The pinnacle of horticultural excellence is a Gold Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society and students from Writhlington and Mendip Studio School are celebrating winning Gold at this year’s Hampton Court Flower Show.
Year 10 student, Chloe McGiveron was part of the display design team and
explained: “We have been nurturing our best orchids all year for Hampton Court and planning creative ways to link our plants to our conservation work in Rwanda.”
The display featured some enormous specimen plants including Prosthechea
prismatocarpa, a species from Costa Rica, a plant donated to Writhlington twenty-five years ago as a seedling and has been cared for by generations of students ever since.
Two iPad apps designed by Year 11 student, James Stewart, provided additional information about the plants and gave visitors access to audio files recorded in Rwanda, while the students were on an expedition to set up propagation laboratories for the local university.
This week’s success has attracted more media interest, with a feature on ITV West and a series of articles to appear in the national media in the coming weeks and months.
The next big show for the Orchid Project will be the Writhlington School Orchid Festival on Saturday, 10th September, when the public will be able to see the prize-winning orchids alongside displays from across the area.