This year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is another good show with plenty of interest for all visitors; from the giant scarecrow towering above the school children’s entries to the varied shapes and styles of the show gardens and the spectacular floral displays in the pavilions. The links with growing you own and cooking were in evidence with a full programme of demonstrations and talks by leading professionals. The number of gardening celebrities sharing their knowledge with visitors has increased with the large, and well furnished ‘RHS Celebrity Theatre’ There are the large number of sales stands with their  eclectic mixes of garden necessities and sundries, ornaments and structures.

While walking around during my visit on Monday's press day I saw many displays with plantings of wildflowers in mini meadows and perfect blooms in manicured floral displays but what court my eye were the slightly out of the ordinary design features and details in the gardens that created further interest for visitors, and the judges to spot.

Below are just a few images that made me take a second look.


Rowlawn’s delightfully impressive use of their quality turf in their ‘Freestyle Turf Sculpture’ The mowing may prove challenging, especially with a cylinder mower if strait lines are required, possibly a herd of guinea pigs would be more useful!


Another mowing challenge will be keeping the clippings, and the mower out of the black water triangle in another garden


Crisp lines in smooth stone around a blue water pool give a cooling effect in the Noble Caledonia garden ‘Spirit of the Aegean’ designed by Esra Parr.



Very large blue painted tubes in the SABO Oil garden called the ‘Circle of Life’ designed by Stefano Passerotti add dramatic effect to the curved earth coloured walls



 More round apertures, these are through a steel wall into a ‘field’ of maze made to look larger than it actually is with the optical illusion created by mirrors lining the inside walls.



All is not as it appears with James Wong’s reflection in yet another wall of mirrors, he was in fact standing beside me talking to an exhibitor.



With all the resources and skills of the garden designers and contractors, and their very creative use of a divers range of materials that are seen at the show it is also important to remember that nature still has the upper hand when it comes to design and function.

I would be interested to hear readers views of the 2015 Hampton Court show, please drop me a line or comment on our Facebook page.