The beginning of July kicks off with another of the RHS flower shows - this one at Hampton Court. When I asked Amy if she was going to this show, she replied that she’d thought better of it, because it’s always so very hot there and there is very little shade.

When I arrived at “the tradesman’s entrance” on Monday morning though, it was anything but hot. In fact, it was hard to believe it was July.

That tiny patch of blue in the otherwise leaden skies offered a little hope for later, but for now, I was pleased of my jacket as I made my way though the backstage area, past the piles of compost and the rubbish skips.

One sign caught my eye, however. Musicians?

A glimpse of the costumes hanging up alongside prompted a memory from this morning’s news reports however. Can it really be twenty five years since we saw The Lion King in its opening season?

The sounds of engines and reversing beeps caught my attention though as one of the stewards sighed “I don’t know how some of these guys got a driving licence!” I carefully made my way though to safety.

The overcast morning meant that all the lights were on as I went through the floral marquee, not that it made a great deal of difference.

Regular readers will know the drill here - there are bridges over the Long Water. A young steward standing on this bridge was shivering.

I don’t think a fine view of the Palace really makes up for wearing an extra layer and a warm fleece though.

Anyway, on through the show ground to the RHS “base camp” right over on the far side of the park. The film crews were already working, getting in their shots before the public opening at 10am.

I took the chance to take a look at some of the show gardens along the way. This one is the Sounds of Adventure garden and I quite liked the black decking and small sanctuary across the bridge.

Then I turned the corner and suddenly I was in Oregon

which for the purposes of the show, was right next door to South Carolina, because here was a garden inspired by Charleston.

Lovely though the thought of Charleston was, I had coffee on my mind…and maybe a bacon butty?! I was - as usual - very early for our team meeting, so enjoyed the peace and quiet for a while until one by one, my team mates arrived. We work in teams of three, with a different combination of colleagues at each show but whoever I’m with, their company is fun and we are all working from the same schedule.

We - the blue team - set off to find the starting point for our assigned route. We had a list of thirty-odd tradestands to assess and with the RHS criteria in hand we were ready to start work.

Along the way, we came across those sights which lift the tradestand assessors hearts…beautiful planting, well thought out to enhance the product but also remarkably attractive in its own right. We ask ourselves, if the product is taken away, what remains? Well, here, for example, quite a lot!! (But that’s not always the case…)

This is a flower festival however, and it’s good to see products displayed in a garden setting.

In some cases, I make a mental note to return and take another look later, for when we’re assessing, we can’t really stop and chat to the maker, ask questions and take time to work out “how would this look in my garden?”

And so we move on, sharing a smile with one stallholder, in whose shed/store we spot an amusing sign 😉

Another smile at the next stand, where the planting designer has really aimed high by placing some planting in a surprising place.

Not only had they planted their ladder, the little patches of moss, carefully placed around planters and in the cracks between stones was lovely. Such attention to detail!

That patch of blue sky hadn’t become any larger and reaching the last couple of stands on our list, the thought of a hot coffee was very tempting. The trouble was, almost everyone on the show ground was having a similar thought - the Pimms and the Champagne and Cocktail bars were empty, but the queues for coffee…enormous! One of my team mates had a brilliant suggestion however: let’s head for our lunch venue early! A quick phone call and off we went, heading for the usual Italian restaurant where we knew the coffee would be good and where we wouldn’t have to stand in a long queue either.

A couple of hours later, fortified by not only coffee but Risotto Funghi, Gelato and a couple of glasses of something red and delicious, we returned to the show ground. After a quick check that we’d completed our schedule, we went our separate ways, each with one or two stands we wanted to visit.

“See you at Chelsea!” (good grief!)

I had another look at the water sculptures, made a couple of small purchases and with aching feet, felt it was time I was making my way home. I had a couple of hours drive ahead of me and the traffic would only get worse from now. The two women walking in front of me were weary too and their conversation echoed my thoughts exactly!

I hadn’t noticed the “left luggage” area of the flower show before - quite a useful facility as long as one didn’t forget how much was already there before buying a whole lot more to carry back to the car!

My concern was rather different: would I be able to find mine?!

Thankfully, the answer to that was “Yes, of course I could" 😉