So much variety at Malvern

gardening in shade

From show gardens to plant stalls - and much else besides; there has been so much to see at the Malvern Spring Gardening Show. A quick glance at any one exhibit, and you may miss the subtlety. It's taken me almost four days and I still have not covered it all. I loved the way some garden designers tackled a tricky subject - what to do with a plot that is shady for most of the day. Alex Bell's 'Fade to Shade' (above) presented a range of ideas and solutions for such difficult corners. Somewhere to sit and relax without overmuch hard landscaping, softened by lush and soft planting.

Caroline Butler's 'atom' themed garden at the Malvern Spring Gardening Show

And now for the garden designed and created by the CBMS 2011 scholarship winner, Caroline Butler: 'In the Balance' is a dramatic circular garden that "depicts the positive, negative and electromagnetic forces at work in the atom." The potential scholars were not judged on just their garden, but their aptitude over the last few months, and their potential. Readers interested in applying should check the CBMS website for details of the 2012 scholarship.