Any of Britain's schools which would like the chance to win £250 by growing sweet peas this summer for Mr Fothergill's national competition are being given an added incentive by the Suffolk seedsman with the offer of free seed. 

The company has a packet of 20 seeds of its brand new and exclusive sweet pea Tiller Girls, each worth £2.09, to give to the first 100 schools which contact it expressing an interest. 

The judging will be held at Capel Manor College, north London, on Saturday 18 July 2015. 

Tiller Girls is a very sweetly scented, large flowered mixture of attractive 'flakes'.  

There are two categories for schools' entries - those staged on the day and those sent by post - each with a £250 first prize, £150 second prize and £100 third prize to be donated to the winning schools' funds. 

There are also two similar categories for individual youngsters, each with respective first, second and third prizes of £125, £75 and £50 in garden centre vouchers.  

The prizes will be awarded to those entrants whose displays have the greatest all-round appeal in the opinion of the judges, one of whom will be the company's John Fothergill. 

He says "We want to encourage as many schools and youngsters to enter as possible and for it all to be to be as much fun as possible.  Sweet peas are easy to grow and everyone loves their flower form and fragrance".  

Entrants may either post their blooms in a two-litre soft drinks bottle or turn up at the college on the day of the show to stage their flowers. 

Mr Fothergill's has devised a method of allowing postal entries to arrive in good condition and details are available at the company's website www.mr-fothergills.co.uk, where full details of the competition are also available.  

To request a free packet of sweet pea Tiller Girls for a school, write to Schools Sweet Pea Competition, Mr Fothergill’s Seeds, Gazeley Road, Kentford, Newmarket, Suffolk, CN8 7QB.  Remember to include the sender's address.