Photography Competition Winners Announced

Wish you could capture the beauty of a garden view or the perfect detail of a fascinating flower on your camera? If your snaps are never quite as picture-perfect as the places you have visited, now you can take a little bit of inspiration from the winners of our photography competition. All amateurs, they shared their passion for plants and flair for photography with fantastic results.

Launched this summer the competition was a chance to help us celebrate Gertrude Jekyll's 175th anniversary year. The theme was 'My Garden' - we were looking for photographs that really capture the inspiration that gardens and gardening bring. Our judges Annunciata Elwes, News and Property Editor from Country Life Magazine and Claire Greenslade, Head Gardener at Hestercombe were amazed by the creativity of the entries and after much hard deliberation decided upon the winners and runners up.

Drum roll please.....

WINNER - Over 18 category

Roger Shattock

'The hanging gardens of Hestercombe', Hestercombe Gardens - by Roger Shattock

WINNER - under 18 category

Amelia Grabham

'Blossom', Trull, Somerset - by Amelia Grabham

Huge congratulations go to Roger and Amelia along with the following runners up:

Runners Up (over 18)

Viv Halliwell Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset	Susan Marks 'Perfect Harmony' Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset
Richard Nash 'Drying Flowers' Lost Gardens of Helligan, Cornwall	Polly Skene The White Garden Barrington Court, Somerset
Hester Stanwood 'Rose in black and white' Taunton, Somerset	Eric Harris 'Guardians of the gate' Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset
Diogo Almeida 'Purple Haze'	Carol Falconer Bennett's Water Gardens

Runners Up (under 18)

Em Colvin, Garden of Hope Columbus, Ohio	Meredith Willis Salleboeuf, France
Violet Saunders 'Petite Petals' Taunton, Somerset	Emily Johnson Éclater Wellington, Somerset
Kaitlyn Osborne 'Enter the fairy garden' Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset	Jimmy Smith 'Bumbling along' Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset
Eleanor Davidson Eden Project, Cornwall	Callum Small 'A thoughtful view' Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to enter - it was fantastic to see such wonderfully diverse images.

All the selected images will feature in an exhibition in our Stables Cafe this winter - keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for news and come and be inspired over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.