Our parks and green spaces are a much loved and valued essential of London urban life. These oases have the ability to water the soul and to lift our spirits above the humdrum of city existence.

Such an idyll is the garden of the Inner Temple, part of the Inns of Court and one of the most historic locations in the City of London, situated just off the Victoria Embankment.

Imagine then the surprise to see a flower festival there complete with marquees, stalls, refreshments and flower festival in the Temple church. Not so surprising when you consider that this was the forerunner to the Chelsea Flower Show and was held in the grounds from 1888 to 1911, when it moved to its present site at Chelsea Hospital.

Organised in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society, the 'floral celebration', as it has been coined, forms part of the Temple Festival, a series of events celebrating the 400th anniversary of granting of the Royal Charter to the Inns of Court at Inner and Middle Temple.

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

The event seeks to recapture some of the nostalgia and flavour of those early flower shows, which enjoyed royal patronage as our reports from the Times Archive illustrate, so don't expect cutting-edge garden design or wall-to-wall stalls of manufacturers of the latest gardening devices.

No, this is about taking time out to celebrate the history of garden exhibitions in a tranquil corner of central London, amid elegant floral borders and a canopy of rare and exotic trees. Head gardener Andrea Brunsendorf has tweaked the existing mature herbaceous and mixed planting to complement the event - for example, afternoon tea (and morning coffee) can be served alongside delicious drifts of pastel-coloured salvias.

The central marquee houses much of the historical aspects of the 'show'. Among the exhibitors are two stalwarts of more than a century ago - Waterers and Ascott Park Gardens, together with selections from Winchester Growers Ltd's national collections of dahlias, which provide a remarkable and colourful statement, and Tynings Climbers' national collection of passiflora. My favourite for sheer impact was the Avon Bulbs stand with a stunning variety of exotic bulbs.

Pennard Plants takes up the plant and garden heritage theme with a stand of period vegetables and gardening paraphinalia while the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens display records the plant exploration achievements of the Veitch family.

I personally felt the City balcony gardens were a bit of a disappointment - but then there was not a lot of scope with the size of balcony the exhibitors were given to show. The celebration also has performances of live music and a series of historic gardening talks at the Temple Church. And there's the usual pots, sculptures and bits and pieces that we gardeners seem to spend our money on.

I wasn't quite sure about the Flora of South America stand - except that maybe they were representing world flora and fauna - but it was good to see the City of London Corporation, one organisation which plays a key role in keeping London 'green', taking part in the show with its exhibit of open spaces.

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