Flowers The Farmers' Country Showdown

Across the country,

thousands of farming families work tirelessly around the clock.

Bring them up, Isabel! Well done!

Here they come!

Shake it, baby, shake it!

But there's one day each year...

Come on, girl, out you go.

..when they get to leave the daily routine behind.

Woohoo!

These are show days...

Welcome to the Pembrokeshire County Show.

..when they come together as a community...

Salute!

..to showcase the fruits of their labour...

Had a quick look at the competition.

I'm in with a chance.

..and try to win prizes for their breed champions...

Well done. Wahey!

It's showbusiness, folks.

..and award-winning producer.

I got first!

You've had the last two jars.

There will be highs...

Yes! Yes!

..and lows...

No! No, no, no.

..for the dedicated farmers who give everything to walk away a champion.

No way!

We spend more than £2 billion on flowers each year in the UK -

a staggering 90% of them are imported.

However, there is a growing group of enthusiasts

who are determined to break that trend.

Natalie Davis from Worcestershire...

I do things the natural way,

the hard way, my husband keeps telling me.

..and Cate Morris from Gloucestershire...

They'll make sparkly Christmas tree decorations, won't they?

..are both equally passionate about flowers...

..and are hoping to make their mark at this year's Malvern Autumn Show.

You're never happy with it.

You never just walk away and say, "Enough."

-Are you exhausted?

-It's one of the best days I've ever had.

-Really?

-Absolutely.

-Oh, that's great.

This is a prestigious celebration of spectacular colour

and variety.

Winning here will help gain recognition for their creativity

and help build business.

In the rich arable pastures of Worcestershire,

the Davis family is building a different kind of organic farm.

We're a working flower farm.

We've got about three acres now of flowers, which we're growing,

some inside, some outside.

Watering, weeding and tending to the flowers is a family affair.

Two-year-old Elodie loves getting stuck in.

Andy and I grew all the flowers for our wedding.

Mum helped a lot.

And since then, the business has kind of grown from there.

People have said to me, "Oh, can you grow this for me, can you grow that?"

And then here we are as a fully fledged working business

three years on.

I really want this to be a part of the resurgence of British flowers,

which we are seeing nationwide.

Like Elodie, Natalie's passion for gardening started early.

I used to grow sunflowers in my mum's garden,

and just the kind of pure magic of seeing something emerge

from the soil that you planted a few months earlier

is just something so special and so captivating as a child.

So if I can make a business out of doing that love,

then I'm onto a real winner.

Running a photography business from home means husband Andy is always

around to lend a hand.

I never thought I'd be farming flowers.

I married a teacher originally, and then, yeah,

she has these wacky ideas where farming and flowers came together,

-I suppose.

-Yeah.

I put this up, it was my Christmas present to you,

and it took me four days, so...

It's a little bit more complicated than...

Because he is very pedantic, very particular, aren't you?

Well, I have to be. That's my job, isn't it?

I'm a... I'm a perfectionist.

Yeah.

Andy's background in photography is fantastic.

Bring it in a bit close to you, slightly.

That's nice, that's nice.

Yeah.

It enables me to kind of really boost my media profile

and to help my websites and things like that.

Yeah, that's great.

-I like that one. The flowers look really good, don't they?

-Yeah.

There's no age limit when it comes to gardening

and Elodie proves you don't need grown-up wellies to be a farmer.

Shall we go and see the chickens? Come on, then.

We just wanted to do something different and to raise a family

on a farm, and that's really important to us,

to be able to have space and the energy to be able

to run around and enjoy our lovely landscape.

Morning, chickens. You all OK today?

And a waste-not, want-not approach ensures Natalie gets the most out of

everything.

Chickens are really important for me

because the poo goes down, and I use it to feed my flowers, and it's a

really essential nutrient that I give back to my soil,

which is fantastic.

So I look after my soil and my soil looks after me.

She's gone out. Cordelia's gone out.

-Yay!

-Yay!

And it's also great for Elodie to grow up learning where eggs

come from and having chickens as part of her life.

It's important for me as well.

Pass them to Mummy. What a good girl you are!

