Winners Of Top Isle Of Wight Gardening Competition Revealed

Isle of Wight Steam Railway was the setting for the Island’s annual celebration of horticulture on Friday (18 July), when the winners were announced for Wight in Bloom.

The competition, organised by Visit Isle of Wight, saw a large number of entries across a range of categories, ranging from Best Small Front Garden to Best Large Tourist Attraction Garden.

Hosted by CEO of regional tourism body Tourism South East Fran Downton and Visit Isle of Wight MD Will Myles, the awards were the culmination of months of hard work in the garden from green-fingered Islanders.

The competition was supported by Island Line, and the theme of this year’s competition was Railway 200, a national celebration of the 200th anniversary of the modern railway, with many entries reflecting the theme in their gardens.

All the finalists were presented with certificates made from terracotta roof tiles, each individually designed and painted by local artist ByMrsM and sponsored by Southern Vectis, while the winners were also presented with a slice of track from the Isle of Wight Steam Railway Awards were presented by Simon Moye from Southern Vectis and Emma Brown from South Western Railway, operators of Island Line.

Ahead of the ceremony, guests were treated to a Ploughman’s Lunch at the Events Barn at Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

Alan Titchmarsh, Patron of Wight in Bloom, was unable to attend the ceremony, but did send a video congratulating everyone on their work.

The students at St George’s School were named winners of the Best Young People Initiative. Kat Montagu, a teacher at St George’s said that the garden is now an important part of the school:

“It’s a cross-curricular subject, we’ve incorporated maths, literacy, life-skills, everything. The kids have absolutely loved it.

"It’s changed an area that was quite dull and not used into an area that is used really frequently now.

“It was great meeting the judges, it was great getting the kids involved, we planned lessons around what the criteria was, we learned all about British railway as well and then coming today, we had a lovely afternoon tea, the girls and I have loved it!”

Taking home the award for Best Climate Resilient Garden and the Patrons Award, winner Rosalind Smith - known to her friends as Anthea – said her daughter entered her into Wight in Bloom without telling her, said she was overwhelmed to win the awards, stressing the importance of her garden:

“I love my garden, it’s all trees and peace – you can sit and be taken in by it all”, adding that it did also make her feel that she could do with a couple of days off from gardening!"

Ellen Penstone-Smith, joint head gardener at Farringford collected the award for Best Small Tourist Attraction Garden for the second year in a row.

The overall winner and recipient of the Peggy Jarman trophy, named for Peggy who was an ardent supporter of Wight In Bloom and presented by her son Terry, was Nicola Fradgley, who also took the prize for Best Edible Garden.

Nicola said:

“Just give it a go, it’s rewarding, it’s a lovely event, it’s nice to be part of and it’s a nice pat on the back!”

Will Myles, MD at Visit Isle of Wight said:

“Wight in Bloom is made possible with support from the Island’s Wight BID. As well as promoting the Island to bring us our visitors, we do lots of on Island activities many people are not aware of.

"It is important we all have your support to secure funding for Wight in Bloom.”