RHS Hampton Court Show 2013
9 – 14 July, Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 9AU Ticket prices range from £19.00 to £33.50 and are on sale now. Children under 16 go free. To buy tickets: www.rhs.org.uk/hampton or 020 7649 1885
From 9-14 July the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, the UK’s biggest gardening show, will be back in its home in one of the country’s most stunning Royal Parks. The show, which celebrates the great garden festival, has a new look for 2013 with three new zoned areas. It will offer a fun day out with its mix of gardens and shopping, flowers and food, fashion and celebrity, picnics and the outdoors, all set against an idyllic backdrop.
The show will be home to 34 gardens, which will demonstrate seasonally inspiring plant combinations and the latest trends in garden design. They will include the unique Conceptual Gardens, which push the boundaries of what gardens can be, and Low Cost High Impact Gardens, which will inspire green-fingered visitors with tips they can take home to improve their garden on a budget.
Some of the UK’s top nurseries will be displaying blooms of all colours and styles and the Rose Marquee will be a delight for all. Visitors will get tips for growing their own fruit and vegetables, as well as a host of shopping opportunities to buy everything from seeds and fresh produce to wellies and the latest gardening gadgets.
This year for the first time the show will be divided into three zones, featuring gardens, plants, food and shopping reflecting their individual themes. Keen gardeners will love Grow, where they will find nurseries, plants stalls, potting bench demonstrations, and stands selling the very best in gardening equipment. In Escape to the country visitors will find the Country Living Magazine Pavilion, learn how to ‘grow their own’ fruit and veg, marvel at the show’s famous roses and floristry and sample the delights of the Artisan Food Producers in the Great Tastes Marquee. In keeping with the show’s reputation for breaking boundaries in contemporary garden design, the third zone, Inspire, sponsored by Ecover, focuses on innovation and making the most of outside space.
This year’s highlights will include:
Gardens
This year’s 34 gardens will be inspired by themes as diverse as the three witches of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, seen in SRUS’s garden ‘The Witches of Macbeth’ and the threat of waste on the world’s oceans, an issue explored in ‘The Ecover Garden’. The gardens will also include Conceptual Gardens, which this year embrace the themes of both devastation and sustainability, and Low Cost High Impact Gardens, which will prove to visitors that great gardens with a wow factor can be achieved on a budget.
Growing Tastes
With a new look for 2013 visitors to the Growing Tastes Marquee will learn all they need to know about fruit, vegetable and herb growing, by getting advice from the very best growers. They will be able to buy delicious foods direct from the producers and there will be daily demonstrations from the School of Artisan Food, food and foraging demonstrations and growers proving great advice on successful fruit and vegetable growing.
Rose and Floristry Vintage Festival
Visitors to the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show love the Rose Marquee, with its beautiful colours and scents. This year’s theme is Vintage 50s, and events will include the launch of the Rose of the Year. There will be spectacular floristry displays from professionals, as well as from up-and-coming talent from floristry colleges.
Floral Marquee
The Floral Marquee will be home to around 95 top British nurseries whose awe inspiring displays of gorgeous blooms will dazzle visitors. New for 2013 will be two RHS Potting Benches where nursery specialists conduct hands-on demonstrations to pass on practical tips for visitors to take home.
Country Living Magazine Pavilion
Around 120 designers, craftspeople and producers will showcase original products, including furniture, garden accessories, handcrafted jewellery, stylish clothing, and arts and crafts.
Wildlife features
The show will feature the stunning RHS Butterfly Dome with Eden, a collaboration with the Eden Project, allowing visitors to get up close to a magnificent array of beautiful tropical butterflies. There will also be a display of native butterflies in ‘Bees and Butterflies’, a series of features, talks and activities to educate us about our garden friends. The Bee Garden and Marquee will also provide advice for how to support and entice important pollinators to gardens and demonstrate bee husbandry.
Top garden designers and celebrities at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
Ecover, sponsors of the Inspire zone, have tasked a number of horticulture and design personalities to design planters throughout the zone. Matthew Wilson, James Alexander, Pippa Greenwood and Jekka McVicar are amongst those doing some creative planting, with the finished planters being donated to community based projects after the show. Celebrities including Joely Richardson, Kate Humble and David Domoney have customised hen-houses, which will be auctioned off for RHS Campaign for School Gardening and for Country Living Magazine’s selected charity, the Addington Fund, which supports British farming.
Celebrity Speakers & Catwalk in Bloom Theatre, by Domoney Ltd and sponsored by Anglian Home Improvements
David Domoney will host a series of celebrity appearances and fashion shows in the Celebrity Speakers & Catwalk in Bloom Theatre. A different celebrity speaker will be present each day, with Bill Oddie, Kate Humble, John Craven, Linda Barker and Tim Wonnacott all appearing. There will also be five fashion shows daily. Horticulture has always offered inspiration for fashion, both in design and manufacture of clothing and accessories, and the theatre will showcase an inspiring collection of designs, including the best couture and off-the-peg fashion.
Fun for kids and families
The work of school students will be on show in the Schools’ Scarecrow Competition, where infant and primary school pupils from around the South East will present the scarecrows they have made and decorated according to this year’s theme of national costumes. A selection of the best garvinea plants grown by schools around the country will also be on display with a prize for the best. On the weekend, the Children’s Zone will include a ‘Sow and Grow’ feature, where children will be able to sow yarrow, decorate pots and made bumblebee hats, as well as having their faces painted and watch balloon modelling.
RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Exclusive Preview Evening
The Exclusive Preview Evening offers the opportunity to view the beautiful gardens and floral displays ahead of the show’s public opening, as well as the chance to sit back and enjoy live music with friends and family while enjoying a delicious sit-down meal or picnic, culminating in a spectacular firework finale. Tickets start at just £53 for RHS members (£63 for non-members).