RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show – Part Two: Planters, a Pink Shed and a Blonde Bombshell

In front of Allium bistro is a giant bug, surrounded by some pretty planters designed by different gardeners. The bug is like something out of District 9; but the planters are mesmerising – I could have photographed them for ages. Jekka McVicar has created a wildflower planter with ammi and poppies and daisy-like wildflowers. I really like the Union Jack palette with a dash of yellow; it’s pretty without being girlie. 

Now for girlie, you want to look at the planter by Ann Marie Powell. There are pinks and lilacs and it’s all very textured and fluffy and gorgeous. There are other planters, including the third one below - a sexy, bright number from Toby Buckland. If you didn’t go to the show, these are brilliant, inspirational ideas to recreate at home.

Further along were a row of hen coops. Decorated by people from Nikki Tibbles to Philippa Forrester, they were a cheerful addition to the show. I did like Philippa’s simple hen coop the most, but perhaps I'm biased towards the woman who used to wear multi-coloured chunky cardigans and introduce children’s television programmes from the CBBC Broom Cupboard.

Inside the celebrity speaker tent was a catwalk show. I thought it would have galoshes and wellies and cool trousers that have lots of pockets, but these models looked far too smart to be gardeners. I think the screen behind is a clue.

Remember I said in the gardens post to make a note of the entry sign? Well, look at this cheeky flower bed and picture-pretty shed by Pennards. I am a strong believer in breaking down gender stereotypes and I support the Let Toys Be Toys campaign…but I’m afraid to say that this shed brought out the inner Barbie in me! I was drawn to it, like a moth to a flame. A friend saw a picture of it and showed me a photo of her shed, which is almost the same, but pale blue. It’s lovely, and as she said, kind of looks like a beach hut – which is no bad thing. Have you seen the beach huts along the seafront in Hove? Oil painting-worthy.

Moving to the Roses and Floristry Vintage Tent, and it’s all a Technicolour riot of pinks and yellows, 50s fashion, and the sweet smell of roses.  Pride of place goes to a display in hour of Lady Marmalade, Rose of the Year for 2014. It is a warm orange-pink with huge, show-stopping blooms. The roses surround a mannequin in a coordinating 50s style dress and a Singer sewing machine. It’s a brilliant and simple display. I can’t believe just seven or eight years ago, I claimed I didn’t like wearing orange. More fooled me – just look at that dress!

There’s a floral tea party that the March Hare and Mad Hatter would be right at home in, a couple dancing to a jukebox, a young woman’s boudoir, and the girl from The Seven Year Itch herself. I think Marilyn would have loved it.

The Jane Packer team have created a dreamy high street with a perfume shop, flower shop, tea rooms and a hat shop. It looks so perfect, like a pastel-coloured set design for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg or the recent Populaire, which are both set at the end of the 1950s. If only the team could be in charge of regenerating high streets in Britain – they’d get people back in local shops again in no time!

Naturally, a rose tent wouldn’t be complete without roses. Aside from the award-winning Lady Marmalade, there were displays by an array of rose growers, including Harkness, Peter Beales, and the Historic Roses Group. Here are some pink Lakeland roses by Harkness in the foreground (I didn’t note the name of the red rose in the background), and displays across the tent. Followed by Burgundy Ice and Chevy Chase, which are both very striking, in hot pink and purple.

David Austin Roses won best roses exhibit and another gold. Another sumptuous display, with an inviting table with a hand-tied, cake and tea, and wonderful roses including the pale lilac-pink. Spirit of Freedom and the hot pink Heathcliffe. 

I saw one of my supervisors and had a lovely catch up. Ann Saxby has been working for the company for 41 years, has a rose named after her, but was originally only supposed to work there for two weeks! Despite all of the awards and praise that has been poured upon the company and the amazing work she has done at the shows, she was still emotional when she found out that they had won at Hampton Court this year. I think it’s so lovely that she still feels the energy that comes from a compliment like this:

I asked if I could share a photo of her here and she said yes. So here we are, getting in people’s way in the roses tent! She and Jane Williams may be a hundred miles away in Albrighton, but it’s good to know they are still my rose mentors when I see them.

Take one bucket…

…and a pair of secateurs and get snipping! This bucket is only half full, but just looking at what’s inside makes me smile.

One of the great things about tree blossom is that it is so abundant, you can cut a few branches, enough to fill a jug with blossom, but it will barely make a dent when you look at the still flower-filled tree afterwards.

Jekka McVicar encourages the use of dandelions for medicinal and culinary purposes, but I’m sorry, I can’t get over their bright obtrusiveness wherever they appear! And also the guilt they evoke – I know they are there because we’ve been too busy or lazy to weed properly. Daisies, however, I have always liked. Indeed, when I started this blog, I was going to call it Daisy Shamini; Daisy being the middle name that I wanted as a young child. On Sarah Raven’s blog, Garlic and Sapphire, there’s a lovely post about writer Emma’s nature hunt with her young daughter, and daisies were first on the list.

