THIS year’s RHS Malvern Spring Festival has been hailed as the best so far.
The 33-year-old landmark gardening and food event welcomed more than 100,000 people onto the Three Counties Showground to explore the vibrant four-day festival packed full of new features.
Head of Show, Diana Walton, said: “This year has been a tremendous success, we couldn’t be happier with how it’s gone.
“We had some fantastic new features, alongside our usual lively lineup, which meant there was plenty for everyone to enjoy.
“We loved how our celebration of innovation came together so beautifully.
“Our gardening and food experts shared their bountiful knowledge with endless enthusiasm and hopefully festival goers left brimming with inspiration and ideas.
“We’ve had huge interest in our new Green Living Spaces concept, particularly from Alan Titchmarsh who liked how accessible and realistic the design ideas were.
“It’s been wonderful to hear so much excitement from our visitors at the show.”
Kicking off the summer season of shows, the Spring Festival is the largest RHS Show outside of London.
This year welcomed the top names of the gardening and food world to share their knowledge including Alan Titchmarsh, John Torode, Valentine Warner, Raymond Blanc and BBC Gardeners’ World presenters Carol Klein, Joe Swift and Alys Fowler.
Visitors immersed themselves in ten stunning show gardens, five of these won gold, including one flown in from Moscow Flower Show, hidden inside a Faberge-inspired three metre high metallic egg that opened its metallic ‘flower petals’ to music, light and mist.
A new Green Living Spaces feature, built around a ‘home’ generated huge interest with its patio and balcony designs.
Gardening enthusiasts were spoiled for choice with more than 100 award-winning specialist nurseries on site while food fans indulged in the food and drink hall where they were entertained by sizzling workshops and demonstrations held by industry experts in the Grow & Cook Theatre.
A new Great Pavilion of Art and Flowers entranced visitors with beautiful floral displays cascading from three baby Morgan cars suspended from the roof, above a floral theatre and the beautiful Cottage in the Wood lounge.
Top children’s authors in the new Book Hub and former BBC Blue Peter Gardener Chris Collins welcomed budding gardeners to a dedicated family weekend while 12 schools took part in the much-loved School Garden Challenge, alongside a specially designed Celebrating Blue Peter Garden to mark 60 years of the much-loved TV show.
A heartfelt knitted garden, in support of Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice, by widow Clare Young drew huge crowds.
The Work of Heart Garden, featured a hospice bedroom overgrown with knitted plants including lavender and rosemary as well as bright sunflowers.
Raising funds for the hospice which helped to care for her late husband Ken, she’s still counting up the donations which have so far topped £15,000.
