COUNTDOWN IS ON AS WORK ON STUNNING RHS MALVERN SPRING FESTIVAL SHOW GARDENS OFFICIALLY STARTS

Posted on: April 16th, 2019 · Posted in: RHS Malvern Spring Festival

Work has officially started on this year’s highly-anticipated RHS Malvern Spring Festival as garden designers broke ground to begin turning their dreams into a blooming reality.

Talented garden designers descended on Malvern’s Three Counties Showground yesterday (Monday 15) to make a start on perfecting their show garden masterpieces.

They have just 24 days to transform their sites into stunning show gardens before RHS officials judge the gardens on Wednesday, May 8 to decide which medals are awarded.

Eight stunning show gardens will be on display at the highly-anticipated RHS Malvern Spring Festival, held from May 9-12 in association with Great Little Breaks.

This year, talented designers have drawn their inspiration from a myriad of sources including rural Spain, art, health, astronomy and the mind as they create gardens with many embracing the festival’s theme of Through the Lens.

Show Garden designer favourites Peter Dowle and Villaggio Verde will return once more, along with Gary Bristow, while for several designers it will be their first time creating a show garden. New faces will include Lucie Giselle Ponsford, Julie Bellingham, design duo Karen Tatlow and Katherine Hathaway, Sebastian Conrad and Anna Galagan, who travels to the festival from the Ukraine.

Head of Shows, Diana Walton, said: “The first day of the Show Garden build is always an exciting time – it brings such an infectious buzz to the place. It’s incredible to see their plans grow from an artist impression on paper to the amazing creations that will wow our visitors.

“The Show Gardens are one of the most popular attractions at the festival and this year we’re delighted to be welcoming so many new faces. For six of our designers, it will be their first Show Garden at RHS Malvern Spring Festival. We can’t wait to see what they will be creating for us – we know our visitors are certainly in for a treat.”

In addition to the Show Gardens, the festival will feature five Green Living Spaces that show how to make the best use of a small area and 11 gardens designed by school children as part of the RHS School Gardens Challenge.

RHS Malvern Spring Festival is seen by many as the official start of spring and attracts more than 100,000 people annually. Visitors flock to see its inspirational show gardens and beautiful Floral Marquee, get top tips from the experts and enjoy the best food and drink that Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire has to offer.

The Festival has a star-studded line up of special guests, including DJ and gardening enthusiast, Jo Whiley, horticultural experts Monty Don, Joe Swift, and Carol Klein, and celebrity chefs Raymond Blanc and John Torode amongst others.

You can find out more about all of the gardens at the festival by visiting either Show Gardens of Green Living Spaces.