Heligan Wins Gold!

Yesterday (7th July) the medal winners at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show were announced to the world with a name familiar to the people of Cornwall amongst them.
The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Pentewan, just outside of St Austell, won a Gold Medal for their Leap designed Camellia & Rhododendron display in the Plant Heritage Marquee.
As the only Cornish garden exhibiting this year, it was extra important to make sure that Heligan’s display was especially striking, especially because, due to disease control, they are not allowed to exhibit live samples; as Lorna Tremayne, Heligan’s Marketing and Media Manager explains:
“Due to restrictions on plant movement for sites like ours with the fungal disease Phytophthora ramorum, we are unable to take any plant material from our National Collection. This meant that we needed to create a purely interpretative display full of images and interesting anecdotes and facts to tell Heligan’s National Collection story.”
“We have worked closely with Leap Media who have created an eye-catching gallery style display for us.” Leap designer Claire England worked for three weeks on the display that tells the story of Heligan’s National Collection of Camellias and Rhododendrons and is thrilled with the award: “I’m really pleased with the finished result and so happy that our hard work has been recognised.”
Taking pride of place in the Plant Heritage Marquee, the display is made up of over 60 panels of images and information and reveals the adventures of the Victorian Plant Hunters, the fascinating stories of individual plants and the conservation and future of Heligan’s horticultural treasures.
In 2008, Heligan was granted National Collection status by Plant Heritage for its historical collection of ‘Camellias and Rhododendrons Introduced to Heligan pre-1920’. The collection, which boasts over 70 veteran camellias and 350 ancient rhododendrons, attracts thousands of visitors to the gardens every spring with its majestic and colourful blooms.
It’s been over ten years since Heligan last exhibited at Hampton Court. Leap are really excited to be involved with their return and with this success look forward to working with the ‘Lost Gardens’ in the near future.