A free flowering variety, Clematis ‘Beautiful Bride’ produces a stunning display of large pure white flowers. It is excellent for growing over an arch or pergola as well as on walls and fences.
Commenting on the overall winner judge Peter Catt from Liss Forest Nurseries said, “This plant really provides a ‘wow’ factor which is what we were looking for. Its large pure white flowers produce a fantastic display all the way up the stem and its clear stamens are a real feature. Extremely well presented it is a highly saleable and marketable plant in a garden centre setting and, with such a wonderful name, it is sure to do well and have wide appeal.”
The plant was bred by Szczepan Marczynski and introduced to the UK market by specialist clematis and climbing plant nursery, New Leaf Plants, based in Evesham.
This year’s awards, sponsored by the RHS, attracted over 90 entries across 5 categories:- annual, breeder innovation, hardy nursery stock, herbaceous perennial and houseplants. The judges awarded 12 gold, 8 silver and 3 bronze awards.
The winners are….
Annual
Gold and Best in category
Verbena hybrida ‘Lanai Twister Pink’ – Syngenta FloriPro Services Gold Mecardonia hybrid ‘Magic Carpet Yellow’ – Earley Ornamentals Limited Pelargonium hybrid ‘Calliope Rose Splash’ – Syngenta FloriPro Services Verbena ‘Wicked Purple’ – Young Plants Limited Silver Petunia hybrid ‘Mini Blast Rose’ – Earley Ornamentals Ltd Bronze Petunia ‘Sweetunia Johnny Flame’ – Young Plants Limited Breeder Innovation Gold and Best in category Pear (Pyrus) ‘Benita Rafzas’™ – Frank P Matthews Ltd Silver Aspilla ‘Brasilia Gold’ – Channel Island Plants (UK) Ltd Diascia hybrid ‘Aurora’™ Apricot – Ball Colegrave Ltd Hardy Nursery Stock Gold, Best in category and Best in Show Clematis Beautiful Bride – New Leaf Plants
Gold
Hebe ‘Blue Ice’- Lowaters Nursery
Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Love’ ™ (H19-17) – Javado UK Physocarpus ‘Amber Jubilee’ – John Woods Nurseries Picea pungens ‘Blue Diamond’ – Kilworth Conifers
Silver
Hebe ‘Garden Beauty Pink’ (Lowpapi) – Lowaters Nursery Lavatera ‘Ruby Star’ – West End Nuseries Bronze Sambucus nigra Blue Sheen – Hillier Nurseries
Herbaceous Perennial
Gold and Best in Category
Penstemon ‘Riding Hood Blue’- Fairweather’s Nursery Silver Leucantheum superbum ‘Real Glory’ – Eagle Plants Ltd Tradescantia ‘Swallowtail’ – New Forest Plants Bronze Digitalis ‘Illumination Chelsea Gold’- Farplants Sales Ltd Houseplant Gold and Best in Category Begonia elatior ‘Glory Lemon’ – Beekenkamp Plants Silver Phalaenopsis ‘Phantom’ – Javado UK The New Plant Award judges were HTA President Caroline Owen from Scotsdales Garden Centre, Gardener and TV broadcaster Christine Walkden, well known plant breeder Peter Catt from Liss Forest Nurseries, RHS Trials Manager Mark Heath and Head of Horticulture at the Garden Centre Group Tim Clapp. HTA Operations Manager Martin Simmons chaired the judging panel.
All New Plant Award entries can be viewed at the show and visitors too can have their say by taking part in the Visitor Vote Awards, sponsored by Floramedia. The winner of the Visitor Vote Award will be announced at 3.00 pm on Wednesday 26 June.
