This year, the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, the world's biggest flower show, was celebrating its 25th anniversary in the beginning of July. I though, it might be a good reason to stop and had a look at some of the gardens it presented a bit closer. Time flies and flower only last a few days but they are great places packed with inspiring ideas to use in our gardens throughout the year. So lets start with one of my favourite garden, the City Twitchers ( Summer Gardens category ) designed by Sarah Keyser and built by Living Landscapes.
It is a beautiful mix of rustic ( wicker ) with stylish ( white and green colour scheme ), all brought together by a modern, well-structured design with sharp and clean hard-landscaping. It looks like a well designed garment, very feminine and elegant. This is a bird-watching environment for any fashion-conscious lady indeed and yet, very relaxed and nature-friendly.
The circular paving stones are made of Egyptian limestone from London Stone and accompany a round pond planted with waterlilies. It's dark water surface contrast beautifully with the pale grey stones. Camomile and sedum planting are used instead of a grass lawn, providing a low-maintenance, drought-resistant ground-cover. It is also pollinator friendly.
Spherical willow nest bird hide in Living Landscapes: City Twitchers garden at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2015. Design: Sarah Keyser, Coucou Design
WHITE PLANTING
A very effective and stylish way of creating impact in your garden is to use a simple colour scheme, like the classic white border, emphasizing textures. Plants with variegated or silver foliage like Lamium maculatum 'White Nancy', Hosta 'Fire and Ice' or Eryngium giganteum, help to bring the white and green scheme together. Romantic white Roses, bring the famous Sissinghurst Gardens to mind. In the photo: tall and upright foxgloves, white heads of Hydrangea macrophylla, Campanulla persicifolia 'Alba' white bells, delicate Descampsia cespitosa grass and green balls of Allium, combined together in a stylish, texture reach border.
WICKER
Wicker sin the garden might look elegant and indeed it does here. Both the hide and the raised bed look elegant and stylish, like some fashionable accessories to wear with your garment.The focal point of the garden is the spherical willow bird hide, created by Carole Beavis, furnished with Lorna Syson's cushions for comfort.
White Astrantia Astrantia major 'Star of Billion', Cimicifuga racemosa and Allium tuberosum in front of spherical woven willow bird hide with bench - Living Landscapes 'City Twitchers' Garden, RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2015. Designed by Sarah Keyser. CouCou Design
Just a short note on technical matters. The first photo was taken with Nikon D800 and Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 lens and the remaining photos were taken with Nikon D800 and Zeiss Macro Planar f/2 lens and a tripod Feisol.