RHS Flower Show - Hampton Court

Two men strolling along the side of the Thames

"are you going to the flower show?"

"Hampton Court?"

"No I always walk this way"

Ancient jokes aside, DD and I attended Hampton Court Flower show on Sunday and it was glorious. It was of course, hot, as we are in the middle of a heatwave summer. But we enjoyed the day none the less, it was lovely to see our old friend BEE CLEVER the Ecover Bee sculpture, and I was surprised to see how much Ecover was involved in the show! They had sent me 2 free tickets to attend but they sponsored the entire 'Inspire Zone' with innovative garden ideas to save water, the planet and our insect life.
 

Their concept garden was nice, the plants in it were the stars though, gorgeous blues and pinks encouraging bees and butterflies to hang around. The judges agreed as the garden won gold! There were also plenty of planters (large wooden troughs) sponsored by Ecover and designed by various well known gardeners.

We didn't see half of what was on offer at this great show. Never having been before we were content to meander (sweatily) through the gardens, into the floral display tent and browse the numerous shops. After purchasing a parasol DD found time for a quick paddle, earning her compliments from a lady passing by, on her colourfulness and beauty! We spent some time watching a fashion show, not usually my thing but it was cool in the tent, one model had a moustache and several were topless, so we forced ourselves. There was also a chihuahua (called Sweetpea) in a dress.

 

We went into a bee tent too! Met some bees and their keepers and had an excellent and informative chat on bee keeping, helping bees and volunteering with local bee groups.

By 4pm we were hot and tired enough to go home, so it was farewell to the lovely gardens, our friend the bee and the grandeur or Hampton Court, a leisurely boat ride to the station and off home.

All 111 photos I took can be seen HERE on my flickr account

Thanks to Ecover for the tickets.

Did I mention......?

I realise this may come as a surprise to some of you as I've kept it pretty quiet but Ecover are sending me to Glastonbury to be a citizen journalist. I know, I know, quiet shy retiring little old me in the worlds biggest performing arts festival with only a 13 year old to keep me sober safe, why would Ecover do such a thing! It must be my obsessive love of camping and all things eco and green and hippy I guess. Maybe also my new found bee obsession. Honestly when Ecover told me about the sculpture and the bee connections to their product I was a little perplexed...bees? But then I started reading about bees and...well bees are amazing! no really, amazing

So much is written from the 'urban myth' (Bumble bees, if looked at aerodynamically, can't actually fly. Einstein claimed the world would will end in 4 years if all the bees die.) to the amazing facts about how they reuse and recycle in their own hives. Like tiny eco warriors, buzzing busily among the flowers collecting either nectar (in a special nectar pouch BUT they can switch a 'switchy thing' if they get hungry and send some nectar to their stomachs!! ) or pollen stored in rather cute pollen pouches on their legs. They transform the goodies from the flowers into honey and use the honey to create wax which they mould to create the amazing cell structure within the nest.

Just take a few minutes to google the bee. Amazing.

And Ecover are doing amazing things too! Not least the awesome art work by Ptolemy (better known for his sharks, fish and hubcap creatures) which will be unveiled in all it's glory at Glastonbury - I'll see you there - did I mention I'm going?

Created with flickr slideshow.
And also in their new take on eco cleaning products ..

Surfactants are the surface-active ingredient found in most household cleaners. Typically, they are produced through a petrochemical process, through a high-energy, high-pressure process that is, unfortunately, toxic to the environment.
However, sustainable cleaning products contain surfactants produced from plant-based alternatives. Plant-based surfactants are biodegradable and rely wholly on renewable resources, rather than fossil resources.  Sounds like an ideal solution, right?  Well… almost.
The problem is, plant-based surfactants use the same energy-intensive process as the petrochemical-based surfactants.  We needed to improve on that aspect, too.
So, after seven years and over 50,000 hours of research, our scientists invented a new biological, energy-efficient process derived from yeast that could take the place of petrochemical and plant-based surfactants.   This is not just any yeast, but the kind that was discovered in bees’ nests. This particular variety is uniquely capable of combining water-soluble sugar (glucose) and non-soluble fatty acid (oil) to produce a completely natural emulsifier – an Eco-surfactant!

 Extract from Ecover Blog

So now I'm bee obsessed, loving bees, nearly crying at some of the awful things in the news about bee deaths. And secretly hoping to convince my hubby we should get a hive!!

Follow me on twitter or check out the #beeclever hashtag to keep up with what Ecover and I are up to.

BEE Inspired

I need to blog about my new bee obsession! But right now I'm busy checking my tent for leaks. I simply can't wait to see what the world of festival goers at Glastonbury think about Ecover and Bees!! I hope I can  get them to be as excited about recycling and plastics as I am!

So here is a rather fabulous infographic from Ecover about bees, bottles, cleaning and nature to keep you going! Enjoy.

ECOVER's aim is to create powerful, fully sustainable and biodegradable ingredients that will eliminate the need for petro-chemicals. Visit The-Splash for more information and to read and support our pledge.