Tong Garden Centre is repeating its free orchid advice day following last year's successful event.

The Bradford centre is holding an Orchid Day on Sunday, 1st March where lovers of the tropical species are invited to receive free advice and health checks for their plants.

The day will be led by former orchid grower, Chris Channon, a Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) gold medalist who said: "Orchid Days give house plant lovers the opportunity to find out how easy orchids are to grow and how best to look after their plants, as well as have any queries answered.  

"People are welcome to bring their own orchids along during the day. I'll be able to give them a free orchid MOT during my clinic and diagnose any problems they may have, as well as give handy ‘dos and don'ts' on how to treat their plants, especially when they're not at their best."

Chris will be in the houseplant area at the Tong Lane garden centre between 10am and 4pm for general advice and will be giving talks and re-potting demonstrations at 11am and at 2pm. The talks will last 30-40 minutes and will give advice about how to care for your orchid, how to ensure that it flowers repeatedly and other types of orchids to grow beyond Phalaenopsis.

The demonstrations will be followed by a question and answer session. There is no charge for entry and there will be offers on selected plants throughout the day.

Tong's Plant Buyer Steve Smith is delighted to welcome Chris back to Tong: "The event was so successful last year, attracting many people in store to learn more about caring for their orchid. Customers loved the free orchid health check, valuing Chris's expertise."

Tong Garden Centre occupies a 17 acre site in Tong village. It is one of Yorkshire's biggest garden centres with 110,000 square feet of retail space and parking for up to 1,000 cars.