We are so looking forward to welcoming the following esteemed judges who will expertly assess the hundreds of entries in the Competitive Classes that contribute to the ‘wow factor’ at the heart of our 2025 Spring Flower Show:

SECTION A – Ornamental Trees and Shrubs – Tony Kirkham and Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho

Tony Kirkham MBE VMH

Tony Kirkham was Head of Arboretum, Gardens and Horticultural Services at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where he managed and curated more than 14,000 trees and its hardy shrub collections. In 2021, he retired after 43 years’ service for which he received an MBE and the Royal Horticultural Society‘s Victoria Medal of Honour.

He now chairs the RHS Woody Plant Committee, sits on the International Dendrology Society’s Science and Education committee, and is a trustee of the Chelsea Physic Garden and Tree Register of the British Isles.

Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho KCVO OBE CStJ

Born into a keen and knowledgeable gardening family, Edward Bolitho was brought up in the surroundings of Trengwainton Gardens, which has given him an enthusiasm for horticulture, even if no great knowledge.

Following 20 years in the Army, he returned to Cornwall in 1998 to run the family businesses in the far west, including supporting the National Trust at Trengwainton and his brother’s wonderful garden at Trewidden.

He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall in 2011, a role that enables him to see the many outstanding things going on in Cornwall, including the Cornwall Garden Society’s Spring Flower Show.

SECTION B – Magnolias – Jim Gardiner and Thomas Methuen-Campbell

Jim Gardiner VMH

Jim Gardiner is a Vice President of the Royal Horticultural Society. He was formerly a Director of Horticulture at the RHS and President of the Magnolia Society International.

Jim has worked and trained in horticulture all his life including the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the City of Liverpool Botanic Gardens, the Harold Hillier Gardens and RHS Garden Wisley.

He has written books on magnolias and flowering shrubs, sits on the RHS Woody Plant and International Dendrology Society’s Science and Education Committees, and Borde Hill Garden Council. He is also a trustee of the Tree Register of the British Isles.

Thomas Methuen-Campbell

Thomas Methuen-Campbell is a past committee member of the Royal Horticultural Society Rhododendron & Camellia Committee and the International Dendrology Society’s Science and Education Committee.

He gardens on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales with a particular interest in magnolias, rhododendron and camellias as well as a host of other woody genera such as Quercus and Styracaeae. He is particularly interested in wild collected plants.

SECTION C – Camellias – Jim Gardiner and Roderick White

Jim Gardiner VMH

Jim Gardiner is a Vice President of the Royal Horticultural Society. He was formerly a Director of Horticulture at the RHS and President of the Magnolia Society International.

Jim has worked and trained in horticulture all his life including the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the City of Liverpool Botanic Gardens, the Harold Hillier Gardens and RHS Garden Wisley.

He has written books on magnolias and flowering shrubs, sits on the RHS Woody Plant and International Dendrology Society’s Science and Education Committees, and Borde Hill Garden Council. He is also a trustee of the Tree Register of the British Isles.

Roderick White

Roderick White is an enthusiastic amateur gardener with a sizeable garden who enjoys all plants but particularly the woody kind that thrive on acid soil.

He has a great love and knowledge of species rhododendrons, camellias, conifers and their cultivars, and Ericaceae in general.

Roderick has been a member of the Rhododendron, Camellia and Magnolia Group for 40 years. He is a long-standing member of the Royal Horticultural Society. He is a current member of its Woody Expert Group and the International Dendrology Society, as well as chairman of the British Conifer Society.

SECTION D – Rhododendrons – Tony Kirkham and Thomas Methuen-Campbell

Tony Kirkham MBE VMH

Tony Kirkham was Head of Arboretum, Gardens and Horticultural Services at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where he managed and curated more than 14,000 trees and its hardy shrub collections. In 2021, he retired after 43 years’ service for which he received an MBE and the Royal Horticultural Society‘s Victoria Medal of Honour.

He now chairs the RHS Woody Plant Committee, sits on the International Dendrology Society’s Science and Education committee, and is a trustee of the Chelsea Physic Garden and Tree Register of the British Isles.

Thomas Methuen-Campbell

Thomas Methuen-Campbell is a past committee member of the Royal Horticultural Society Rhododendron & Camellia Committee and the International Dendrology Society’s Science and Education Committee.

He gardens on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales with a particular interest in magnolias, rhododendron and camellias as well as a host of other woody genera such as Quercus and Styracaeae. He is particularly interested in wild collected plants.

SECTION E – Daffodils – Johnny Walkers and John Lanyon

Johnny Walkers

Son of a Dutch bulb grower who arrived in South Lincolnshire in the 1930s, Johnny Walkers has been involved in bulb growing all his life and has an extensive knowledge of all things bulbs.

