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Southport Flower Show 17-19th August 2000 The Competition Gardens Informal Gardens

The worthy winner of the Informal Garden section, and guaranteed to catch your eye, is this study in blue and purple by Jackie Knight Landscapes of Formby. Very modern, lots of avant garde touches and styling which could easily dominate, but the complementary planting does manage to hold its own.

The plants have been chosen for their strong colours, as in this combination with the wine red of the Zantedeschia flowers and the deep purples of the underplanting are the perfect foil for the mediterranean blue of the walls.

This is a garden that upsets ones sensibilities on first viewing, but is is *so* well built, and so much thought has gone into the planting and overall appearance, that you end up standing before it, mesmerised. This funky Peacock is just one of the outlandish touches that make this a garden to savour, and it certinly attracted a lot of attention from the crowds, who were more or less continually questioning young Jackie from the moments the gates opened until the fireworks started with the arrival of dusk.

Runner up in the Informal Garden category is this quietly understated design from Ian Collins Garden Lanscapes. A stream bounds the left hand side of the garden, curving around, tumbling over 3 cataracts before cascading into this pool at the base of the garden.

The right hand side of the garden features a flight of steps created from reclaimed Cheshire Brick and York stone paving, which climb upwards and curve around to a traditional garden bench set before an elliptical lawn. The planting is traditional too, with nothing that demands ones attention at the expense of other, less strident, plants.

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