Butterflies on Show at Hampton Court- 07.04.12
A little botanical inspiration from our London-based editor Justine Aw, who visited this year’s RHS Hampton Court, which is open to the public from July 3rd to 8th.
Butterflies featured prominently at this year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Two very different show gardens included butterflies in their displays, combining lepidoptera with the plants to communicate rather different messages!
Butterfly Jungles Transitions designed by Paul Allen, Lucy Hughesdon & Lydia Harvey and built by Shoots & Leaves. The beautiful garden works both as a garden and a habitat to support pollinators and which benefit both adult butterflies and their caterpillar. The garden features butterfly friendly planting such as wildflowers to prairie-style and exotic planting as well as a beautiful tropical glasshouse filled with exotic butterflies in a jungle-style habitat that is filled of nectar rich species as well as food plants.
Las Mariposas (Hopes of a Nicaraguan girl), an unusual garden designed by Robert Kennett and built by Greenhaven Landscapes focuses less on the entomology and more on the symbolism of butterflies, representing Amnesty International’s Butterflies of Hope campaign for women in Nicaragua, contrasting between the muted colors of the grasses surrounding the bright pink cube and the vibrant colors of the plants and butterflies within.
More photos of both of this year’s butterfly-featuring show gardens on the next page!
