Hannah Genders' My Little Veg Garden

Crowds around the Show Gardens

HRH Duke of Gloucester presentation of Best Show Garden to Graduate Gardeners

26th Malvern Spring Gardening Show is a Success 18th May 2011

A record 47 gold medals, top quality show gardens that wouldn’t have looked out of place at Chelsea and thousands of magnificent blooms despite an inclement winter – the 26th Malvern Spring Gardening Show was declared a success today by organisers the Three Counties Agricultural Society (TCAS) and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).

More than 85,000 visitors, just slightly up on 2010’s attendance, came to the Show over the weekend to enjoy 22 beautiful gardens, seven science-themed school gardens, an entertaining programme of top tips from television experts and 30 acres of garden gadgetry and plants.

HRH The Duke of Gloucester is TCAS President for this year, and visited the Show on Friday 13 May, enjoying a whistle stop tour of the Malvern Floral Marquee, the Eco Home & Garden Area, the Discovery Zone and the Show Gardens Arena, and chatting to designers, exhibitors and staff along the way.

In the Show Gardens Arena, there were two RHS Gold medals, 6 Silver Gilts (5 in 2010), 12 Silvers (11 last year) and 3 Bronzes (4 in 2010). There were 33 Gold medals in the RHS Malvern Floral Marquee alone!

The Lyn Downes Award for the Best Floral Marquee Exhibit was a display of flowering cacti by Southfield Nurseries of Lincolnshire, which received the accolade from His Royal Highness, as did Stroud-based designer, Stuart Gibbs of Graduate Gardeners Ltd, who was awarded a Gold medal and Best Show Garden for ‘A Garden For Life’.

Fellow Gold medal winner, Hannah Genders of Rous Lench in Worcestershire, impressed judges and visitors alike with ‘My Very Local Veg Garden’ and was duly voted ‘The People’s Choice’. Runner up was Keni Lee’s ‘From Laozi to Heisenberg’, one of the gardens in the Chris Beardshaw Mentoring Scholarship (CBMS) competition, sponsored by Bradstone.

Best School Garden was awarded to ‘The Land of Whacky Science’ by The Larches School (Clifford House Residential Ltd) of Leominster.

Winner of CBMS 2011 was Caroline Butler from Henley on Thames, Oxon, who designed an atom-themed garden ‘In The Balance’ as part of the competition, and can now look forward to a year-long apprenticeship with Chris and the Scholarship team.

Television gardeners and experts judged the spring planters created as part of a Care Farming West Midlands project.

BBC Gardeners’ World frontman, Monty Don, chose Acton Mill Care Farm’s display as his favourite, while fellow presenter, Joe Swift opted for the work of Longlands Care Farm. Mike Dilger of BBC 1’s The One Show was taken with the Good Soil/Skillspace planter, Chris Beardshaw picked out the Ewe & You display, and Terry Walton went for the Nineveh Ridge Care Farm creation.

Speaking at the press conference, Bob Sweet, Head of Shows Development for the RHS said: “This year’s results are very exciting and actually quite amazing if you consider the kind of winter we have had. The display of slipper orchids on the Edrom Nursery stand is wonderful. I have never seen so many plants in perfect condition, or with so many flowers, at this Show.

The gardens are also superb this year, and all the judges agreed that Stuart Gibbs’ Garden for Life’ is something special; professionally designed and planted, and worthy of a place at Chelsea.”

In the tradestands, there were three TCAS Gold medals; Countrywide Farmers plc, Pershore College and Garden Interest. Robin Higgins of Garden Interest, also took Best In Show.

First prize in the Food and Wine section went to The Victorian Kitchen and Creative Landscapes of Whitlenge Gardens at Hartlebury was first in the Gardeners’ Shopping Pavilion.

The 2012 Malvern Spring Gardening Show takes place between Thursday May 10 and Sunday May 13.

Editor’s Notes:

The Malvern Spring Gardening Show is a fund raising event and a joint venture of the Three Counties Agricultural Society (Registered charity no: 511868) and the Royal Horticultural Society (No: 222879).

 

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