Fantastic. Two eggs today.

Well done, Ella.

Equally important is Natalie's grown-not-flown idea

that lies at the heart of the farm.

I want to completely change the way that the British public think about

flowers. Unfortunately, now there is a real trend

where British roses are grown overseas,

and they grow them without the scent,

because the scent attracts bugs and pests.

I couldn't think of anything worse than a rose without any scent,

so, for me, I want to grow proper roses as they should be grown,

and we're encouraging the scent. I like the bees, I like the bugs.

They are part of it.

Having recently invested in a polytunnel,

the couple aim to grow by outsmarting the weather.

Dahlias are kind of my main crop in the polytunnel.

They just really thrive in this environment, actually.

They like to be nice and warm,

they like to be a little bit protected from the slugs,

which I'm always fighting a battle against.

I do midnight slug hunts out there.

I come out and I collect all the slugs and put them

in bottles and all sorts.

Because I don't use chemicals,

I do things the natural way -

the hard way, that my husband keeps telling me!

As well as slug hunting,

Natalie's working day often includes meeting customers,

who come directly to her.

We're going to have a party...

-OK.

-And I'm looking at having something, as a centrepiece,

something that's colourful, something that is fragrant.

OK, brilliant. I'll show you some red.

They're beautiful. They're like pom-poms.

They're lovely, aren't they?

I think, to make it a bit bolder,

I think the white pom-poms would be brilliant.

-Yeah, they'll look lovely.

-They're beautiful.

-Yes.

-And they'd look lovely with the red pom-poms.

Yes, OK.

That's got a lovely shape as well.

-It's gorgeous.

-Yeah.

Lovely. Really lovely.

Whether flowers or flock, a farm is still a farm,

meaning 365 days of toil to get the job done.

It is like having animals - if you're not here and you leave them,

they're just not going to survive without you, so it is very much,

it needs me to be in charge all the time, really.

People think flowers is a nice sort of prettification of the landscape,

but actually it's gruelling work.

It's physical labour.

It's long hours.

It's not an easy job, definitely not,

but I couldn't do it if I didn't love it.

40 miles south, in the north Cotswolds,

Deerhurst Farm is home to another kind of flower enthusiast.

Cate Morris is a busy mum and farmer's wife

living on 500 acres of land.

We farm cereals mainly with maize, oilseed rapes and barley - linseed,

now and again, which is a little bit different.

But her main passion is flowers.

My mum was always a gardener and my gran, I suppose, brought up,

and they always arranged flowers from the garden.

For 30 years,

Cate has been responsible for whipping her small village

into a floral frenzy.

Deerhurst Flower Festival is, for a small village of 27 houses, is huge.

It started about 30 years ago.

From that point on, it's happened every other year,

and it attracts around 3,000 visitors.

It raises over £20,000 for the church.

Where we're sat here is completely different.

Teas, crafts, all sorts, ice cream stalls, you know,

everything you can think of.

It's actually the biggest community thing we do, really.

With a vast farm to keep ticking over, and a busy family to run,

Cate doesn't always have time to dedicate to her flowers.

Well, my nickname is Teapot cos I'm that small.

It's a terrible name.

It sounds like something out of the '50s.

A support mechanism, I suppose.

Come on, Eric!

I don't go out to work, but I do work hard every day.

Come on, then. Good girl.

I support him with all his, you know,

agronomy and things like that that happen, you know, all the paperwork,

the holiday cottage, turnaround, bookings, all that stuff,

plus look after the kids -

you know, everything that comes with, you know,

everyday life.

Husband Tim does the bulk of the farming with the help

of 17-year-old son Harry.

15-year-old daughter Bridget is still at school.

She's the one who introduced pigs to the farm.

Hello, Bella.

Good girl.

Bella's a Gloucester Old Spot.

She is due to have piglets tomorrow.

I show them at the Three Counties Show.

Bella and Didi next door and Acorn, who's outside.

Oh, and Eric.

Giving the pigs breakfast is just one of the many jobs that ends up

on Cate's daily list.

Good girl. What are you doing? Come on, then.

