Winning scarecrows
We are very pleased to announce the results of the first ever Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Scarecrow Competition. The winners were:
First (£300 garden centre vouchers): Claygate Primary School with Catherine Howard – The Ghost of Hampton Court!
Second (£200 garden centre vouchers): Newnham Infant and Nursery School with Mrs Metal
Third (£100 garden centre vouchers): Great Kingshill Church of England Combined with Joe Bay-Leaf
We would like to congratulate the winners, and thank all those who participated in this exciting competition.
School children open Dorset Cereals garden
School children from Beaucroft Foundation School open the Dorset Cereals garden
Children from Beaucroft Foundation School in Wimbourne, Dorset were on hand to open the Dorset Cereals Edible Playground garden on Monday. After the show, the garden will be transfered to a local Dorset school.
Making good use of the things that they find...
GuerrillaGardening.org recycled garden
GuerrillaGardening.org has made a garden entirely from leftovers! This truly recycled garden is planted in an old rubbish skip and all the plants and hard landscaping materials have come from other exhibitors at the show.
Read more about the construction of the recycled garden on the GuerrillaGardening.org blog
Gardens of plenty
Fruit and vegetables are under the spotlight at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this year, with many show gardens getting into the grow your own spirit.
Grow your own takes centre stage
There’s a fresh new feel to this year’s show with the delicious new fruit and vegetable themed feature, Growing Tastes. Filled to the brim with inspirational ideas for growing and cooking fruit and vegetables at home, visitors will leave with a wealth of tips and knowledge.
The Growing Tastes Marquee will house this year’s Summer Fruit and Vegetable Competition, where amateur growers display the best seasonal produce and are judged by the RHS. The Marquee also includes experts displaying a diverse range of edible produce.
Michael Balston has teamed up with RHS Garden Wisley to create the Growing Tastes garden, inspired by international cuisine - Asian, Mediterranean and traditional British.
It is all very well growing delicious things to eat in the garden, but it’s also great to know how to prepare and cook them. The Growing Tastes Food Demonstration Theatre in association with NS&I is taking the theme of international cuisine one step further. Top chefs and grow your own specialists will be cooking mouth-watering recipes and demonstrating a variety of ways to use different produce. D&D (previously named Conran Restaurants) are also returning to the show with leading chefs cooking up a feast using the best in-season produce.
Gardens and exhibits across the show will be filled with an abundance of fruit and vegetables. Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is set to whet the appetite and has something for every taste.
UK’s first authentic Thai floating market
A Thai floating market
For the first time an authentic Thai floating market will be brought to the UK by the Thai Tourist Board to create a spectacular feature at this year’s show. Fifteen boats, filled with an array of Thai goods - including spices, hats, herbs and silks - will be paddled around the Long Water to give visitors a true taste of Bangkok’s waterways.
The Thai Tourist Board will recreate a typical market, bringing the authentic Thai boats and an atmospheric Thai house façade over from Thailand. The waterborne vendors will also sell a range of Thai produce, from docked boats, while along the bank there will be traditional Thai music and activities.
Bob Sweet, organiser of the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show said: “We have never done anything like this at the show before and it promises to be an exceptional, far Eastern feature, brimming with ambiance, colour and a bustling atmosphere.
Blue Peter gardener launches Scarecrow Competition
BLUE PETER GARDENER LAUNCHES THE 2008 HAMPTON COURT PALACE FLOWER SHOW RHS SCARECROW COMPETITION
Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins joined forces with ‘Mr Scarecrow’ to launch the first Hampton Court Palace Flower Show RHS Scarecrow Competition.
The RHS is challenging primary schools from the southeast, who are registered with the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, to use recyclable and plant material to create their very own scarecrow to be judged at the show. Chris Collins said: “The Scarecrow Competition is a great way for kids to get creative and let their imaginations run wild, as well as encouraging them to get excited about gardening.”
Schools have been asked to send in a photograph of their scarecrow to the RHS and 20 successful entries will be invited to stage and be judged at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Entries that are not selected will have the photograph of their scarecrow displayed at the show.
The 20 scarecrows that make it to the show will be judged for an RHS medal with the scarecrows going on to be displayed at RHS Garden Wisley after the show. The closing date for entries is Monday 12 May and results will be announced at the show at 2pm on Monday 7 July.
The Scarecrow Competition forms part of the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, which aims to help every primary school in the UK provide their pupils with hands-on learning opportunities to grow plants and garden sustainably.
Schools can register to join the campaign by logging on to the website www.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening
Jekka McVicar ‘Grow-Your-Own Beauty’
One of the UK’s leading herb gurus, Jekka McVicar, is showcasing an organic garden at the show where she will educate and inspire visitors about the beauty benefits of organic herbs. With more than 20 years of grow-your-own herb experience, Jekka will give one-to-one personal consultations and provide visitors with the latest expert tips on grow-your-own beauty.
Jekka grows more than 600 varieties of herbs and makes her own beauty and medicinal products; a favourite includes her ‘Toning Face Pack’ with mantle, spearmint and mallow leaves to be used once or twice a week to tone the skin. At this year’s show, Jekka will be on hand with an abundance of great recipes and to give advice on alternative herbs to balance all skin types, from oily, dry and blemished to more mature skin.
