A Flower Show Fit For A Palace
The 2016 Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, is the world’s largest – and one of the most prestigious, annual flower shows. Held within the magnificent splendour of the grounds of historic Hampton Court Palace, the show is vast but every bit as creative and colourful as its counterpoint, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
This was my first visit (though I go to Chelsea each year) and I simply wanted to share with you some of my images and highlights from this year’s show.
As always with any major show of this kind, my advice is to get there well before the gates open – though Hampton Court’s show does have more space and you can actually walk around many of the Show Gardens.
For the technically minded, all images were shot on a Fuji XT-1 and processed and lightly edited in Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC.
Enjoy.
Michael.
These first two images are of the brilliantly creative, yet simple, World Vision Garden – a Gold Medal Winner.
Another Gold Medal Winner – The Near Future Garden featured intriguing wooden sculptures representing the sun, wind and water.
The Japanese Summer Garden – a Silver Medal Winner, is very tranquil and elegant. Three important philosophies in Japanese garden design are represented here – ‘Simplicity’, ‘The Beauty of Shadow’ and ‘Asymmetry’.
A Silver Gilt Medal Winner, Striving for Survival is a striking and thought-provoking garden that aims to raise awareness of cancer survival rates.
Our Lives in Time’s Hands won a Silver Gilt Medal. The giant wave was hand-crafted from more than 500 pieces of steam-bent wood, and represents the passing of the moment – inspired by Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60.
Plenty of encouragement and inspiration for everyone to get into their own garden! And from some illustrious figures too!
The RHS Greening Grey Britain campaign was being supported at Hampton Court Palace. It aims to tackle the growing number of grey spaces and turn them into beautiful green places!
Yet another Gold Medal Winner, the conceptual Rolawn: Why? garden depicts the complexity and wonder of the universe and human brain.
We’ve all been there!
The Dogs Trust – A Dogs Life Garden won a Gold Medal for its garden celebrating its 125th anniversary and marks the charity’s commitment to finding new, loving owners for thousands of homeless dogs every year.
A Breath of Fresh Air – a Silver medal Winner, this sensory garden celebrates 60 years of The Abbeyfield Society, the design has created a calming space for older people, specifically those living with dementia.
A stunning Calla Lily is my final image from the show…
All images © Michael David 2016
