Taking place in July each year, RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is unmissable if you have an interest in horticulture. It’s a lovely day out by the River Thames in a relaxed setting.
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Highlights
One of the past highlights was the Evolve: Through the Roots of Time exhibit. Situated inside a dome, it took visitors on a journey from present day meadows to Jurassic jungles and further back to barren landscapes predominant over 500 million years ago.
Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf created a delightful walk through feature opposite the royal palace. It features orange Achillea, mauve Lythrum, pink Echinacea and silver blue sea holly. The plants will be relocated to RHS Garden Wisley after the show closes.
You can also walk through a meadow of purple Verbena bonariensis, named Swathes of Purple, next to the Long Water fountain.
Hampton Court Show Gardens
There are some great Show Gardens each year including several for charities. Some of our past favourites are:
Bursting Busy Lizzie Garden
This garden was designed by Matthew Childs and is sponsored by B&Q. It picked up a Gold Medal at the show, for its clever use of colour. It features a new breed of the busy lizzie plant, also known as impatiens, in six different shades.
The Children with Cancer UK: Mr. Happy, Mr. Worry Hill
This distinctive garden features a split hill and house, with one side symbolizing worry and the other symbolizing happiness. On Mr Happy’s side, plants include Echinacea and Rudbeckia in vibrant shades of yellow and orange.
In Mr Worry’s garden, stone circles represent sadness and the colours of the plants are hues of blue and purple. The garden represents the huge progress made in child cancer treatment and also the ongoing research to eradicate it.
The Limbcare Garden
This peaceful haven offered a message of help and support to the UK’s amputees. Limbcare is a national charity founded by Ray Edwards MBE, the UK’s longest surviving quad amputee.
It is one of the rare gardens at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show that members of the public can walk around. You enter the garden via a brook with calming water, then pass over a bridge which symbolizes safe passage.
At the centre of the garden, a striking sculpted pair of uplifted hands catches your eye. To the rear, there’s a quiet area with fountains to promote healing.
Designed by Edward Mantis and landscaped by David Sutton, it features Amelanchier and Prunus trees, a woodland glade and a fragrant arch of Hosta and Cardiocrinum. Now that the show is finished, the garden has been moved to Limbcare’s Wellbeing Centre, for which a fundraising effort is ongoing, where it is be an integral element of the courtyard.
The RNIB Community Garden
This is a sensory experience with an abundance of scented flowers as well as grasses such as Pennisetum villosum and Stipa tenuissima.
World Gardens
There were 4 World Gardens at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2018 including The Orgeon Garden and The Charleston & South Carolina Garden from the USA.
Spain showcases RÃas de Galicia: A Garden at the End of the Earth and the rugged coastline of Galicia.
The Santa Rita Living La Vida 120 Garden has a Mediterranean focus with Arubutus unedo trees and an oxide-yellow steel wall. Designer Alan Rudden was inspired by a trip to Chile as a guest of Santa Rita wines.
Conceptual Gardens and Gardens for a Changing World
This thought-provoking category showcases issues that the world is facing and also features conceptual gardens such as the one below.
Apeiron: The Dibond® Garden
This immersive space is an artwork as well as a garden. Enter the rusting steel box and you’ll discover a meadow surrounded by mirrored walls. It feels like the garden is stretching as far as the eye can see. It was created by Alex Rainford-Roberts using Dibond® mirror, which is an aluminium composite material that weighs half as much as a glass mirror.
Lifestyle Gardens
There’s also a new category, the Lifestyle Gardens, which aim to show how a garden can mirror the owner’s personality. There are four gardens including a family garden and an entertaining garden.
Schools’ Scarecrow Competition
Following the theme of You Are What You Eat, this competition involved schools in the South East and there were some brilliant entries.
Practical Information for Hampton Court Flower Show
- Dates – Hampton Court Palace Flower Show takes place in early July each year. There are Preview Evenings for RHS members for which a limited amount of tickets are avaialble to non-members.
