Reckless Gardener - Online Gardening Magazine, - Hampton Court Flower Show 2006

Lovely lavenders ensure a purple haze this summer

It's drought-tolerant, it's a wildlife magnet, it's pure aromatherapy, it's even edible - is lavender the best shrub that you could plant this summer? Garden designers at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (4-9 July) seem to think so with the fragrant plant appearing in several of the show gardens.

At the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) show, follow your nose to The Mayor of London's 'Sunshine Garden', designed by Paul Stone, which will feature a lavender hedge along with a drought-tolerant vegetable bed, chamomile lawn and Mediterranean plants to demonstrate that you can have a beautiful garden without using lots of water. For 'The Homebase Living Room' garden, Phillip Osman has used lavenders for their colour and fragrance in the sanctuary area of his 'outdoor room' combining them with irises, alliums and foxgloves. Downderry Nursery from Kent will be creating 'Lavender Fields' a sweeping lavender display at the entrance to the Daily Mail Garden Pavilion comprising 700 plants of Lavandula x intermedia ‘Grosso’. Downderry Nursery will also be selling lavenders throughout the week in the Floral Marquee.

Guy Barter, Head of the RHS Advisory Service, said, "All gardeners should be looking to minimise mains water use wherever possible whether facing water shortages or not. Establishing drought-tolerant plants helps you do this from the outset. Lavender, once burdened with an old-fashioned image, is now on the rise again as it does well in dry conditions and has a multitude of uses. Lavenders usually thrive in any well-drained garden soil where they get plenty of sun. They are mostly problem-free and look after themselves but they appreciate pruning in late summer, after flowering, to keep them compact."

Visitors to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show will be able to meet Guy and his colleagues from the RHS Advisory Service at the show for one-to-one advice, usually a service reserved for RHS members, on any gardening query.

For tickets to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, call the ticket hotline on 0870 906 3791 (public line) or 0870 906 3790 (RHS Members). Tickets range from £12.50 to £29 with children aged 5-15 years £5 and under-5’s going free. For further show information and online booking visit www.rhs.org.uk/flowershows.