Shrewsbury Flower Show: Thousands flock to The Quarry on final day – with pictures and video
Visitors were greeted by glorious sunshine and blue skies this morning as the Shrewsbury Flower Show launched into its second and final day.
People weren't put off by yesterday's heavy rain showers, as thousands of people returned for a second day spent meandering the various stalls and colourful floral displays.
The day's main events included a cooking demonstration by celebrity chef Matt Tebbutt, live music from Of One Accord Choir and a show jumping championship, which was held in the main arena.
WATCH our video from the final day here:
The gardeners' question time workshop, which was held at 2.30pm, also proved extremely popular with visitors both young and old.
Members of the public were able to ask the celebrity gardeners, including Chris Beard Shaw, Penny Meadmore and Margaret Thrower, a wide range of questions about their gardening hints and tips.
The show attracts some of the top horticulturalists and amateur gardeners from across the country, many of which work hard throughout the year to display their most prized plants at Shrewsbury Flower Show.
Mike Avis, show manager for The National Begonia Society, could be founding tending to one of the busy stalls.
Mike travelled all the way from North Devon to attend the popular event.
He said: "The society was originally formed in 1945. I've been show manger now for the last five years and I love it. I come up here every year and I've always liked Shrewsbury.
"Many of the plants are packaged up with damp cotton wool and are carried with the greatest of care to ensure they here in good condition ready for the show.
"We aim to get people interested in the society. We have lots of displays showcasing some absolutely superb plants. The weather this year has been too hot for growing many plants, we've all been suffering a lot. Despite this we've still got a really fantastic collection."
According to Mike, there are several secrets behind growing a prize winning plant.
One society member even travelled down from Dumfries, Scotland to show off his colourful Begonias.
"A paper plate can be placed behind the flower to make sure it grows symmetrically. Each plant has its very own merits, with the cut blooms the judge is looking for the shape and depth as well as a rose bud centre. All the petals should also be in the right order. You can't do much about changing it once it's grown," added Mike.
Although the annual show has horticulture at its heart, with so much going on throughout the afternoon, there was bound to be something for everyone.
In the food hall James Sherwin, owner of local restaurant Wild Shropshire, could be seen giving a live cooking demonstration to a large crowd of spectators.
His demonstration explained how to make the most of locally sourced produce, as James's dishes are completely led by what he grows at home and what can be farmed here in Shropshire.
He said: "I love the flower show, it always feels very expansive. You think you've seen it all, but there's always more to see. It's a real special occasion and it's always good to be here.
"So I'm going to cook a piece of duck alongside some turnips sourced from my allotment, and I'm also going to talk about some of the forest plants which I'm going to use in the dish.
WATCH: Behind-the-scenes video
Wild Shropshire, based in Tern Hill, was awarded Restaurant of the Month by Love British Food earlier this year.
"Ninety nine per cent of what we use is sourced in Shropshire, or more specifically by my house. We grow our own ingredients in the allotment and we forage for our own plants.
"Something always goes wrong when cooking live, there's something fun about the chaos of it. It also takes away some of the stability of working in a private kitchen," explained James.
It was also a busy couple of days for members of Shropshire's WI, who were showcasing many impressive displays inside one of the vast marquees.
This year the various classes were given the title 'Lets Get Carried Away- Bags, Boxes and Baskets.'
Around 30 WI members entered this year, therefore judging this year's entries was quite a challenging task, explained Dot Henderson the WI Committee Chairman.
Dot added: "The preparation for today started this time last year once last year's show was finished.
"So all the classes have been given a title which they can interpret however they like. We have eight different classes altogether, which were judged by our specially trained WI judges because we have our own set of rules, which according to Chris Beardshaw, are tighter than the garden design regulations.
"The work that goes on before coming to the event is full on, but it's been really great and very enjoyable. We saw a lot of people enjoying the indoor stalls yesterday due to the rain and it seems a lot of people are interested in the WI here at Shrewsbury.
"It was so wet and busy yesterday I haven't had a chance to see what else has been going on. This afternoon I'm going to go and enjoy it, I'm looking forward to having a look at the different plants."
Visitors were able to enjoy an energetic performance from the The Red Hot Chilli Pipers, followed by an impressive firework display over Quarry Park and the River Severn, which marked the end of this year's Flower Show.
