If you are really keen, allocate two days to get round everything
Don’t go by road –traffic is chaotic. Train services from London are good; or take a boat up the Thames.
VISIT THE ACS ONLINE E BOOKSTORE
- Quality ebooks written by our staff
- Wide range of Horticulture titles by John Mason, author of over 40 gardening books, garden magazine editor, nurseryman, landscaper and principal of ACS.
- Ebooks can be purchased online and downloaded straight away.
- Read on an ipad, computer, iphone, reader or similar device.
- New titles published every month –bookmark and revisit this site regularly
- Download sample pages for free, to see what each book is like.
Titles include:
Commercial Hydroponics 3rd edition
One of the worlds best selling hydroponic books, first published in 1991 by Kangaroo Press. Dozens of colour photos, unique and rarely published advice on how to grow over 100 different types of plants (vegetables, herbs, flowers, indoor plants) in hydroponics.
http://www.acsebook.com/products/2232-commercial-hydroponics-third-edition.aspx
The Environment of Play 2
nd edition
A unique and inspirational view of designing play spaces for children. Full of photos, an inspiration for parents, child care workers, teachers, play leaders, landscape designers and park management professionals. First edition was published in the 1980’s by Leisure Press in New York.
http://www.acsebook.com/products/2247-the-environment-of-play.aspx
Trees and Shrubs for Warm Places First edition
A valuable reference for growing plants not only in the tropics and sub tropics, but also greenhouses, inside the home or even hot courtyards in a temperate garden. Never before been published. The book contains colour photos of close to 300 plants and descriptions of many times that number (and largely different to the plants covered in our Tropical Plants book).
http://acsebook.com/products/2238-trees-and-shrubs-for-warm-placescoming-soon.aspx
Garden Design Part 2 1
st edition
Following on from Garden Design Part 1, this presents approximately 300 more photos, and a huge amount of inspirational reading to help you (in particular), understand the different styles of garden and the options open to you as a garden designer, or a home owner.
http://acsebook.com/products/2244-garden-design-part-2.aspx
Discounts offered for students of ACS Distance Education
