The RHS/Ball Colegrave National Flower Bed Competition
The RHS / Ball Colegrave National Flower Bed Competition is a special highlight of the show providing an explosion of colour and excitement.
In this competition 19 local authorities and colleges use their skills and experience to stage a flower bed that reflects their community’s identity.
Show Gardens | Back to Back Gardens | RHS/Ball Colegrave National Flower Bed Competition
Rabbie Burns – Ploughman and Poet
Exhibitor: Barony College with Dumfries and Galloway Council
Designer: Paul Page
In preparation for next year’s celebrations marking 250 years since the birth of Robert Burns, this bed reflects the poets struggle between nature and mankind, evident in some of his poems such as To a Mouse and To a Mountain Daisy.
The bed shows the poet relaxing in a field with rabbits and mice all around, alongside the original plough used by Burns during his time working on a nearby farm.
Making an Impact
Exhibitor: Impact Manchester
Designer: Victoria Court residents aided by Groundwork Manchester
Entering the competition at Tatton for the first time, Impact Manchester (a collaboration of organisations working together to regenerate areas of Manchester) is working with residents of Victoria Court, a listed building that now provides residential accommodation, to create a flower bed with enhanced accessibility.
Plants have been selected to maintain a Victorian theme and parts of the design will be used to create a new flower bed in the resident’s community garden at Victoria Court after the show.
Bring Me Football
Exhibitor: Lancaster City Council
Designer: Paul Cocker and John Wilson
Lancaster’s flower bed entry celebrates the promotion of Morecambe Football Club into the league for the first time in its 84-year history. The bed sees a statue of Eric Morecambe overlooking Morcambe’s football ground.
Blooming in the City
Exhibitor: Manchester City Council
Designer: Melvin Kirby/Anton Xavier
This colourful bed recreates the beauty of Fletcher Moss Park in Didsbury, South Manchester, after the area won a Best Neighbourhood Award in the North West in Bloom competition last year. The colourful bed features a beautiful recreational space with ducks swimming on a lily pond and bees buzzing around colourful summer flowers.
The Albert Sorby Buxton collection
Exhibitor: Mansfield District Council
Designer: Dave Bannister
A floral tribute to watercolour artist A S Buxton, who returned to Mansfield from Slade School, London, to become head of the local art school. The display incorporates an artist’s pallet, viewed through a picture frame creating a living scene with a stream and a bridge.
Fred Kite Remembered
Exhibitor: Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
Designer: Simon Long/Mick Cook
Sponsor: Swings & Roundabouts, Stoke-on-Trent
This flower bed is filled with military tones as it celebrates the life of Newcastle-born WWII solider, Sergeant Fred Kite. The bed depicts a Crusader tank as used in the African desert during the Second World War celebrating Kite’s receipt of the Military Medal for bravery on three occasions during the North African campaign.
50 years of Preston bypass: Britain’s first motorway
Exhibitor: Preston City Council
Designer: Tony Lewis
Following last year’s Gold Medal success with the very popular Wallace and Gromit flower bed, Preston has changed direction completely with this year’s 10th anniversary entry themed around a great feat of engineering: the first ever motorway. The bed depicts a 3-D map with vehicles joining the clear motorway at the Samlesbury Interchange, the first stretch of motorway in Britain.