Stock up: the best garden shopping at Hampton Court Flower Show 2018

Hampton Court Flower Show is a shopping spree for gardeners.

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Alex Mitchell6 July 2018

Gardening’s catwalk is Chelsea Flower Show, while gardening’s bustling bazaar is RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, running all this week in the grounds of Surrey’s riverside palace.

There are plenty of show gardens — but the shopping is just as big a draw.

Plants, pots, parasols, garden furniture, pizza ovens and gadgets beckon from acres of trade stands showcasing the latest outdoor trends.

With show discounts, and trolley porters on hand to take your haul to the car park, resistance is probably futile.

Here are a few highlights:

GOTTA HAVE IT

Find refuge from a heatwave at the Kasakosa Homeware stand, where brightly coloured, embroidered Indian garden parasols are this year’s summer garden party must-have (£325; kasakosa.com).

Kasakosa Homeware parasols: this year's summer garden party must-have

Add bean bags from Armadillo Sun (£199.99; armadillosun.com) and check out the Delivita pizza ovens on the Garden House Design stand (from £1,200; gardenhousedesign.co.uk), and you’re sorted.

Plant pot connoisseurs will love the beautiful salvage glazed planters from Distinctive Garden (from £125; distinctivegarden.co.uk).

House plant-loving millennials will be flocking to PotNotch for a nifty take on the hanging planter (from £12 for two; potnotch.co.uk) and the slug and snail-afflicted might want to visit The Slug Bell stand for a handy metal gadget to keep pests off your plants (£14.99; slugbell.com).

Find mini greenhouses and cold frames at Alitex (alitex.co.uk).

Lust after snippers and secateurs at Felco (from £15.40; worldoffelco.co.uk), while Nick Roberson Stone Carving can create a stone bust based on your own head — now that’s a focal point (robersonstonecarving.co.uk).

STOCK UP ON PLANTS

Unusual herbs, succulents and cacti are temptingly easy to take home on the train. Hooksgreen Herbs, Simply Succulents and Ottershaw Cacti are worth seeking out.

For lupins, head to Oscar Plants, and for something new see the So Cool series in pale blue at salvia specialist Dyson’s, plus two new crocosmia at Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants.

And don’t miss the scent and colour overload in the Festival of Roses marquee.

What to see at Hampton Court Flower Show

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For a bit of bite, in the Floral Marquee find Hampshire Carnivorous Plants for giant North American pitcher plants that look like something from Avatar.

The UK’s biggest display of carnivorous plants is packed with sticky sundews and venus flytraps to eat bluebottles in the house, while pitcher plants will even grow outside and eat wasps bothering your barbecue guests.

You can grow food even in tiny spaces, as shown by Borough Market Kitchen Garden (boroughmarket.org.uk) and Franchi Seeds (seedsofitaly.com) with a barrow planted with veg from chickpeas and broccoletti to borlotti beans and Alpine spinach. You can get the seeds on the stand.

SHOW GARDENS TO INSPIRE

From the plunge pool and sauna in the Viking Cruises Nordic Lifestyle Garden, to The Landform Garden Bar for that home-from-work gin, the show gardens are full of neat ideas for London gardeners.

The Green Lung Garden shows how to soften paved urban gardens with planting.

Secured by Design focuses on deterring intruders with rotating pergola bars, prickly plants and hard-to-climb columnar trees.

The Family Garden by Lilly Gomm is a wildlife-friendly space, while Alexandra Noble’s Health & Wellbeing Garden celebrates edible and medicinal herbs.

There’s a trip around the UK in the BBC Countryfile 30th Anniversary Garden by Ann-Marie Powell, and Polly Wilkinson’s conceptual A Very Modern Problem garden with a giant model smartphone, highlights the perils of social media.

RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show runs until Sunday. Visit rhs.org.uk to book tickets.