Top garden designer to judge at Shrewsbury Flower Show

Garden designer Chris Beardshaw won the prestigious Best Show Garden at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show and is one of a number of award winners from the event who will be heading to The Quarry on August 10 and 11.

The multi-award winner won the gold medal at Chelsea for designing The Morgan Stanley Garden for the NSPCC. It was described as a metaphor for the emotional transformation that takes place in children as they experience the positive impact of the charity’s work.

He will be joined in the judging process by Royal Horticultural Society award-winning garden designer and Agronomist Penny Meadmore.

Penny is a garden designer based in Lincolnshire but is well-known for her work across the country. She is also a regular on radio and television on shows like Gardeners’ Question Time, Gardeners’ World, Our House and Garden Rivals.

This year will be the 131st Shrewsbury Flower Show and once again the Quarry marquee will be full of professional arrangements for visitors to see, alongside a host of other attractions including star gardeners, television chefs and musical entertainment.

Amanda Jones, chair of the Shrewsbury Flower Show marketing committee, said: “We are delighted to see so many of those set to exhibit or judge at our show this summer among the winning names at events like the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

“This year promises to be an excellent event for all the family, and we know our visitors will be thrilled to see our marquee packed with the highest standard of displays.”

Chelsea gold category winners who will be appearing at Shrewsbury are Brighter Blooms, Chrysanthemums Direct, Cooks Garden Centre, Dibley’s Nurseries, Every Picture Tells a Story, Hoyland Plant, Jacques Armand Int, Palms Exotics, Roualeyn Fuchsias and Tynings Climbers.

Silver gilt winners at Chelsea, Craig House Cacti and Hippopottering Nursery and silver medalists K Partington and Mandy Plants will also be at The Quarry.

Several of these winners were also successful at Malvern and Harrogate but among the other winners at these festivals and will be at Shrewsbury are: Malvern: Flowers From The Farm, New Forest Hostas and Oska Copperfield Nurseries.

Shrewsbury exhibitors who took home silver awards were Green JJam Nurseries, Plant Heritage and Westdale Nurseries.

Harrogate gold and silver winners at Shrewsbury include Jacques Amand Int Ltd, Devine Nurseries, Plant Heritage, Alpine Garden Society and High Park Nursery.

The show opens to the public at 10am on August 10 and August 11 and includes amateur growers and top horticulturalists, floral art, a packed-schedule at the lecture theatre and a steam locomotive from Ffestiniog Railway.