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Things you shouldn't miss at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2006
Festival of Roses
Held in its own marquee, which holds Britain’s largest annual gathering of roses in full bloom. Step inside and experience the sight and scent of thousands of roses under one roof. This is the place to see and buy the best quality roses from the UK’s top growers. Catch one of the talks and demonstrations throughout the week to help you get the best from your roses.
Every year, the Festival of Roses unveils several new roses including the Rose of the Year. Visitors to the 2006 show will be some of the first to see the Rose of the Year 2007.
Inspiring Spaces
Visitors to this year's Hampton Court Palace Flower Show can find some stimulating solutions for those problem spaces and tricky corners in the garden.
The RHS will be challenging garden centres and other professional organisations to create some stimulating solutions for awkward areas in a new show feature, Inspiring Spaces. Entrants will demonstrate creative ways to enliven areas such as a shady corner, a small front garden or an exposed balcony. Each Inspiring Space aims to offer new and inspiring ideas on the use of colour, texture, shape and plant choice to help rescue neglected areas.
NCCPG Plant Heritage Marquee
The NCCPG (National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens) Plant Heritage Marquee provides a wonderful opportunity for gardeners to see a selection of the ‘living plant libraries’: our National Plant Collections ©. Visitors can ask questions, seek advice and receive free growing and propagation notes from plant experts.
The theme for the NCCPG Plant Heritage Marquee in 2006 will be taken from The Growing Heritage Conference, held in the RHS Conference Halls on 5-6 April 2006. Inside the marquee, alongside National Plant Collection holders, will be two fascinating gardens, one ‘pre-1800’ and one ‘present day’, showing how our cultivated plants, and our plant hunters, have made such a difference to our gardens.
Water gardens
Water gardens are a unique category to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and reflect the event’s beautiful location beside the River Thames. The water gardens can be found on the north side of the famous Long Water Canal which runs across the showground.
Water gardens at the show have been of a consistently high standard and offer a wealth of planting techniques, colour schemes and designs for those who wish to create tranquil spaces and incorporate water into their garden. There will also be chances to buy aquatic plants direct from the water garden experts.
New garden designers set to broaden minds
The show will give visitors a chance to spot the next Diarmuid Gavin or Cleve West with the launch of a new garden category, ‘Conceptual Gardens’, showcasing the garden designers of tomorrow.
‘Conceptual Gardens’ will challenge design students to push the boundaries of garden design and express a high level of innovation and creativity to ‘wow’ visitors at the show. Four new designers will be selected to build their garden at the show and will be judged for an RHS medal in their first major public challenge.
In its early days, the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show was viewed as the place to see original and quirky garden design from new designers. Many who were regarded then as alternative, have gone on to become part of the gardening establishment. ‘Conceptual Gardens’ will provide a new seedbed for young talent who will be some of tomorrow’s big names in this field.
Each candidate will be given a grant of £6,000. Considering the design brief, this sets a tricky task for the students and prepares them for the kind of challenges they may face in their future careers. It also means that show visitors will find some ‘out of this world’ design ideas to copy at home without the astronomical budget!