DESPITE an Arctic winter and a drought-like spring, this year’s Malvern Spring Gardening Show, which opened on the Three Counties showground yesterday, is set to be a record breaker.

Royal Horticultural Society judges awarded 47 gold medals to exhibitors in the main floral marquee, the highest number in the 25-year history of the event.

“It is really quite amazing considering the extremes of weather we’ve had,” said Bob Sweet, RHS head of shows development.

“I don’t think I have ever seen such an array of stunning blooms and exhibits here before.

“Some of them quite took my breath away.”

The previous highest number of RHS golds at Malvern was 44 in 2008 and the show has now reached such high quality, awards are considered of equal standing to the doyenne of flower shows, Chelsea.

The best in show award went to a display of cacti from Southfield Nurseries, of Bourne in Lincolnshire, but there were gold medals for Owens Bros (of Worcester) of Claines with a display of conifers, and Grange Farm Nursery, of Guarlford, near Malvern, with hardy shrubs and herbaceous plants.

Mr Sweet also paid tribute to Hannah Genders, of Rous Lench, who won a gold in the show gardens section. She spent several weeks cycling around the county’s lanes looking for materials she could use for her show garden.

“I am so pleased I can hardly believe it,” said Mrs Genders, who dedicated her garden, called My Very Local Veg Garden, to her mother Marjorie, who died unexpectedly last year.

“I have exhibited twice at Chelsea Flower Show and received a silver-gilt, the next category down, but this is my first gold.”

Her show garden was full of ideas for growing vegetables in small spaces and was based on an eco-friendly there with recycled slabs, terracotta tiles and granite setts from a Worcester reclamation yard.

After the show it is going to be re-built at Hillers farm shop and garden, near Ragley Hall, and will be used as an educational resource for schoolchildren.

Graduate Gardeners, of Bisley, near Stroud, also received gold.

The Spring Gardening Show – a joint venture between the RHS and the Three Counties Agricultural Society – is expected to attract about 100,000 visitors before it closes its gates on Sunday evening and it will be featured on BBC2’s Gardeners World tonight.

First day winners

A SHOW garden designed by Mark Eveleigh to celebrate 100 years of the Roberts family running the Three Kings Inn at Hanley Castle won a silver-gilt flora award, as did the pre-historic themed exhibit Garden Before Time by Terra-Dactul Landscapes, of Astley, near Stourport-on- Severn.

There was also a silvergilt flora for the Morgan Garden by designer Craig Hamilton-Smith, which marked the heritage of Malvern’s Morgan Motor Company.

Caves Folly Nurseries and the Cottage Herbery of Colwall received a silver-flora award for its Shepherd’s Garden, designed to highlight sustainable lifestyles.

In the RHS marquee Fuchsiavale Nurseries of Kidderminster took a silver-gilt flora for its fuchsias and there were silver flora awards to Bouts Cottage Nurseries of Inkberrow, Cotswold Garden Flowers of Badsey and P&J Plants of Madley, Herefordshire, while Cooks Garden Centre of Stourport on Severn received a bronze flora.

The children’s gardens section resulted in highly commended awards for Pershore College Schools Group and The Larches School of Leominster and commended awards for Worcester’s Tudor Grange Academy as well as Charford First School and Parkside Middle, both of Bromsgrove.