DEDICATED gardeners from Herefordshire and Worcestershire were blooming with delight after being awarded prizes at the world famous Chelsea Flower Show.

Pershore College, The Alpine Garden Society, also of Pershore, florist Sandra Snell, of Ross-on-Wye, and the Association of British Conifer Growers, of Bromsgrove, were all successful.

For Sandra Snell, this year's event was her most successful to date. She won a silver gilt in the prestigious Flower Arranging category for her innovative and unusual display.

The Worcester News was the first to tell her of her success.

"I am absolutely thrilled," she said. "I have entered Chelsea for the last three years and won two silvers. The silver gilt is the next step up, and hopefully it will be gold next year.

"I chose the theme a 'glimpse of paradise' this year. At 4ft sq, the design was made up of all white flowers, including orchids and roses.

"It took me about three months to do from design to completion."

The Alpine Society won a bronze flora medal for its garden 'A Celebration of Alpines'.

"It was designed in such a way as to give the visitor, walking around it, a view of different planting habitats for a wide range of alpines," said designer Dr Kit Grey-Wilson.

"One area is a dry, scree-and-rock area with wonderful displays of saxifrage, aquilegia and dianthus, another area, a bog area with a trickle of water appearing from under the rocks, planted with primula - primula vialli, and sarracenia."

Pershore College won a silver in the Sunflower Street category. Their design celebrated the 50th anniversary of the college and was predominately gold with blue and green in the background. It was made up of circles inter-linking with one another.

The Bromsgrove-based Association of British Conifer Growers won a bronze medal in the Sunflower Street category for its Victorian garden 'On Reflection.'

This year's show featured 33 small gardens, four of which were awarded RHS Gold Medals.

Gardens and exhibits at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show are not judged against each other, they are all judged to a standard, so more than one medal from each category can be awarded.

n A former Worcester schoolgirl who is now doing a degree inhorticulture also had success at the show.

Annika Brown, who went to the King's School, entered the show with Writtle College in Chelmsford, Essex.

The college's display, which won gold in the Lifelong Learning in the Garden category, was designed to show how edible plants are easy to grow can be used to make an attractive and functional wildlife garden.