The RHS Hampton Court Flower show is the largest in the world. Held in the idyllic riverside location of the gardens of Hampton Court Palace, it is always an event we look forward to within the horticultural calendar.

From Farm to Table

“We wanted to bring some of the magic of our Hampshire flower farm to Hampton Court this year,” says our event designer Hana, “so rather than making the props the stars of the show, we decided to let our beautiful, lovingly grown flowers do the talking.” At The Real Flower Company, we grow flowers as nature intended. Our roses have thorns (which are removed by hand when our bouquets are arranged and hand-tied) and also retain their scent gene, which ensures that they are beautifully scented. “What is unique about our flowers is that we nurture every stem from soil to vase,” says Hana. “Our flowers are grown on our farm then freshly picked before being delivered straight to your door.” A show like Hampton Court allows The Real Flower Company to introduce our wonderful, ethically grown roses to a wider public. “I even discovered that Mary Berry’s favourite rose is Chandos Beauty!” says Hana.

Scent Bar

Visitors to The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show gathered round our scent bar to smell our roses. We were blown away by the amazed reactions and enjoyed hearing visitors’ imaginative descriptions of the aromas. “Now I know what a real rose smells like” was a common remark. Our scented roses seemed to evoke so many powerful memories, from childhood gardens to wedding days. Chandos Beauty was described as having a “traditional heady English garden rose scent”, Peony Pink was said to be “exotic with spicy notes”, Vitality had “a fresh green scent” and Margaret Merril enticed people with its “exceptionally strong, sweet aroma”. Select roses are available to order as potted rose plants from our London flower shop.  scent bar

How to Grow Roses

Each year, our founder and leading horticulturalist Rosebie Morton shares her growing tips in a series of short talks in the Roses and Floristry Theatre. This year we shared an extract from Rosebie’s talk as a live Instagram broadcast. During the talk Rosebie hand-ties a bouquet, which is given as a prize to at the end of the talk. Sandy McKinley from Acre of Roses in Victoria, Australia, sent us this lovely note after this year’s event: “Rosebie, you are an absolute inspiration and rose icon!”hampton court flower show rosebie

Lovestruck for Rose of the Year

The recipient of the coveted title of Rose of the Year was unveiled at The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show. This year’s winner was Lovestruck (‘Dicommatac’), a cherry-red bush floribunda with a very light scent bred by renowned rose expert Colin Dickson. This prestigious prize, is awarded after two years of vigorous trials in a variety of soil and climate. The roses are judged on their shape, scent, abundance of flowers, health and how easy they are to care for. Also awarded a Gold Standard by the Royal National Rose Society, Lovestuck produces up to twenty blooms on each of its stems, was judged to be “exceptionally healthy”, meaning it requires little or no spraying, and has been known to flower right up to Christmas! If you like Lovestruck then take a look at our Summer Romance bouquet, which is filled with ethically grown and exquisitely scented red roses.

Best in Show

As The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show falls at the heart of the English flower season, it’s always a joy to be able to showcase the wonderful breadth of scented English roses, flowers, herbs and foliage we grow on our English flower farm. Wild flowers have proved so popular this year that we’ve added a Wild Flower Meadow Bunch to our collection for a limited period only. It’s available to order online for next-day nationwide delivery or from our London flower shop for same-day London delivery. Our Perfect Arrangers proved so popular at both The RHS Chelsea Flower Show and The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show that we’ve added them to our website (they are also available in our London florist). They make it easy and effortless to put together a stunning floral arrangement and are the perfect green alternative to floral foam.