Shropshire grows gold at Chelsea
Tuesday 25th May 2010, 9:28AM BST.
Shropshire struck triple gold today at the world famous Chelsea Flower Show.
It was a family affair for Shawbury-based Claire Austin and her father’s company David Austin Roses of Albrighton who both scooped gold medals.
Claire, who runs Claire Austin Hardy Plants, said she was delighted with the honour for her long bearded irises, displayed in the Grand Pavillion next to David Austin Roses which won gold for rose varieties.
And Christine and Nick Ffoulkes-Jones, of Hall Farm Nursery at Kinnerley near Oswestry, scored gold for their herbaceous plants.
For this year’s show Claire Austin has launched seven stunning new iris varieties at the show, including Evening Drama and Vision in Pink.
She said: “We have got 1,000 varieties at our nursery in Shawbury but we always introduce a few new ones each year, and most are American from Oregon, which in terms of climate zone and rainfall is similar to Shropshire, so they are good for the UK and for Shropshire.”
The garden display of Albrighton-based David Austin Roses features flowers on all sides with a canal at the centre. And the team of experts are also introducing a number of new varieties for Chelsea.
Michael Marriott, for David Austin Roses, said: “We are introducing six new roses for the show – all shades of pink except one which is white. One thing we have been doing with new introductions is super health. They are all very healthy roses – three are fantastically healthy and three are in good health.”
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