Impressions from the 2011 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

A great number of interesting and outstanding show gardens were in evidence, yet again, also at this year's show.

The one that stood out most in the Small Gardens category was the Burgon & Ball “5-A-Day” garden and it rightly, as far as I am concerned, been awarded a gold medal in the Small Garden category.

Second place, in the same category, must go, in my list, jointly to “An Urban Harvest” and “The Potential Feast”.

As my priorities, as far as gardening is concerned, lie with food growing and wildlife it is obvious that I would chose first and foremost food gardens.

In joint third place on my list in this category are “Wild in the City”, a wildlife garden, and “A Precious Warning”, which is concerned with sustainability.

When it comes to the Conceptual Gardens my favorite must be the “Enduring Freedom?” one and this is, in reality, also the only one in that category that really spoke to me.

The “Enduring Freedom?” garden, and the question mark is absolutely spot on as to whether we are bringing an enduring freedom or any kind of proper freedom to Afghanistan, spoke to me especially due to my background as a troop – though we weren't called that then – and my political views and interests in the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond.

We claim that we want to bring freedom and democracy to those countries and that we care about human rights and all that when, in fact, it is all about petroleum in the end.

The “Enduring Freedom?” garden is a poignant reminder that not all is the way as we are being told by the powers-that-be.

I will go into some greater depth about some of those gardens in the next couple of days or so.

When it comes to growing edibles then the RHS “Edible Garden” certainly must be mentioned and will so also in some greater depth.

Slug Bell in plant bed at RHS Edible Garden

A couple of new or fairly new products and seeds have come to my attention also ate the 2011 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, such as the Slug Bell; FIG, the flexible garden cane connector from Marshalls; and Kew Garden Botanical “Urban Garden Collection” range of seeds from Thompson & Morgan, which are developed for containers with the urban gardener in mind.

As I have some of those products to hand right now as I was kindly given samples by the suppliers reviews are to follow soon.

Marshalls also kindly supplied me with a copy of the Joy Larkom book “Grow Your Own Vegetables” and I shall try to get a review of this done as soon as. 

It looks as if I have chosen the right two days for my visit to the 2011 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, going Monday, July, 4 (Press Day) and Tuesday, July 5, as on the later afternoon of Tuesday the good weather broke and rain arrived.

© 2011