On Friday, 7 July 2000, eleven of us drove to London early in the morning. After parking the van and getting settled, three of us ventured to the Hampton Court Flower Show held next to the grounds of the Hampton Court Palace. This show is second only to the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show in Britain. It is a major event and it provides an interesting view of the British passion for plants and gardens. The first impression of the show is clearly illustrated by the images above and below: massive numbers of people! The huge crowd turned this experience more into a people-watching and -eavesdropping event than a major horticultural activity. Though we were pressed for time and could not give the show its due, the experience was wonderful (but not one I would rush to repeat!). The show contained every imaginable plant and garden 'stuff' (tools, pergolas, greenhouses, ornaments, pots, fertilizer, etc, etc, etc.).
Above: What would a British flower show be without a rose garden? There was a gigantic tent dedicated entirely to roses. I could show pictures of wonderful roses, but frankly, the people were more interesting!
Above: The lines for walking through some of the display gardens were a bit long so I again decided that the conversations about plants and the expressions on the visitors was worth a look.
A plant creche (above) was new to me, but in typical English fashion, make perfect sense. Why cart around all the plants you've bought while you look for more things?
One of the most interesting tents contained nurseries that specialized in collecting narrow groups of plants as part of a national preservation scheme. This is the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens; the organization specializes in conservation of species and cultivars of all sorts of plants from carnivorous Sarracenia (at right) to delightful Sempervivum (below), to Abelia, to Zelkova and everything in between.
