The world's biggest flower show gets under way this week as the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show opens to hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Taking place against the splendid backdrop of Henry VIII's handsome Tudor country residence, the show brings together the country's top designers and growers for a celebration of summer gardening.
This year you can look forward to spectacular tropical butterflies filling a huge biome of exotic plants, put together by the people behind the Eden Project in Cornwall. Top designer Chris Beardshaw is paying tribute to the wisdom of older people, while the ever-popular Conceptual Gardens feature, among other things, a pile of fridges and a garden funded by heavy rock band Metallica. Watch out, too, for Roman centurions on the march for a beautifully detailed exhibit about Roman food by Seeds of Italy in the Growing Tastes Marquee.
Other highlights include the Rose Marquee, full of scent and colour; and the wonderful Floral Marquee where almost 100 nurseries will be showing what they can do. Don't forget your notebook so you can capture all that inspiration for a visit to your favourite garden centre afterwards, so we can help you recreate it at home.
The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show runs from 9-14 July. www.rhs.org.uk/hamptoncourt.
