A COLLEGE group in Worcestershire is enjoying a double celebration after receiving high praise at the Malvern Autumn Show.
Horticultural therapy centre Link Nurseries and Pershore College Garden Centre and Nursery -which are both part of college group WCG – received prizes from the judging panel at the popular show held at the Three Counties Showground.
Pershore College Garden Centre and Nursery won the Best Exhibit in the Plant Village award, while Link Nurseries cafe away with a bronze medal for its own display.
Volunteers from Link Nurseries helped to create a mini-version of the therapy centre on site at the show, complete with canopy, quiet garden, work from its craft and art groups, and reproduction of the gardening boxes created by its Well Bean Gardening Club.
The club provides a tranquil space for gardeners to cultivate their own vegetables, flowers and develop new skills – all within a small, manageable 16 sq ft plot.
Link Nurseries’ stand was tucked away in the Harvest Pavilion for the judging of vegetables, and came away with the bronze award despite not initially putting itself forward to be judged.
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the showground, Josh Egan-Wyer and his team from the garden centre and nursery were wowing judges with their own plant display.
The display was the result of months of growing and ensuring plants were up to the high judging standards of the Royal Horticultural Society.
All of the plants on the display stand had already been sold, with people requesting they be put aside, before official sales began on the final day of the show.
Josh Egan-Wyer is Head of Horticulture (Curriculum & Commercial) at WCG and his responsibilities also include management of Link Nurseries.
He said: “This was a really proud day for everyone associated with WCG, and I couldn’t be more pleased for the team at Link Nurseries to get the recognition they have received.
“Volunteers from Link Nurseries had worked around the clock to create their fantastic stand, and to get such incredible feedback from the judges is wonderful.
“It is very rare for judges to request to judge a stand, which is just what happened, as initially the stand hadn’t even been entered into competition! That shows how impressed they were.
“Over in the Plant Village we had spent months preparing for the show, and to win Best Exhibit was a real honour.
“Overall, the show was a great opportunity to fly the flag for horticulture at Pershore College, Link Nurseries and WCG, and we are really happy with the results.”
