Gorgeous garden categories
Discover why Hampton Court Palace Flower Show really is the gateway to gardening as you explore this year's garden categories
The glorious gardens at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show are always popular, and 2017 showcased five categories, from simple Flower and Vegetable Boxes to the elaborate Show, Conceptual and World Gardens. In addition, and new for Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, the category Gardens for a Changing World explored how we need to adapt our gardens for the future.
Show Gardens
This year, we had an open theme for the Show Garden category. With three different sizes of plots available, talented designers were allowed to turn their artistic plans into a feast for the eyes, and the gardens generated plenty of interest.
Discover the Show Gardens
Conceptual Gardens
The inspirational Conceptual Gardens offer designers the chance to push the boundaries of what defines a garden. Selected for impact, theatre and originality, the designers used their creativity to the full. No theme is set for these gardens, so they are limited only by the designer’s imagination.
Gardens for a Changing World
The new category, Gardens for a Changing World, reflected the more sustainable direction that gardening is taking worldwide. Designers were put on the front line of the planting war against urbanisation, asking them to demonstrate new solutions, highlight important issues such as climate events, and place nature and the environment at the centre of modern lifestyles.
World Gardens
World Gardens bring alive the best in design from across the globe, tantalizing show visitors with tastes of the exotic and offering unrivalled opportunities to promote the horticulture and gardens from destinations around the world. For 2017, World Gardens were expanded with several different garden display options.
Flower and Vegetable Boxes
These exhibits have a focus on plantsmanship and offer a simple format for creating stunning displays with more limited resources. Flower Boxes and Vegetable Boxes are 3m x 3m (10ft x 10ft) plots and provide a small flexible plot for demonstrating the very best in plants, planting and planting design on any theme.
Three Flower Boxes were on display: Litchborough Gardening Club who celebrate the South Northamptonshire countryside with Duet in A. majus - a representation of the double aspect of wellbeing and happiness. Esher Mosely Garden Society brought their suburban garden borders with Centenary Celebration, along with Albion Public House and their community-based Restful Recycling.
There were two vegetable box gardens to see at the show: Walton Charity with their Walton Community Allotment and A Garden on a Shoestring by Abbey Physic Community Garden.
