In the city of Cardiff in Wales, from April 17 to 19, spring was welcomed by the RHS Cardiff Flower Show with more than 24,000 visitors from across the United Kingdom, inspiring gardeners to creatively use their outdoor spaces and encouraging visitors to learn and grow as gardeners.
This festival, held since 2005, is the first outdoor event of the Royal Horticultural Society's season and takes place in an extraordinary setting, Bute Park. This park has the largest number of unique trees and the largest specimens of their species of all public parks in the United Kingdom. And it was the place where, in the 18th century, the great English landscape architect Capability Brown worked.
The Cardiff Flower Show is divided into three main thematic areas: a large floral market, a plant exhibition where nurseries present new varieties, and the temporary garden competition. You can also attend numerous gardening talks with RHS experts, as well as a series of activities designed for the whole family.
The designers, professionals from South Wales, who participated in this year's garden competition had to face the challenge of creating small-scale gardens with low maintenance needs, according to this edition's theme Simple Spaces: Fantastic Spaces.
The gold medal went to the Alfresco garden by young garden designer Victoria Wade. This garden is conceived as an extension of the house, with an outdoor kitchen-dining area, for a young couple. Among some fruit trees, the main protagonists of this garden are aromatic plants, which are found in raised beds, in pots and on vertical shelves, to facilitate the use of these fresh ingredients in the preparation of dishes and cocktails.
The silver medal went to Robert Hughes' Office box garden. A formal garden, formed by hedges and plants such as Hosta, [Phormium](http://www.salagraupera.com/es/cataleg/general/category/phormium-phormiaceae-6), Centaurea or Ajuga, which is incorporated into a semi-open office with a green roof, for working with great inspiration.
Another project we want to highlight is the family garden and wildlife refuge Nurture in Nature by designer Shani Lawrence. A garden that reflects the benefit of having pollinating plants year-round for wildlife and encourages the balance of the urban ecosystem.
Images: primaporcelain.co.uk / letsgogardening.co.uk / victoriawade.co.uk / rhs.org.uk / rhs.org.uk