Along with the dandelions, we do have a lot of bluebells that the wind has scattered our way – but their presence is more welcome. Partly because of their swaying, slender stems with pretty blue-violet flowers, and partly because of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Unfortunately, we don’t have English bluebells; just the Spanish-English hybrid, Hyacinthoides x massartiana. In my dream garden, I would have an English bluebell patch under blossom trees, and I would sit amongst them, pick them and smell them, as Winston did.

The bucket of flowers, along with a couple of stems of pale pink cherry blossom from the tree at the front of the house, was enough to fill two jugs and four mini milk bottles. I especially like the small jug, with a Mount Tacoma and an Angelique peony tulip, quince and apple blossom, and bluebells. Quince blossom is long lasting in water, so it’s a good shrub for cutting. Apple blossom lasts a few days, but it’s worth cutting for the pink-edged flowers and the delicate scent.

Quince blossom represents temptation…I’m not sure what to make of that, other than it’s tempting to cut it because it looks so pure and white! Apple blossom symbolises better things to come, which feels to me like a glass half full response to cherry blossom’s ‘impermanence’. The first photo below is our quince blossom. The second is next door's apple blossom tree, much bigger than ours, but of course I didn't cut theirs. 'Temptation' is certainly what I felt when I looked at it!

The Balcony Gardener

One sad thing about moving to a flat has been the loss of a garden. But I am very fortunate in that my dad still lets me use his garden and greenhouse to grow things, and our flat has a little balcony.

Isabelle Palmer has written a wonderful book just for small spaces like ours, called The Balcony Gardener. As well as chapters for absolute newcomers to gardening in general, it also has lots of ideas for making the most of small balconies, roof gardens (we should be so lucky!) and even windowboxes. Well, as soon as I'd started to read her book, I knew we needed to use our balcony for more than just hanging out the washing!

I went to the RHS Wisley Flower Show last weekend. It was nice - there were many different growers from the ones I saw at RHS Chelsea, and because it's later in the year, there were beautiful displays of different types of flowers, as well as different things for sale. At Chelsea, I bought basil and pennyroyal seeds from Jekka's Herb Farm. At Wisley, I bought herb plants from Hooksgreen Herbs. At the May show, there were stunning displays of daffodils, grown in special conditions so that they all flowered at the same time. At the September show, I became a bit of a bulboholic, especially when I learnt that the grower was from Bridgend (where I've been visiting friends since 1998).

So last week I went to look for a balcony trough and planted up the herbs. I tried to plant them according to the conditions needed for them (thank you, Jekka), but I think I got the lemon mint wrong and it should have gone in a single pot. Hey ho. We'll see how well they survive. Here they are on the balcony. I know, gardening and floristry are all about odd numbers, and I did plan to just put three single pots at the bottom and one somewhere else. But...there isn't really anywhere else except right by the door (accident-prone person plus tripping hazard equals mess plus swearing). The top pot contains (left to right) lemon mint, orange scented thyme, and marjoram 'Gold Splash'. The single pots are (left to right) bay, blackcurrant sage, myrtle and rosemary 'Sudbury Blue'.

It's a shame the weather's starting to get cooler and the days are getting shorter!

I'm hoping that they survive well into spring. In flower language, mint means virtue, myrtle means love and marriage, sage means health and a long life, and thyme means courage and happiness. They're all good sentiments for weddings, I think, and they look beautiful and smell good. The blackcurrant sage has beautiful red flowers and the rosemary has pale blue flowers, but I don't think they'll be flowering in spring.

Here are some more herbs that I grew from seed. From left to right: sweet basil, cinnamon basil, upright pennyroyal, and another cinnamon basil. One cinnamon basil is now sitting with the sweet basil in the kitchen, the pennyroyal is on a windowsill in the lounge, and I have wrapped up one of each basil for a friend who likes gardening and cooking Italian food.

Not-so-flat flowers

August brought a beautiful array of colour in the garden - the asters have been flowering all month, the sweet peas and chocolate cosmos have continued to blossom, and the repeat-flowering roses have started to bloom a second time this summer. Even the jasmine, still full of foliage, has some flowers.

I've made sure the new flat has fresh flowers every week to brighten it up until it starts to feel like home. There has been a David Austin 'Enigma' bouquet, some roses and a dahlia from The Real Flower Company that I arranged, some florist British bloom chysanthemums (which have a wonderful marshmallow texture), asters and stocks.

There have also been flowers from my family's garden that I've taken over to the flat to arrange. And the scent of stocks, garden roses, sweet peas and chocolate cosmos has been a delight to come home to.

I took a sweet basil plant that I have been growing from seed in the greenhouse to keep in the kitchen. I bought a few different types of seeds from the Jekka's Herb Farm stand at the Chelsea Flower Show. Jekka McVicar is an expert in herbs - I've spent many happy hours reading her book, Jekka's Complete Herb Book, which she signed for me at the flower show. Here is the plant on the day I brought it over, two weeks ago.

And here it is today. It smells yummy - I can't wait to use some when I make dinner!