THE Spring Gardening Show at Malvern received the royal seal of approval with a visit from the Duke of Gloucester yesterday.

The Duke spent two and a half hours on the second day of the event at the Three Counties Showground, meeting exhibitors, visiting stands and presenting awards.

After arriving by helicopter on the south car park, he went to the Royal Horticultural Society marquee and presented the best in show award to Southfield Nurseries, of Bourne in Lincolnshire.

He then visited the eco home area, the Landscape Living exhibit, Pershore College’s stand and the show gardens, before ending at the school gardens.

The Duke, who is this year’s president of the Three Counties Agricultural Society, praised the standard of the floral exhibits, calling them “truly amazing considering the difficult weather we have had over the last six months”.

The Chris Beardshaw Scholarship Competition, with the winner spending a year under the guidance of the celebrity gardener, was won by Caroline Butler, of Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire.

Two awards to design gardens at next year’s show went to Paul Cantello, of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, and Kasia Howard, of Great Burton, near Oxford.

Despite a stiff breeze sending rain showers across the showground, crowds flocked to the event, which ends at 6pm tomorrow, and carried home everything from 8ft trees to garden gnomes.

An innovative feature of this year’s show was the section devoted to care farms, a national initiative to help the disadvantaged, which was first launched in Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

Ten care farms were provided with a raised timber bed by show organisers and invited to fill it with plants, vegetables and other items to create their own garden design.

Among those taking part was the Fold Care Farm from Bransford, near Worcester, where the 10 students took part in assembling their entry around willow panels woven by Heidi Dayus, of Knightwick, near Worcester, using willow sticks grown on the farm.

Volunteer June Seymour said: “It has been great to take part in a show like this. We started growing the plants for our exhibit last autumn and then put everything together in a couple of days on the showground.

“It was very exciting and gave a real focus to what we do.”

Katie Johnson, Herefordshire’s development officer for Care Farms West Midlands, said: “Care Farming is a fantastic initiative which has a major impact on the lives of those who are involved.

“It is proving extremely beneficial to those recovering from mental health problems.”

At the end of the show, BBC Gardener’s World presenters Monty Don and Joe Swift will be asked to choose their favourite care farm exhibit from those on display.