I attended the Hampton Court Flower Show this year. It was an eye opening experience.
Although the Chelsea Flower Show is more famous, the Hampton Court Show is more popular among residents of Britain. It's easier to get to, there is more to see and the shopping is outstanding.
The price of admission is high, so I chose to visit after 3PM on Saturday, a day before the show closed. You can get reduced entry to the flower show after 3pm if you just want to look round it for a couple of hours. My ticket covered my visit until 730PM.
The show is held behind Hampton Court Palace, a short half hour train ride from London’s Waterloo station. The trip was covered by our London Travel Saver pass - good all around the center of London, too. Once at the Hampton Court train station, a walk across the bridge over the Thames, and a very long walk to the rear of the Palace grounds brought us to the entrance to the show. The crowds were enormous!
I have been to many flower shows, including the Philadelphia Flower Show, and I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like this.
I was happy that I had a ticket in advance, but tickets were available for purchase on the day itself. The queue to purchase tickets was long, but I walked right up to the "advance tickets" tent and got my ticket in seconds along with a "enjoy your day". The Brits are so polite.
Most of the show is indoors, under huge white tents. However, the paths between the tents are long, crowded and can be muddy, thanks to the rain over the past days. Rubber and metal padding had been placed on the walkways, but the crowds exceeded the size of the padding, and you often wound up in the watery mud. Bring boots or wellies, or better yet, buy some colorful ones at the show. The weather was sunny, but at times looked threatening. I brought an umbrella, but a a hooded rainjacket would be helpful, too.
The winding entrance paths lead you through the vendors stalls, including Pimms cup, sellers of goods of all types from flowers and plants to clothes and greeting cards, food and cooking supplies. All were were sold in large tents on in small kiosks. The variety was astounding, and we had not reached the exhibits yet.
The displays of gardens, however, left something to be desired. A climate tent, cooking tents, and flower filled tents did not seem very imaginative. Awards were given for Show gardens & water gardens, Small gardens, Conceptual gardens, Inspiring spaces, Floral marquees, Festival of Roses, Plant Heritage, Growing Tastes and the International Language of Flowers. One winner was an
Edible Playground. The Thai water garden was a small replica of the Floating Market outside on Bangkok. A few signature gardens were simple and modern. A thatched roofed stone country house that was a prize giveaway was the most interesting exhibit, to me. I cannot say I came away with many new ideas for my own little patch of earth, but I enjoyed looking, nonetheless. You could not get right up to all the exhibits without needing to queue or have people in the way all the time, unfortunately.
I was more inspired by the garden benches and arbors, hanging hyacinth baskets, garden ornaments and all sorts of things for the outdoors. The array of plants for sale was astounding. I secretly wished I lived in Britain. Many were leaving with huge rolling carts, filled with all sorts or tall, striking unusual plants. Shepherds crooks, festooned with colorful metal butterflies and natural hanging baskets were best sellers, too, it seemed. As a resident of the US, I could not buy anything live, and bring it back home. Instead, I bought some seeds, gardening supplies and flower filled cards. I think I have garden envy.
It was very, very crowded. In brief moments of rain, there was a mad dash to the tents. The sheer volume of people there made moving forward impossible. One good thing is that the Brits do not push and shove. I was captive in a crowd trying to make its way down the aisle in the Town and Country tent for a good few minutes. The pokey people simply did not move! I was too exhausted and frustrating to buy much there, although the offerings were very tempting.
A tip - It is a good idea to take food with you, however the crowds mean its not feasible to carry a big bag with you.. For those weary show-goers in need of a respite from the crowds, and from standing, there is never enough seating. There are very few seats at the flower show - only at cafes and bars so if you need to sit down you'll have to buy something to eat or drink, too. A diet coke was almost $4.00 US.
I barely had the strength to walk back to the train station after 3 hours walking around the show, but I was able to geta seat on the train back to town, so I was a happy camper.
Would I go again - yes, but I think I would pay extra for the early-in- the- day ticket. I understand it is far less crowded.
Get tickets online
www.rhs.org.uk
