Student florists to star at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Students and staff from Moreton Morrell College, which is part of WCG (Warwickshire College Group), will be showcasing a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show will run from Tuesday, May 21 to Saturday, May 25 and eight students from the college’s Level 5 Floristry course will be present across the five days.

Catey Burn, Heather Hume, Jen Jones, Anna Leoniak, Renata Petrauskiene, Jane Sked-Connop, Amanda Stagg, and Katie Weekes will all be involved in creating the installation, under the guidance of the floristry tutor Jane Benefield.

The installation will see contributions from across the college group. The college’s blacksmith Dafydd Bowles will be creating steel plates in the college forge to secure structures in the installation.

The Gatherum Centre, which works with supported learning students at the college, will be providing seed bombs and Pershore College, which is also part of WCG, will be contributing plants from its nurseries.

Local business Warwickshire Willow will be creating structures for the installation, while the college is also liaising with growers in the Netherlands for further flower materials.

Moreton Morrell College has received a grant from the Royal Horticultural Society to support the creation of the installation. It was chosen after an application process where colleges were invited to put forward concepts for an installation.

The 5m x 5m space will be titled ‘Awakening’. It has been designed by the students and will comprise a trio of double helices made from willow, reflecting birth, abundance, and decay.

The double helices will be a bespoke one-off design which the students will create under mentorship from Warwickshire Willow, using a combination of living and cut willow in three different colours, and decorated in flower arrangements by the students.

They reflect the start, middle and end of nature’s journey, and how florists have a part to play in the start, middle and end of people’s lives.

Moreton Morrell College’s floristry department is award winning and the students involved are currently studying to become British Master Florists.

During their studies the students have won numerous regional, national and international prizes – including WorldSkills UK titles and medals at previous RHS Chelsea shows.

Jane Benefield, tutor at the college and a seasoned competitor at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, said: “Showing and competing at RHS Chelsea is the pinnacle for any florist and we would like to thank the RHS for giving our students this magnificent opportunity.

“The design and plans have been led entirely by the students and they are already working away behind the scenes in preparation for the show in May.

“Wherever we can we will be involving others students and departments in the college and we’re proud to be showcasing not only floristry but the wider college group too.”

To find out more about floristry courses at Moreton Morrell College visit www.wcg.ac.uk/study