Hampton Court Flower Show 2013: 'I've never liked the concept gardens' The best of all summer flowerfests looks spectacular in the brilliant sunshine - late-flowering alliums strut their stuff alongside a mass of summer flowers and grasses all at their natural peak. In bad weather, Hampton Court Flower Show can be a bleak experience. This week, the fountains on the broad canal, the shade cast by the fast-maturing avenues of flowering lime trees and the gentle cooling zephyrs made it seem like absolutely the best place to be on earth. More than ever this year, I am struck by how more appropriate are high-summer shows like this to the sun-starved British public than is the inevitable will-it-won't-it lottery that is the Chelsea Flower show in May. I decided this time round to put myself through what is for me an extreme test: I have never bothered to make head or tale of the show's "conceptual gardens." Rather guiltily I confess (because it makes me feel uncomfortably out of touch), I have dismissed these as non-gardens, giving them, en (rapid) passant little more than a shrug and a raised eyebrow. I got off on the wrong foot on my self-imposed journey of understanding and appreciation with the Ecover garden - giant bright plastic bottle tops in amongst the flowers, anyone? Ecover are sponsors of the Inspire section of the show that included the set pieces Summer Gardens, Show Gardens and Conceptual Gardens. Next thing to catch my eye was an absolutely un-missable pile of fridges, entitled "The Tip of the Iceberg." Caroline Tait (with John Esling, its designer) is normally admired for her work at the quintessentially traditional garden at Coton Manor. She tried to explain the appeal of conceptual gardens. The RHS brief is to be theatrical, provoke thought, amuse, she said, urging me to look at her plants - pretty and unusual alpines - in amongst the towering white-goods. OK, I get the environmental message - sort of. Un-missable: 'The Tip of the Iceberg' (Pic: Martin Pope) But for me, the thing that really turned me around was the right at the end of the avenue of oddities (what a shame, remarked my companion - I bet some people will never make it this far...): "Desolation to Regeneration" designed by Catherine MacDonald. This was a very cleverly-executed bit of thought-provoking theatre, complete with wisps of smoke and horrific wildfire sound effects, using plants ingeniously to represent both the flames and then a miraculously re-greening landscape. Journey ended - job done. But as the ever-practical Jean Vernon sagely remarked when we chatted later, not everyone has time to read the show catalogue. It would be so helpful if a two-sentence description of the essence of each garden were to be included on the information boards. RHS, please take note. Thought-provoking theatre: 'Desolation to Regeneration' (Pic: Martin Pope) There is no space here to include all my impressions. The show seemed smaller and more light-weight than usual. This I rather liked, but is doubtless a reflection of difficult times. There was surprisingly less than usual for veg growers, but some good bee-and-butterfly stuff for children. Finally, for what it is worth, amongst all the massed floral loveliness, for me the prettiest planting in the show was to be found surrounding the base of a posh greenhouse on the Hartley Botanic stand.