- Opening hours – usually 10 am to 7.30 pm. 8 July: 10 am to 5.30 pm.
- Food and Drink – Dig In Restaurant, Garden Cafe, Kings Food Court, Long Water Deli (North and South), Palace Stage, Food Court, Palace Kitchen by James Tanner, picnic enclosures at the Waterfront Oasis, Seafood Bar by Caviar House, Thames Food Court, Village Green Food Court, Waterfront Oasis North, Waterfront Oasis South
- Drinking Water – several taps are located within the grounds
- Cash machines – several within the grounds
- Visitor Information Centre – located near to the Thames Gate
- Pets – guide dogs are permitted to enter the showground – pets are not. Dogs must not be left unattended in vehicles
- Plant and product creches – store your purchases at the creches, near the Country Living Magazine Pavilion and the Floral Marquee Entrance
- Sell-off – from 4 pm on Sunday, display plants and products are sold off by many exhibitors
Getting to Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
- By Train – 36 minute train ride from London Waterloo to Hampton Court then 15 minute walk
- By Underground or Bus – District line to Richmond underground station, then R68 bus to Hampton Court
- By Ferry – From Hampton Court Station, Kingston Bridge and Richmond to Molesey Lock Ferry next to the show entrance
- By Car – Parking costs £16 per day at the Green car park at Hampton Court Green
- By Bicycle – Bike racks are located at the Thames Gate Entrance
Which is your favorite garden or feature?
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How fun and creative are these garden designs and sculptures! Some are truly imaginative, like that worm sculpture. The Giverny garden brings back fond memories of our visit there…
I’m still waiting until the day I can go to this event 😉 The location is top notch and I love flowers and plants. Great photos!
The palace location is amazing, you can even take a ferry from the train station direct to the entrance!
There was an amazing selection of gardens!
That freestyle turf was pretty quirky, one of my favourites too
It was a really good show, lots of space, places to eat and relax in the shade
Looks like a great show. I love the imagination used in making the gardens
It’s fantastic what they manage to achieve in such a small space, isn’t it!
Oh I love this! I’m actually in the process of decorating our terrace right now (knowing nothing about plants/flowers!) so this provided lots of inspiration! Would love to have a picnic in any of these spaces!
That’s really nice to hear! I agree, they’d be perfect picnic spots
Looks like a great show
mynutrition
It was a fantastic show Antonio, thanks for stopping by
I was lucky that it was so sunny, made it even nicer to photograph. Glad that your Mum enjoyed it last year
I love gardening and visiting shows for inspiration is always fun. The gardens created are stunning especially the well being garden Lucy x
The well being one had such a feeling of tranquility – would have loved to sit there and read a book! The organisers might have had something to say about that 😉
Looks lovely. My mum wants to go next year. Is it incredibly busy, or is it okay?
It’s definitely best to get there for opening time especially at the weekend but there’s so much space that you can find quiet spots to sit, eat and relax
Fabulous pictures! You really got the spirit of the place and I definitely need to check it out next year xxx
Mehreen A | wrapyourlipsaroundthis00@gmail.com
Beautiful pictures!
xx
Mademoiselle Coconath
http://mllecoconath.com
I thoroughly enjoyed your look at the show, Suze! We were there quite a few years ago and I’d love to go back. As in everything, gardens move on! You’ve got some great shots, especially considering the numbers that get to these shows. I rather like that Herbal garden with the cool bench- even the grass looks blue 🙂
Thanks Jo, it probably has changed quite a bit though it’s the first time that I had been. There are lots of food stalls. I was very lucky with the sunshine that day. I see what you mean about the herbal garden and bench!
Looks beautiful! I live about two miles from Hampton Court yet I’ve never been to the Flower Show – it always seems to coincide with a heatwave and the thought of all those people and 30+ degree temperatures puts me off. One day I’ll make it!
Lucky you, such a beautiful place to live. If you get there right at the start and leave before the afternoon it’s fine and there’s a lot of shade
We only live down the road from Hampton Court, such a lovely place to have on our doorstep!
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