Fifteen hundred Field Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) were just some of the native, wild species contributing to a Silver medal for the Hope-The Way Forward garden at Hampton Court Flower Show.
Supplied and Planted by British Wild Flower Plants (BWFP) the poppies were part of a 40 tonne truckload, which included Foxgloves, Purple Loosestrife and Common Mallow. “In all we planted 45 sq metres of wild flower meadow,” says BWFPs Marketing Manager Ian Forster. “Our aim was to create a natural landscape, which looked as if it had existed for hundreds of years.”
Designed by Nigel Boardman and Stephen Gelly for the service men’s mental welfare charity Combat Stress, the garden featured a walkway in the shape of a question mark encouraging visitors to step over the names of modern conflicts (starting with the First World War up to Afghanistan) before reaching tranquillity in a shaded area under an olive tree.
The poppies, often associated with the French battlefields of Flanders, lined the path at the entrance before giving way to the Foxgloves, Loosestrife and Common Mallow under the Olive.
BWFP Tel:01603 716615 or visit www.wildflowers.co.uk