A family-run herb nursery from Stone has won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show for its work on a garden with the ‘World of Beatrix Potter’ tourist attraction in Cumbria.
Hooksgreen Herbs supplied all the herbs and plants for the ‘Enchanting World of Peter Rabbit Herb Garden’, which was designed by award-winning garden designer Richard Lucas.
The garden brings to life the drawings and illustrations from Beatrix Potter’s famous little books and highlights key iconic images from the Tale of Peter Rabbit.
It features culinary and medicinal herbs, vegetables, wild flowers and some cottage garden favourites too, along with Mr McGregor’s greenhouse and theatrical walls that replicate the Lake District slate and brick walls from the original illustrations.
Speaking from Chelsea Flower Show yesterday, Malcolm Dixon from Hooksgreen Herbs told us: “This is our fourth time at the Chelsea Flower Show. We won silver medals in 2011 and 2012, a silver gilt last year and now, finally, a gold medal. We’re absolutely delighted. It was a wonderful project to work on and the finished result is just stunning.”
Hooksgreen Herbs was founded in 2005 and is run by Malcolm Dickson and his son Thomas and their family. It enjoys a reputation for growing and supplying one of the widest ranges of culinary, medicinal and scented herbs available in the UK to the general public. Hooksgreen attends all the major horticultural shows in the UK, where they sell their range of herbs and seeds, as well as online at www.hooksgreenherbs.com. During 2013, Malcolm and Thomas were awarded the RHS Colin Spires award for the Best Herb Display of the Year for their Gold medal display at Hampton Court.
Staff at Hooksgreen Herbs were busy preparing for the Peter Rabbit herb garden for months. Here’s a video of Tom Dickson explaining the work that was involved…
There’s lots more information about the Peter Rabbit herb garden on the World of Beatrix Potter website at www.hop-skip-jump.com
And you can visit the Hooksgreen Herbs website at www.hooksgreenherbs.com
