Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

This week sees Britain's largest flower show at Hampton Court. It is ENORMOUS! You are hard pushed to go all the way around in just one day. A stout pair of walking boots and regular refreshments are called for. Matron stopped for afternoon tea at the Palace Tea Rooms.

I was thrilled to see so many talented artists and sculptors a the show. I dare not buy anything precious for my London garden, thefts in suburban gardens are frequent and brutal. I would have loved this little robing sitting on a fork! The Grow Your Own area at the show demonstrated how you can position colourful vegetables in your flower border!! grrr. Certainly very pretty and ingenious. But I am left wondering whether there is a class issue here? Perhaps having a beautiful mixed border in your garden is seen as the preserve of the middle and upper classes, and the productive allotment is seen as the preserve as the working class man! Am I raising a contentious issue here?

You can pop in a few cabbages, swiss chard, pak choi or purple climbing beans in your flower border. I wonder if this is what new gardeners aspire to when they make the decision to try and grow their own veggies at home? The GYO Marquee however was fantastic!

My old friends from The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight were appropriately rewarded with a RHS Gold Medal for their display.

A beautiful display and demonstration on how to string garlic. If you ever find yourself on the Isle of Wight, be sure to take a visit and try their unusual 'garlic ice cream'....

Experienced visitors to the Hampton Court show came prepared with these wheeled boxes to carry home their purchases! They were a bit of a nuisance among the crowds, I very nearly tripped over several times.

Anyway, Matron kept her purchases to a minimum. A wonderful selection of stalls and shops on display here. Tasteful and interesting.

This purchase was right up my street! I saw it and knew straight away I had to have it!