Belvoir Castle recently celebrated its busiest and most popular Flower & Garden Show to date, welcoming thousands of guests to the grounds of the Regency Castle.
Famous faces including Adam Frost from BBC’s Gardeners’ World and David Domoney from ITV’s Love Your Weekend hosted masterclasses and Q&As in the marquee, signed books and posed for pictures with their legion of friendly fans across Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July.
Over the course of the weekend, visitors also voted for their favourite display in the Best Countryside Border competition. Supported by the London College of Garden Design, CED Stone and Boughton Loam, it was open to anyone in horticulture and involved designing a border display with a focus on pollinators.
From a dozen finalists, the judging panel – consisting of Belvoir’s head gardener Andy Tudbury as well as Adam Frost and David Domoney – selected Carina Park as the winner of the coveted Duchess of Rutland Trophy for Best in Show, whilst Will Pateman and Elodie Pradon received the People’s Choice Awards for the Saturday and Sunday respectively, which is chosen by Belvoir’s visitors. Chris Holloway of Baccara Plants was also awarded the Best Trade Stand award.
Other notable designs included a submission from Stephen Cobb, who created a feature garden to highlight products from CED Stone, whilst Belvoir Castle’s own volunteer gardeners designed a border to raise awareness of the Estate’s volunteering scheme and what it means to them.
The original founder of the show and the person in charge of bringing it to life, Andy Tudbury, was delighted with the event and said: “There was a wonderful atmosphere at the Flower & Garden Show this year and we’re so pleased that so many of our guests enjoyed themselves as they wandered the gardens, took inspiration for their own outdoor spaces and chatted with some of horticulture’s leading experts.
“The gardening team has worked extremely hard ensuring everything was in perfect condition and ready to wow guests with beautiful colours and delightful aromas from the flower beds. With so much to discover at the show, including shopping at local vendors and hands on sessions with experts, it’s no wonder the show has become one of Belvoir’s flagship events.”
In light of this year’s success, Belvoir Castle can announce that the Flower & Garden Show will be returning for 2026. It will be hosted with a similar format of Q&As and sessions with experts, beautiful gardens to admire, shopping opportunities with local businesses and the annual ‘Best Countryside Border’ competition.
Open in autumn for 2026 entrants, judges will shortlist designers to compete in the competition’s final which is hosted at the show. Open to anyone involved in garden design, horticulture and landscaping, the competition celebrates planting design and showcases new garden designers and horticulturists in their careers.
This year’s competition winner, Carina Park, said: “This was my first time doing a Show Garden so to come away with first place is truly exciting and I was completely shocked! The show had a wonderful atmosphere, and it was a joy to interact with the public and fellow enthusiasts.
“Over the weekend, I saw many bees and butterflies take to the concept gardens and that’s exactly what all entrants want to achieve – showcasing how gardens can help biodiversity and what the future of horticulture looks like in an era of extreme weather and dry periods.”
Tickets for the 2026 Belvoir Castle Flower & Garden Show will be for sale on the website in the coming weeks: www.belvoircastle.com
Posted on 24 July 2025
