Most of the people who frequent the Strand and Fleet Street in the City of London are familiar with the Temple area as home to the 800-year old Temple Church in all its architectural glory or the two Inns of Court (The Inner Temple and Middle Temple) that reside nearby.

However, within the Inner Temple lies one of the largest remaining private green spaces in the City, the Inner Temple garden. This secret garden has remained all but lost for nearly 100 years as the gates have remained shut to the floral exhibitions and horticultural viewings that once adorned its grounds.

The three-acre site of well-kept lawns and coveted collection of trees and plants is open to the public from September 11-13, as the Royal Horticulutural Society (RHS) hosts its first 'flower show' there since May 25, 1911, when it was attended by the then monarch King George V.

Commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Temple's Royal Charter, the 'Floral Celebration', sponsored by Freshfields, aims to reflect the importance of horticulture in the past, present and future and features a carefully chosen variety of plant nurseries and floral exhibitors. According to Georgina Barter, Show Manager for the Inner Temple: "Each exhibitor has specifically been chosen for its horticultural quality and to reflect the historic occasion". What better way to show this wonderful timeline of horticulture by implementing a new show in a former home.

1888: Royal Horticultural Society

A grand show was held yesterday in the Inner Temple Gardens in the presence of the Lord Mayor

• Letter: The Royal Horticultural Society

• 1889: Report from the RHS President

Among the catalogue of plants includes a stunning willow-leaved magnolia and an impressive Indian bean tree, both of which are over 250 years old. In addition, the Temple Church will be overgrown with a "floral splash" of glorious, traditional flower arrangements, provided by the National Association of Flower Arranging Societies, and will also include an exhibition of the historical links between the Inner Temple and the RHS.

This rich history starts with the garden itself, receiving royalty and prominent figures of centuries past. Attributed by Shakespeare as the site for the start of the War of the Roses, a border within the garden has been planted with alternating Rosa Alba (The White Rose of York) and Rosa Gallica Officinalis (The Red Rose of Lancaster) - the Temple has previously been owned by the Church and then the Crown, until August 13, 1608, when King James I signed the Royal Charter granting the two Inns of Court independence.

Historical exhibits include the owner of the world's leading clematis nursery, Raymond Evison's collection of clematis cultivars, all raised prior to 1900 - including Clematis 'Edouard Defosse' (1880), Clematis 'Countess of Lovelace' (1872) and Clematis 'Henryi' (1870). Two of the Inner Temple's original Great Spring Show (as it was then called) exhibitors, Waterers and Ascott Park, are showing similar, vivid displays as they did a century ago - Waterers, in the form of ericaceous plants and Ascott Park with a collection of roses.

The show also hosts the London balcony competition, in which six celebrities of various design disciplines have created a balcony garden as a mark of city life.

The show is open today until 6:30pm and tomorrow (September 13) from 10am to 5pm, with a sell-off of plants from 4:30pm. Tickets to the RHS Floral Celebration at the Inner Temple are currently on sale. £8 (£7 RHS Members), £10 on the day. To book call 0870 906 3758 or visit here.

Explore Gardens

• Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

• Chelsea Flower Show

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers