AN ex-Monmouth Comprehensive School pupil has seized the top spot in this year’s Cardiff RHS Flower Show.

Fleur Porter co-designed an impressive garden with Melinda Thomas which scooped the following awards: Best in Show, Best Construction and Gold Award.

The garden called Hiraeth, which in Welsh describes a longing or desire for a place, caught the judges eyes for its design and theme.

The garden is designed to feature a combination of the notion of Hiraeth with the historical and romantic significance evoked by ruined buildings.

The RHS Flower Show ran from last Friday (15th April) to Sunday (17th April) and welcomed gardening fans from across the country.

Fleur said: “We were absolutely thrilled to bits when we received the news. We were jumping up and down on the spot!

“The garden is something my design partner Melinda and I have spoken about for a while.

“The fireplace is the central feature of the garden and it harks back to how the hearth was always the heart of the home in old Welsh cottages. We also noticed that in many buildings the chimney stays standing after the rest of the walls crumbled.

“We were fortunate to be able to use local materials to create the garden. We used wood from a recycling enterprise in Newport for the benches and stones from a Welsh cottage that needed to be demolished.”

For more information about the garden and all who contributed, visit: www.hiraethgarden.co.uk