Top Things To See And Do At Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
The Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival runs from 2-7 July this year, and for fans of all things floral it is an unmissable event to celebrate the beauty and diversity of flowers and gardens. Here are some of the special highlights on offer this year.
Visit the Floral Marquee
First stop for flower lovers is the floral marquee, which is filled with plants and flowers grown by over 90 nurseries. You will be able to see the work of talented florists and designers, and will find home-grown flowers and some exotic species.
Family-friendly activities
The Garden Festival is designed to be a day out for all the family, and there are fun features such as den-building, trails, and hands-on activities, all designed to help kids foster a love of gardening.
Get some garden inspiration
The Show Garden category of the festival tends to prompt admiration and inspiration in equal measure, as some of the country's most talented horticulturalists and designers showcase their work. It’s a treasure trove of ideas and innovations, with a special Get Started Gardens section that is designed to inspire those who are new to gardening.
These gardens deliberately include simple and accessible ideas and techniques that can be achieved without a lot of expense. The plants are chosen for their wide availability, hardiness, and low-maintenance qualities. Even if you do not consider yourself to be particularly green-fingered, it will surely be hard to resist some of the ideas on display.
You will find everything from a celebration of buglife, a moss magic garden, to the RHS Britain in Bloom 60th anniversary garden. This year, there’s also a completely peat-free garden designed by Gardeners World presenter Arit Anderson.
Peat is a controversial topic in horticultural circles, because some gardeners believe that peat-free compost is inferior and inhibits plant growth. However, environmentalists argue that peat extraction damages fragile ecosystems and wildlife habits. Peat is also a ‘carbon sink’, and removing it can contribute to higher levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Anderson told The Guardian: “To do this communication about where peat comes from was really important to me. We must hav gardeners and the public talking about and understanding how to keep peat in the ground.”
“This garden is going to be a community space where we can all have a good old chat about peat. People will be able to walk through it and there will be a tiny mini boardwalk over a peat habitat, there will be an immersive video, lots of communication about what peat is and where it comes from and why it shouldn’t be in our gardens.”
Talks and demonstrations
For the serious gardener, there are a plethora of talks and inspirational demonstrations by well-known names and horticultural experts to choose from.