Talkback: Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2011 - Talkback

04/07/2011 at 18:07

I bet no-one has thought to do a parasitic garden. I tend the Orobanche garden in the Bristol Botanic garden and find it so fascinating that I bore my friends by forever looking for broomrapes. They are as beautiful as orchids. A hemiparasitic garden could have the Indian paintbrush plant that grows all over the Rockies and the beautiful pedicularis species. Congratulations, James. I used to belong to the RHS but find the subscription a bit much nowadays - still read the mag. at the BG however. My garden and myself were profiled in it, many moons ago.

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07/07/2011 at 10:42

Congratulations James - so my vote must have counted! happymarion - I do like your idea of a parasitic garden. Perhaps you could persuade the BBG to participate in a show? Re your garden profile in The Garden - which edition? I regularly read your comments in these blogs & your garden sounds fascinating.

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07/07/2011 at 13:13

Chalkweed, I'll see if I can find out next week at the BBG. There was only one picture -of my clematis montana clambouring over my garage roof! The BBg puts on lots of demonstrations throughout the year in Bristol and of course we are open to the public. i came home early today as I am getting my own front garden ready for the Bristol in Bloom competition and givinga talk on alpines to the WI next week so needed to do my hand-outs for that. So glad you like my comments and I find my garden a great delight.

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08/07/2011 at 12:57

Well done from me too, James. Having been to HC on Tuesday i have to admit to being a little disillusioned.....it was ok but i felt like i had paid over £30 to go to a garden centre, the whole thing seemed to be about selling. Is it just me being cynical?

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09/07/2011 at 12:08

I have to agree with the above comment. I went yesterday after wanting to go for years and i was a bit disappointed too. Some of the gardens were interesting but other than that it was just shops. I actually enjoyed the bit of the Hampton Court Gardens the most. also the food was seriously overpriced, £2:00 for a small bottle of water - disappointing.

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09/07/2011 at 12:49

My goodness, Bronte, £2 for a drink of water!!! I have visited Hampton Court and toured the gardens and kitchen quarters and other rooms open to the public and it is a very nice day out. The show comes over well on the TV with the help of GW presenters so I shall be content with that. Researching and buying online for my garden is much more necessary for my garden requirements when the budget is tight and more prudent than impulse buying at a show.

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09/07/2011 at 13:53

Thankyou for agreeing i didn't want to come over all moany as I did enjoy the 4 hour ticket we had but as I was made redundant in Feb it did feel a bit elitist with prices. I'm glad I've finally been but I won't be rushing back. The Organic Garden centre at Yalding in Kent was better value at £4 a few years ago and I would love to go back again and again.

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09/07/2011 at 19:03

I do agree about the Hampton court gardens, aren't they lovely? As to the catering, we took a picnic of homegrown salads etc and tap water but bought some rather delicious (Purbeck?) ice cream which at £2 was not too overpriced. I did enjoy myself but when watching on tv i found myself wondering if i had been to the same show as everything looked so much better than in real life.

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09/07/2011 at 19:39

i went to hc on tuesday,i thought it was lovely and actualy i thought that there wasnt as many stalls as there normally is there,[a bit dissapointing as ive got to know some of them],however what i do think is a rip of is the parking....10pounds to park your car in the field when ive already paid 30plus pounds for my ticket to get into the show, plus i brought 3 bottles of water and 2 bags of crisps; just over 7.50..... what a joke.

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09/07/2011 at 20:15

Forty-seven pounds fifty plus petrol!!! That would buy a lovely Cornus officinalis online which would give you beautiful flowers in the spring and berries in the autumn and get better and better each year, daisy rose. What a lovely blog name!

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09/07/2011 at 22:25

Don't want to get bogged down in the price of water but we took our own picnic and drink. Unfortunately my husband didn't realise the squash was double concentrate and it was appalling so we wanted water to dilute it. at £2 though we grimaced and bore it. however redundancy focusses the mind and we got our RHS membership with tesco vouchers and the 4 hour ticket. train tickets for us booked way in advance worked out at £16 as opposed to £44 so it could be done a bit cheaper but I'd rather look at lots of plants and gardens than stalls as i'm on a budget. Well done to the Waitrose stand which was my stand out fave.

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11/07/2011 at 10:59

Seeing Hampton Court and considering Britain's interest in gardening makes me think that a National History of Gardens would be a great campaign for GW readers and the BBC team.This would include chronology of show gardens from periods in the past. It would be a national attraction and a repositary of plants,seeds and design. Anyone want to create a national lottery history bid here based on a area of high employment?>

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11/07/2011 at 16:12

We went to HC on Sunday - enjoyed the show apart from trying to avoid the numerous irritating plastic boxes on wheels that everyone seemed to be buying.

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11/07/2011 at 21:35

Went on friday wasent as big as i expected but enjoyed it . We see a man on one of the food stands turn a six round to a nine making a burger nine pounds now thats just silly!

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12/07/2011 at 07:58

Hampton was a great success this year and as always I couldn't resist from returning home clutching a new plant - http://blog.theenduringgardener.com/plants-to-take-home/ PS Well done on your appointment James.

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28/11/2011 at 18:43

Congrats on the appointment, James! Wish I could visit HCFS, but the mileage is a bit much, lol! Sounds like it will be a great one this year. Fungi - who'd of thought?

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