Eighteen years of working for the bulb co-operative, Lingarden, with 100 growers spread from Yorkshire to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, allowed him to hone a specialist knowledge of daffodils.

In 1986, Johnny set up a mail order company specialising in new and unusual varieties of daffodils. This led to him showing daffodils at many flower shows, winning Best in Show three times at the Harrogate Spring Show and 29 Gold medals at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show, with 25 in succession, before he retired in 2019.

Johnny now keeps in touch with his favourite flower through growing in the garden, judging and lecturing to garden clubs.

John Lanyon

John Lanyon has been one of Cornwall’s most respected horticulturists for many years and until his recent retirement, was Garden Manager for the National Trust gardens of Trelissick, Glendurgan, Trerice and Bosloe.

John says: “Plants and gardens have always been a part of my life. Mum and dad gardened all the time so I did also! However, I have taken my interests to a different level. Both the natural world and horticulture create interest and inspiration for me in more ways than I could ever articulate to you. At the heart of all of this is the art of creating a breathtaking garden that can inspire us all.”

SECTION F – Herbaceous, Rhizomatous and other Bulbous Plants – Jonathan Hutchinson and Libby Russell

Jonathan Hutchinson

Jonathan Hutchinson completed his studies with a Diploma in horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Following this, he spent a year working at the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney, which cemented a major interest in southern hemisphere floras.

He presently works at Royal Horticultural Society Garden Rosemoor where he fulfils his passion for working in a plantsman’s garden developed by Lady Anne Palmer prior to it being gifted to the RHS.

Jonathan currently holds the National Collection® for the genus Scadoxus, which has enabled him to visit a number of African countries to see them in habitat.

His most recent trip was to Livingstone, Zambia where he attended the Association for the Taxonomic Study of the Flora of Tropical Africa (AETFAT) conference and was able to explore the native flora.

Libby Russell has designed gardens all over the UK and Europe, ranging from large country estates and town gardens to gardens in France, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus and Spain.

She embraces all elements of the landscape design process but has a particular love of planting, which she is responsible for within the Mazzullo Russell Landscape Design practice.

Libby is a true plantswoman and runs her own gardens in Somerset, London and Greece. She is a member of the Royal Horticultural Society Herbaceous Plant Expert Group, an RHS judge and on the RHS Trial of Veronicas and Hylotelephium.

Her garden at Batcombe House, Somerset is open through the National Garden Scheme (NGS) and has featured on BBC Gardeners’ World as well as in several magazines and books.

Libby lectures on landscape design and is a French speaker who loves life in both in the UK and Greece.

SECTION G – Pot Plants and SECTION H – Alpines – Kim Parish and Jon Wheatley

Kim Parish

Kim Parish began her career in horticulture at Writtle College where she gained a BSc (Hons) Degree in Landscape and Garden Design. She has since designed and implemented garden schemes across Cornwall through her company, Landscapes of Distinction.

Kim’s garden designs for BBC Gardeners’ World Live in 2021, 2022 and 2023 won her Silver Gilt, Gold and People’s Choice awards. She also created a garden for the 2022 Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show, which promoted the diversity of horticultural careers. In 2024, Kim rebuilt her 2023 show garden at Cornwall Hospice Care in St Austell and opened a visitor garden to showcase design excellence at Mitchell Fruit Garden near Newquay.

Kim voluntarily supports the RHS as a floral marquee show judge and chair, and judges the national Britain in Bloom campaign.

Jon Wheatley

Jon Wheatley is recognised as a champion of community involvement and horticultural education.

A highly-respected RHS judge for the Britain in Bloom UK Finals competition, Chair of South West in Bloom and Chair of the Judges for the Windlesham Prison Trophy, Jon is a passionate horticulturalist.

He has spent his life promoting this in all its aspects to create community partnerships and increased awareness of the benefits of gardening.

SECTION I – Floral Art – Pip Bensley and Donna Savage

Pip Bensley

Pip Bensley is the National Judge for NAFAS, the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies.

She remembers clearly all the flowers in her childhood garden and how her grandfather taught her to care for them. It took her a few years to realise that they could provide a career for her.

A neglected garden on the banks of the Fal Estuary in Cornwall proved a trigger. The best possible grounding in a Cornish nursery kicked off a long career.

Three years as landscape architect to a billionaire financier at his Berkshire manor house widened Pip’s horizons. Over 27 years, she then worked her way up from Plant Area Assistant to Plant Buyer at Hillier Nurseries, where she also edited its Gardening Club magazine and authored The Hillier Gardeners’ Guide to Climbers and Wall Plants.

Pip is a member of both the Garden Media Guild and the Professional Garden Photographers’ Association.

Donna Savage

Donna Savage is an Area Judge for NAFAS, the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies.