Show gardens announced at Hampton Court

The themes of seven sins, community and Australia all feature in the list of show gardens at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2014

From the seven deadly sins, to the wilds of Australia – there’s plenty to look forward to in the show gardens at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this year.

Conceptual gardens

Each of the seven conceptual gardens is themed around one of the seven deadly sins. Rachel Parker Soden is creating a garden with a theme of lust, re-contextualising the flower show garden as a brothel in its own red light district and the flower show visitor as a voyeur.

Nilufer Danis’s design for wrath has been inspired by the instability of an eruptive volcano.

Marcus Green’s beautiful meadow planting has at its centre an artificial representation of the perfect lawn, depicting the sin of envy, while Sarah Jane Rothwell and Joan Ma Roig’s greed design depicts a confessionary and invites the viewer to consider the analogy between judge and sinner.

Katarina Rafaj’s gluttony garden focuses on the sin of food waste in a world where millions of people are starving, and Sheena Seeks is creating a sloth-inspired design.

Finally, Amanda Miller is creating a design symbolising pride. The conceptual gardens at Hampton are often thought-provoking, inspiring and often controversial and this year looks no different.

Community theme

Linking with the community theme at the show this year, the Monday Morning Club from Thetford in Norfolk is creating a show garden inspired by Thetford and its surrounding area, while Jeni Cairns is designing a community horticultural and arts space for Metal called ‘A Space to Connect and Grow‘.

Looking further afield, former RHS Chelsea Flower Show designer Jim Fogarty is designing a garden called ‘Essence of Australia‘ that recreates the feel of the Australian Garden at Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens. And World Vision is presenting the last of its trilogy of gardens inspired by the 30th anniversary of the Ethiopian famine – ‘The World Vision Garden‘.

Visitors can walk through the Jordans Cereals wildlife-themed garden designed by Selina Botham, and admire Rebecca Govier’s abstract legacy-themed design for Macmillan Cancer Support.

If you like contemporary gardens, look out for the bird’s nest-inspired modern garden for Ollies Place that will feature a Perspex cube, and Vestra Wealth‘s contemporary summer design.

Coolings Garden Centre is celebrating its centenary with a woodland-style garden.

Summer gardens

The summer gardens includes a design from the Bounce Back Foundation, which gives ex-offenders a second chance, while Horticolous has chosen to depict part of a country estate.

Children’s charity the NSPCC looks back over four eras of helping children since 1884, and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) join forces to show back gardens that include features and good connections for hedgehogs.

Finally, Jonathan Marks’s contemporary garden celebrates the launch of his garden design business.

More information about this year’s gardens, including images and descriptions, will be available on this website shortly.