Trends in outdoor living featured
at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
By Lorraine Flanigan
 

Judging by the gardens that stopped the show at Hampton Court Palace during this year’s Royal Horticultural Society flower show which ran from July 6 to 11, the division between indoor and outdoor living space is becoming more difficult to distinguish. At an event that has become the largest of its kind in the world, many of the show gardens set up on the grounds of one of Britain’s most lavish royal palaces featured all the comforts of home in an outdoor garden setting designed for dining, entertainment, relaxation and renewal.

In the gold medal-winning garden entitled, A Woman’s Sanctuary, gliding screens inspired by traditional Japanese architecture transformed inner rooms into garden oases while sliding windows framed ever-changing views of pastel-coloured flowerbeds. A feminine design sponsored by perfumer, Anais Anais and Good Housekeeping Magazine, this tranquil outdoor living space was created with the lifestyle of contemporary women in mind. Fragrant jasmine vines and lilies scented the air while pink bouganvillea and dahlias dotted a landscape softened by ferns and grasses. The living space also featured natural wicker lounge chairs and comfy, woollen throws and pillows.

In contrast to the femininity of A Woman’s Sanctuary, designer Jane Mooney created a starkly contemporary outdoor living space entitled, Movement and Style. The Silver Flora award-winning garden was designed on a grid of moveable structures that made the most of space in a small urban garden. A sleek curtain of water trickled down steel chains to provide privacy on a patio where a brushed steel dining table hung suspended by a folding trellis, ready to be whisked away to transform the space into an after-dinner refuge planted with architectural grasses, ferns and bamboos.

In The Summer Cocktail Garden, one of 23 small space garden designs, bold, vibrantly coloured plants such as Crocosmia, Canna and Kniphofia served to uplift spirits at the end of the day in a lively garden ripe for entertainment and celebration. A built-in glass table framed in wood stood suspended above a stone terrace, and comfortable benches offered plenty of room for social chit-chat.

Another small garden entitled “Renew” featured bright red flowers and plants with bold textures that were chosen to energize and revitalize a weary homeowner seeking refuge from a busy day. The shocking reds of plants like Coreopsis ‘Limerock Ruby’ and Sedum spurium ‘Fuldaglut’ were echoed in the scarlet-coloured oversized cushions that rested on the natural wooden deck. A stark white canvas sail shaded the deck and a small wood-fired brazier stood ready to take the chill off late summer evenings.

As much a showcase for new products as for landscape trends, the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show featured over one hundred exhibitors who set up shop throughout the grounds, their marquees overflowing with novel ideas for outdoor living. Booths exhibiting elaborate barbecues fitted with rotisseries, woks and utensil racks stood next to raised platforms displaying dining sets in a wide range of materials designed to withstand outdoor weather. Garden seating took all sorts of shapes, from ’60s inspired suspended egg-shaped swings made from recycled copper to traditional garden benches built of acid-washed galvanized metal. Gazebos and outdoor “rooms” were also on display, including ones with thatched roofs and others with sleek glass walls. A “treeless” tree house supplied the ultimate in outdoor living – a garden getaway where a basket on a pulley provided only a slender lifeline to reality.

Lorraine Flanigan is a Toronto-based garden writer.