Posted on by susurrus

Floral Lookbook: RHS Hampton Court 2018

Single hollyhock with cream flowers and bold purple eye
A. Alcea rosea ‘Halo Cream’ with foxgloves
Coral coloured agastache with companion flowers
B. Agastache ‘Kudos Coral’ with Scabiosa ‘Barocca’, Agapanthus ‘Navy Blue’ and Achillea ‘Terracotta’
Double pink hollyhock with foxgloves
C. Alcea rosea ‘Apple Blossom’ with foxgloves
White agapanthus with ornamental grass and richly coloured flowers
D. White agapanthus with ornamental grass, achillea, scabiosa, daucus corata and helenium
Foxglove with pale peach flowers, and darker spots
E. Digitalis ‘Dalmation Peach’ with hollyhocks in the background

Flower combination F
F. Agastache ‘Summer Glow’ with Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’, achillea, scabious, digitalis parviflora and grasses
Pale pink roses with deep pink rosebuds
H. Rosa ‘Gentle Hermione’ with Rosa ‘Young Lycidas’ buds
Pink achillea with coral coloured hyssop
I. Achillea ‘Pretty Belinda’ with Agastache ‘Kudos Coral’ and Salvia ‘Blue Note’
Slender brown foxglove with colourful flowers
J. Digitalis parviflora with Achillea ‘Terracotta’, Scabiosa ‘Barocca’, Agastache ‘Summer Glow’, Salvia ‘Blue Note’ and grasses
White hollyhock with bold blush stain around a yellow centre
K. Alcea rosea ‘Halo Blush’ with digitalis and cleome
Cream flowers with arching grasses
L. Cream coloured scabiosa with ornamental grass, hyssop, scabious and achillea
Spotted pink foxglove with verbena bonariensis
M. Spotted pink digitalis with verbena bonariensis

It’s hard to beat the RHS Flower Shows when it comes to finding combinations of flowers that make your heart soar. At an event like this, everyone will see many of their personal favourites on display, together with a plentiful supply of new plant varieties and planting ideas.

Here’s my floral lookbook of images of cottage garden style plants, gleaned from the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2018. I hope I’ve included some of your favourites and that you’ll enjoy the soft, warm and heady colour combinations.

If you’re planning to visit the show, most of these were taken in the Floral Marquee: on the Botanic Nursery display (A,C,E,G,K); on Todd’s Botanics’ display (B,D,F,I,J,L) and on Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants (M). To see David Austin Roses (H) call in at the Festival of Roses Marquee.

48 Replies to “Floral Lookbook: RHS Hampton Court 2018”

  3. 🙂 You keep finding the most beautiful flowers on the planet to post about.

    Nicely done, Susan!

    1. I can’t really claim much credit for finding them – being at the biggest flower show in the world gives a big advantage!

    1. It’s such a joy to be able to see so many plant combinations under one roof. If I had a magic wand, everyone who loves flowers would have time to pick out their own favourites there.

  8. The combinations of blooms are truly glorious. I’m very fond of Agastache as it’s very tough and grows well in my garden and you’ve included two that I haven’t heard of. I don’t think ‘Summer Glow’ is available here at all. Thanks for posting the photos, Susan.

    1. I pleaded with my sweetheart to plant one of the apricot ones in his Mississippi garden when I saw it for sale over there and it survived. A. ‘Summer Glow’ and A. ‘Kudos Coral’ are both new to me. It might sound daft, but they were the stars of the show for me – and that’s saying a lot.

  9. Wonderful color combinations and lovely photos. I always admire anyone who knows the names of so many flowering plants. 🙂

    1. The flowers are well labelled at the show, but the trouble is having the discipline to record their names at the time, especially when there are a lot of flowers in shot (and even more flowers waiting to be taken, out of shot!). In practice, it’s a blend of some plants I know, some I can look up afterwards and some I really have to take a picture of the label.

    1. Thanks Derrick. I’m always attracted by colours but I wanted to capture the movement in some of these plant combinations too.

  12. I’m hyperventilating here. For one thing, hollyhocks are among my very, very favorites, and that one full-faced “Halo Cream” is absolutely what hollyhocks are about, though I can’t help noting the rudeness of the bloom on the right, trying to shove in. And let’s not forget hollyhock buds — so handsome! Speaking of which, there’s “Young Lycidas” peeking around “Gentle Hermoine” — elegant and sneaky all at once! I’m a sucker for anything white in a garden, so the white agapanthus did me in — and what a gorgeous photo! But all of these lifted me up. Thank you!

    1. I’m not convinced that morning coffee and hyperventilation is the perfect combination, though I’m sure you’ll assure me it is! I was fairly breathless when I saw all the hollyhocks too – and the agastaches. I liked the contrast of the white agapanthus with the rich, dusky, sunset colours in the background. I took another shot that was more evenly exposed, but preferred the contrast in the one I chose.

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