Landscape & Urban Design Issue 44 2020 | Page 50

HORTICULTURE TRADE ASSOCIATION HTA VIRTUAL NEW PLANT AWARDS WINNERS 2020 We are delighted to announce that Apple ‘Trinity’ from Frank P Matthews has been crowned Best in Show at the New Plant Awards 2020. The 2020 judging panel included Matthew Biggs (gardener, writer and broadcaster); Tamsin Westhorpe (Co-chair of The Garden Media Guild); Lesley Watson (Director of New Hopetoun Gardens & RHS Show Garden Judge); Jonathan Savage (General Manager for Scotsdales Garden Centres) and Ian Hodgson (Editor at Large for Garden News Magazine, garden writer & broadcaster) with the HTA’s Director of Membership, Martin Simmons, and Horticulture Manager, Pippa Greenwood, overseeing. Winner of the Virtual Visitor Vote, with an astonishing 306 votes (33% of the total) was Anemone FP007 ‘Frilly Knickers’ from Fairweather’s Nursery. Head Judge, Matthew Biggs, said: “We were overwhelmed by the response to our call for entries to the New Plant Awards this year, especially when the industry is facing such difficulties. It is testament to the hard work and resilience of our UK growers that they have stepped up to the challenge and presented some wonderful new plants for us all to enjoy. We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Frank P Matthews and Fairweather’s Nursery for producing the overall winners, and our heartfelt thanks to everyone who entered.” HTA President, Boyd Douglas-Davis said: “The Virtual New Plant Awards have been a huge success. We made a relatively late decision to run the Awards as a virtual event and weren’t at all sure what level of interest we would get, but we could not be more thrilled with the response we’ve had. We hope the event provides a much-needed boost for our growers and earns them some well deserved publicity for their plants and businesses.” 50 www.landud.co.uk Follow us @ludmagazine