Twelve regional winners of the annual Ruxley Rose planteria comp-etition were announced by the Garden Centre Association this week.

GCA chief executive Iain Wylie congratulated the winners on the high standard of their outdoor plant areas this year.

The twelve will now be judged nationally by Roger Crookes and the top two announced at the GCA conference in January, are:

South Thames area:

Destinaton garden centre (DGC) – Coolings, Kent;  Garden centre (GC) Newbridge Nurseries, West Sussex

Wales and the West:

DGC –  Trelawney@Wadebridge, Cornwall; GC –  The Old Railway Line Garden Centre, Powys

North Thames:

DGC – Perrywood Garden Centre, Essex; GC – Meadow Croft Garden Centre, Essex

Midlands:

DGC – Planters at Tamworth, Staffordshire ; GC – St Peters Garden Centre, Worcestershire

North East:

DGC – Armitages Pennine, West Yorkshire; GC – Cowell’s Garden Centre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (pictured, in 2011)

North West:

DGC – Bents Garden & Home, Cheshire; GC – Fron Goch Garden Centre, Caernarfon.

The Ruxley Rose competition is regarded as one of the industry’s most prestigious awards. Each centre is inspected twice, in spring and early autumn, with 50 per cent of the overall mark applied on each visit.