Colour and aroma once again impressed visitors to the Flower Show which saw a bumper entry in the floral exhibitions.
Ian Roofe, flower and garden show co-ordinator, said they had lost a few nurserymen as the show clashed with the Hampton Court Flower Show this year but there were over 375 floral displays.
'It has been a fantastic year for roses with very little pest and disease around so they are all in tip top condition,' he said.
Show garden gold winners included Easton & Otley College. The floristry and horticultural students worked together to produce a stunning display of an edible dining table and two orchid decorated peacocks.
Gillian Lincoln, floristry tutor at the Easton campus, said the peacock frames had sat in their office for a year and felt they had to incorporate them into the show design.
'We used 40 dendrobium stems, 32 vandas and 30 gloriosa orchids,' she said. 'We wanted to promote the variety of skills that can be learned in the floristry department – it's not just about hand-tied bouquets. We wanted to show that it is a very flexible career, you can work from home, in groups and for all sorts of events and demonstrations.'
Also celebrating was Steve Bunclark of Predator Plants based in Rackheath. He has been showing for many years but this year won his first Royal Norfolk Show gold.
'I've been getting silver gilts so I knew I had to up my game,' he said. 'I think I balanced it out better and incorporated a water feature.'
He said he bought his first predator plant, a venus fly trap, about 20 years ago. 'It was nearly dead but I kept it going and got the bug from there. They are becoming more popular as people realise that they are actually very effective at pest control and they are very hardy – they can withstand a range of temperatures. As long as they get some cold weather in the winter and hot in the summer they are happy.'
Flower arrangements were based on the theme of A Woman's Place and paid tribute to the centenary of the Womens Institute, famous women, women in politics and female authors. A hand tied bouquet with the stems encircled by colouring pencils depicted Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
Delicate dried flowers were even used to create intricate jewellery.
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