ENTRIES HAVE NOW CLOSED FOR 2023

The Isle of Wight’s most popular gardening competition is back!

Will your garden be a worthy contender to win a category in this year’s Wight In Bloom?

The backbone of Wight in Bloom is the amateur gardener who showcases their work in small front gardens, window boxes and hanging baskets, or enters the competition to have their vegetable plots or water features judged. There’s even a category for younger people, as well as the more established community display categories.

The judges scores will be divided equally between the following 5 criteria:

• OVERALL IMPRESSION – initial impact of the garden
• DESIGN/LAYOUT – use of plants/features/range of plants etc
• HORTICULTURAL PRACTICE – cultivation & maintenance/quality of plants/layout etc
• INNOVATION – creative design, use of form and colour, use of features/furniture/infrastructure etc
• SUSTAINABILITY – composting, wildlife friendly, recycling and use of natural resources are just some of the elements that our judges will be looking out for.

Categories:

• Best small front garden (under 15 sq metres)
• Best large front garden (over 15 sq metres)
• Best small tourist attraction garden (free-to-enter and paid admission attractions are eligible – visitors up to 75k pa)
• Best large tourist attraction garden (free-to-enter and paid admission attractions are eligible – visitors over 75k pa)
• Best commerical garden (public house, restaurant, shop, cafe, business, hotel & all other visitor accommodation)
• Pride of Place floral project (community displays, shopping areas, church grounds – includes town and parish councils)
• Best young people initiative (schools, pre-schools, youth groups and individuals)
• Best edible garden (mix of flowers, vegetables, fruit and herbs)
• Best container garden (creative use of tubs, baskets, vertical planting and recycled containers)
• Best care giving complex garden (residential home, retirement complex, nursing environment)
• Overall ‘Best of Year’ winner of the Peggy Jarman Trophy

An awards ceremony at Albert Cottage Hotel at East Cowes will be hosted by our Patron Alan Titchmarsh MBE, on July 21.