RHS Malvern Spring Festival will tomorrow open its gates to welcome floods of visitors to the impressive four-day event at the Three Counties Showground. Top talent from the gardening world will be celebrating as five RHS Gold medals have been awarded.

Each year, RHS Malvern Spring Festival raises the bar for design and horticultural talent and 2016 is no exception. The winners of the RHS Malvern Medal Categories are:

Best Show Garden – Macmillan Legacy Garden by Mark Eveleigh in support of Macmillan Cancer Support, GOLD
Best Festival Garden – The Water Spout by Christian Dowle of Garden Inspiration, Silver-Gilt

RHS Gold Medals have been awarded to:

The Sunken Retreat by Graduate Gardeners
Reflections of Japan by Peter Dowle & Richard Jasper of Howle Hill Nursery
Macmillan Legacy Garden by Mark Eveleigh in support of Macmillan Cancer Support
The Garden of Romance by Villaggio Verde
Wyevale Garden Centres in partnership with Historic Royal Palaces, Garden amidst ruins, a homage to Capability Brown by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan Landscape Design

RHS Silver-Gilt Medals have been awarded to:

The UCARE Garden by Emily Sharpe of Garden Stories

RHS Silver Medals have been awarded to:

Milleflori ‘A Garden of One Thousand Flowers’ by RHS Students of CW Horticultural Training
The Woodcutters Garden by Mark Walker Landscapes

RHS Bronze Medals have been awarded to:

‘Time is a Healer’ in support of The Primrose Hospice by Martyn Wilson

Best Show Garden winner, Mark Eveleigh, said: “Wow! What an immense accolade, I’m delighted to be taking the top title. This award represents an enormous pat on the back from the industry I’m so proud to be a part of. This year we really have done all that we can to bring a spectacular show garden to RHS Malvern. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the team behind the show garden for their tremendous work and support along the way. It’s been a great privilege to great this garden for Macmillan. I cannot wait to share the garden with the great many visitors of RHS Malvern Spring Festival. Here’s to a phenomenal show!”

Judging took place on Wednesday 4 May, just one day before the festival opened to the public. Each winner passed a rigorous RHS judging process from a panel of top RHS experts. Forming the 2016 panel is Dougal Philip (Chair), Paul Hervey-Brooks and Richard Barnard as Garden Assessing Judges, along with Stephen Woodhams (Chair), James Alexander-Sinclair, Christopher Bailes and Arne Maynard as Garden Judges.

Judging of the Professional Show Gardens is based on the highly respected RHS Criteria, taking into consideration delivery, design, atmosphere, planting and construction. The RHS Floral Judging is based on overall impression, plants and endeavor.

Ken Nottage, CEO of Three Counties, said: “Quite simply, the talent speaks for itself this year. 2016 sees the Show Gardens take up more space than ever before and the talent has matched the bigger spots going more grand and elaborate than we could ever have imagined. This is the time when RHS Malvern Spring Festival really comes into its own. The hard work is done and it’s time to sit back and appreciate the unimaginable efforts that go into bringing these spectacular designs to life. I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the many winners we have this year and also thank them for their immense contributions of bringing the theatre to RHS Malvern Spring Festival.”

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

The People’s Choice Award offers visitors the chance to vote for their personal favourite to be crowned. Members of the public can vote for their favourite Show Garden and favorite Festival Garden online at www.rhs.org.uk/malvernpeopleschoice. Voting is now open and the winners will be announced on Friday 6th May.

RHS MALVERN BY NUMBERS

90,000 show visitors
Over 500 exhibitors
Over 75 award-winning nurseries in the Floral Marquee
9 Main Show Gardens
3 Festival Gardens
11 School Gardens
Approximately 2,300 people working at the festival
More than 47,000 cups of tea will be enjoyed
Over 23,000 pieces of cake will be indulged
23,000 glasses of Pimms will be sipped
35,000 sandwiches will be consumed
106,000 plants will be sold
Almost 100% of the show gardens waste is recycled
The festival takes over a month to build and just 5 days to dismantle

RHS Malvern Spring Festival kicks off the Royal Horticultural Society summer show season and welcomes the Godfather of Gardening Alan Titchmarsh and National Treasure Mary Berry to headline. The landmark food and gardening festival takes place from Thursday 5th May until Sunday 8th May 2016. Tickets will be available on the gate from £21. For more information, please call 01684 584900 or visit www.rhsmalvern.co.uk