The various display gardens I highlighted in my preview did not disappoint on viewing on the day. The quality of detail and design ideas that many of them feature should not be missed. In the Small Gardens section, take a look at the typical Slovenian wall that surrounds Borut Benedejcic's Pepa's Karst Garden (D10); it is reminiscent of the dry stone walling techniques used here in Britain and has been made beautifully for this show. Over on Raine Clarke-Wills and Fiona Godman-Dorington's The Dark Side of Beauty (pictured), an apothecary's workshop and wicker coffin give the deceptively charming plants a macabre spin, while Karen Rogers' A Chef's Kitchen is a seriously stylish proposition.

On the opposite side of the Long Water lie the Sustainable Gardens and the large Display Show Gardens, including Matthew Allan and Guy Petheram's elegant design, Coppice (B89), and Fiona Stephenson's Oak Tree: Lying in State (B86); its knarled trunk is both artwork and essential habitat for birds, animals and insects and the garden's design (including those on-trend yellow-orange blooms and heucheras) is one that any one of us with a similar dead or dying tree could effectively emulate.

In Wendy Allen's The Rain Chain (B90), I was particularly taken by her use of a chunky piece of chain used instead of a downpipe to draw water run-off from the roof, down into the water butt below.

Philippa Pearson's design for Sadolin (GW4) features some glorious planting, while Niki Palmer's Enchanting Escape (GW3) is rich in formal style and opulent fantasy (there is even a four-poster bed here).

Gardens as sanctuaries and places in which to heal, learn and grow, feature strongly throughout this year's show, and nowhere is this more clearly or charmingly done than on the Combat Stress garden (GW5) on the one hand, and in the sensory experience that is Thailand: Garden of Serenity (GW6).

Back to our round-up of this year's Hampton Court Flower Show.

WORDS ARABELLA ST JOHN PARKER