ONE of the most nostalgic settings at the recent Hampton Court Flower

Show was a village fete. It represented Britain in the first years of

peace in the 1950s and it was staged by Marks and Spencer.

A walk along a narrow path around the country church (St Mark's), past

a stone cottage with its line of washing and the village pub (The

Marquis of Spencer), transported you instantly into a bygone age. There

was also a realistic small stone cottage with a strawberry tea set

outdoors on the lawn and an allotment garden filled with vegetables and

a patch of sunflowers.

Little details, such as the whalebone corsets on the cottage washing

line and the one-piece clothes pegs whittled by gypsies, added to its

authenticity. There were blue paper twists of salt in the old crisp

packets, old-fashioned, thick glass Kilner jars holding sunflower heads,

hairy twine and rusting garden tools.

Even the dominoes in the pub were the yellowed-ivory kind in a wooden

box with a sliding lid and the half-eaten sandwiches on the back seat of

an old Austin A30 were wrapped in thick greaseproof paper.

The flower arrangement at the church used old roses, alder and wild

hedgerow parsley with euphorbia. The Mother's Union (who were fund

raising for one of those new fangled vacuum cleaners), had made

elderberry jam and sultana scones.

The whole village had been designed by Jane Packer -- consultant

florist to Marks and Spencer -- who also designed the head-dresses and

posies for the wedding of the Duchess of York. The point of the

sponsorship of this village presumably, was to send the public back home

to investigate their local M and S Horticulture departments.

So I did just that. Marks and Spencer, Glasgow, have a splendid range

of plants and flowers in a recently re-furbished department. Their

Edinburgh branch, in Princes Street, is in the process of opening a new

and larger department to house an even wider range of flowers including

tropical plants.

Kay Yuill, who runs the department, is proud of the fact that the

Edinburgh store is the busiest florists' in Britain. ''We sell more

flowers than any other florist, even the London branch of Marks and

Spencer does not reach the sales of flowers that we do. The biggest

seller is the bunches of spray carnations, because they last so well.

Given the right care, spray carnations will last nearly six weeks. All

our flowers are fresh each day, they come straight from the grower and

we put a 'sell by' date on them all.

''Flowers are sold ready arranged in baskets, in bunches or as tied,

mixed bouquets, but if a customer wants to make their own selection of

flowers, our girls will make a special arrangement of them.''

You can call into any UK branch of Marks and Spencer and order a

flower arrangement to be delivered anywhere in Britain, including

hospitals or hotels. There is a set choice ranging from a bunch of

carnations mixed with gypsophila and greenery, ready to put into a vase,

or a complete display ready arranged in an ornate ceramic pot.

Presentation baskets and a traditional boxed selection of flowers are

also available and for this summer only, a ribbon trimmed basked packed

with a selection of flowering and green plants, is another alternative,

though this offer ends on September 30.

There is a delivery charge. For further information phone 0925 851

100.