Ever since starting this blog I have been aware that some people feel I am not taking it very seriously. Well I suppose I haven’t. I have treated it as a bit of light relief…but no more. I have resolved to mend my ways and produce a down to earth blob full of interesting and useful horticultural enlightenment. The catalyst for this new and I hope improved attitude to all things virtually horticultural, is my return to Hampton Court for the second Quilted Velvet Garden of the summer. You might call it a new show resolution, but for the fact that for me, Hampton is an old friend of a show. Well, that’s honestly how it feels.
Although my first show garden was at Hampton in 2005, and this will only be my fourth year exhibiting, it seems like an eternity since that first build up, press day and show week. The reason I say that Hampton feels like an old friend is the enormous amount of hard work, stress, camaraderie, humour and emotion that has been packed into those 4 years.
Arriving to create another Quilted Velvet Garden in the middle of a deer park at 6.45am on Monday was a strange but pleasant experience. The park is all but empty on the first morning of build up; a very different animal indeed from the hyperactive Chelsea. Both shows have their attractions; foremost among them is the fact that they are so very different characters.
Talking of characters, that’s another thing that makes Hampton feel like an old friend. Soon after arriving on Monday I spotted a large yellow JCB in the distance. I wondered if its driver would be the same character who has been such a great help in creating my three, soon to be four, gardens at Hampton. The contribution of the ground crew is, I think, often undervalued by designers and exhibitors. (That should get me some brownie points!!!) Later in the day the yellow JCB appeared to help us remove the turf from our plot, and yes, it was that familiar friendly face I have come to trust and rely on when I am in a tight spot, (during the build up!) I am not going to use his name here for fear of causing embarrassment, but enough to say the cider is on me, same as last year. Cheers and thanks for everything Mr. Yellow JCB man.
So how am I doing, pretty sensible blob don’t you think? Whoops, I seem to have forgotten about the horticulture and toilet paper references. I promise to address those and other issues in my next post....