IT started as a modest local flower show in 1985 but it certainly has grown. Malvern's annual Spring Gardening Show, held on the Three Counties Showground in early May, now attracts not far short of 100,000 visitors every year, plus the cognoscenti among gardening writers and even national television.

This year's event, which opens next Thursday, May 10, with a special ticket preview day, will form the bulk of BBC2 TV's Gardeners' World hour-long programme on Friday night.

And you don't get much better promotion than than.

People arrive by the coachload from all over the country and most buy something, be it a plant that looked good at the time but is really far too tall to take home comfortably or a pair of gardening gloves.

One of the highlights this year will be a new Victorian-themed garden created by designer, broadcaster and journalist - is there nothing he doesn't do? - Chris Beardshaw to celebrate the rural skills, craftmanship, landscapes and livelihoods of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

If you love an argument, there's a celebrity debate in the interactive design theatre on Friday over who makes the better gardeners, men or women. Drop in and watch the fertiliser fly.

The general public days are next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and as always, the spectacular centrepiece of the show is the Royal Horticultural Society's Malvern Floral Marquee, where about 100 of the country's top growers exhibit.

A gold medal at Malvern is now the equal of a gold medal at Chelsea Flower Show - and that's something you wouldn't have said 22 years ago.

l Showground open 9am-6pm all three days. On the day admission £16, £14 and £13.50. Children under 15, free.