Family Action
If you’ve got the kids in tow, well done. There’s a lot at this amazing flower show to enthral, inspire and excite little green fingers of all ages. From the fabulous Scarecrow Competition, to the Family Trail designed to keep the kids amused – let them seek out the crocheted wheelbarrow, flowerpot, watering can and the rest of the tools within the showground. Give them a fresh challenge to discover the Lego insect eating plants in the floral marquee. It’s a fabulous take on Toyland to Wonderland by one of the nursery exhibitors and well worth seeking out. Carnivorous plants are a great gateway into gardening.
Floral Marquee
Whatever your tastes in plants you won’t fail to be completely and utterly wow-ed by every single display of plants inside the Floral Marquee. Especially when you consider the extreme challenges that the growers, plants and exhibitors have faced. You can buy a huge diversity of botanical wonders and if you trek down to the end, you can learn about some of our amazing NCCPG plant collections and heritage plants.
Dig In
There’s plenty of food for thought for the garden cook, the GYO’er and the kitchen gardener at this year’s show. It’s tucked away a bit, but seek out the Dig In Theatre where celebrity chefs will be cooking up some culinary delights. Check out the Dig In Marquee where you’ll find a mini Borough Market and a fabulous display of garden ingredients from evocative herbs, full of flavcur garlic and some amazing heritage vegetables from some of the leading experts in vegetables, herbs and edibles.
Iconic Horticultural Heroes
Let’s hear it for Dutch Landscape Designer Piet Oudolf, who is the 2018 Iconic Horticultural Hero for RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2018. It’s the first installation of this type and is a stunning spectacle with the backdrop of the Hampton Court Palace. Huge bold drifts of herbaceous perennials and grasses have been blended together to create a romantic scene of colour and texture.
Evolve: Through the Roots of Time
Find the dinosaur head and follow the evolutionary path of plants with this time-travelling display, housed inside a giant time capsule. Evolve: Through the Roots of Time starts with the barren landscape of the Cambrian period, some 500 million years ago and moves through the junglesque tropics of the more recent Jurassic era (just 200 million years ago) and into the nearer present day meadows that first bloomed in the more recent Cretaceous period, just 66 million years ago.