A farmer's daughter and former vet's nurse,

Cate is a dab hand with livestock.

This is my natural comfort zone.

This is what I've been used to all my life, really,

whether it be sheep, cattle, pigs.

I'm happiest out here, messing about with the animals.

There's quite a few mouths to feed,

including the reluctant Acorn.

I'm going to throw some nuts on her shed to wake her up

because they don't hear very well.

Come on, Akes!

Acorn!

Come on, pig! Acorn, come on!

Come on!

Come on, then. Good girl.

What a good pig.

Let's have it, then.

That's it. She's breeding size, so ultimately,

you're trying to breed better Old Spots all the time.

Those that don't make the cut then go into the food chain

and return as sausages.

With such a busy life,

the local church provides a perfect sanctuary

to practise her arranging.

A good pedestal, you... Well, any good arrangement -

you have to put your foliage in first

because that's really the structure.

So if you haven't got structure,

it doesn't matter how fantastic your flowers are,

it won't look particularly brilliant.

There's one thing scissor-happy Cate will have to watch out for at this

-year's show.

-I'm renowned for making a mess,

so I have to be a bit tidier at Malvern.

The person next to you gets pretty fed up if you start flinging stalks

at them and leaving things they can trip over.

Cate is the ultimate multitasker and the backbone of the farm.

It's a varied and very special life.

You know, one day you're mucking out pigs and the next day

you're dressed up and going to a ball, you know.

It's just ace, it's brilliant.

I think you're quite privileged to actually be able to call yourself a

farmer's wife.

Back in Worcestershire, Natalie and her dad John are ploughing,

with the help of their '60s vintage tractor Mehitable.

We've had such a great fantastic first year of flower farming

that I've decided to plough up even more of our land,

so we are going to be almost doubling the size for next year

because we've had a huge demand for weddings and people seem really

interested in buying British flowers.

John is his daughter's biggest fan and supports her dreams.

It's got to be done. The return from conventional farming nowadays is

pitiful when you consider the investment and so,

if there are other ways in which more can be earned from the land,

and especially doing something that you love doing, it's got to be good.

And especially if you can find a business where your father comes

-over and does all the hard work for you, it's even better, isn't it?

-SHE CHUCKLES

It helps having Dad next door, doesn't it?

-It helps you!

-It does help me, yeah!

It's great that she's been able to

perhaps corner a little bit of a market

that might bring back a healthy return.

We'll have to wait and see.

A win at this year's Malvern floral competition

could help sow the seeds for success.

For me, the ability to compete, actually, is a real chance

to kind of showcase British flowers

and to kind of really show people that we can do just

as good with British flowers as we can with imported flowers,

which are the kind of the mainstay and the norm for lots of people.

And it's clear to see where Natalie's rustic style comes from.

I get inspired from nature, really -

from the colours that I see out when I'm walking,

from the wild flowers that are so abundant in all the hedgerows

and from those kind of shapes and tones.

I go for walks with the dog and I'll see wonderful flowing trees,

and I'll use that within my floral art.

I tend to work with nature rather than against it,

so I make sure that the lines all sort of seem to be natural

and seem to be wild-looking.

This will be Natalie's first year competing at this level.

I'm going to be collaborating with other members

of Flowers From The Farm, who are all coming together

to try and showcase British flowers,

so I won't be on my own. I'll be with some of the volunteers as well.

It's a very exciting time.

We're up against quite a few very good florists,

so it'll be interesting to see how our flowers go down.

With such ambitious plans, she needs to ask her dad another favour.

So this beauty is going to be featuring at Malvern Autumn Show.

-She's going to do what?

-She's going to be the centrepiece,

so that the public can come in and see her.

-You don't want me to wash it?

-No, definitely.

I want her to look rustic and... She's a working vehicle.

-Well, she is.

-She does a job, doesn't she?

-Yeah, yeah.

I want her to go straight to Malvern, really looking

as she does, actually.

As well as John,

her mother Roz is also pitching in to help.

I've always enjoyed painting.

-You're very good at art.

-I would probably have liked to have gone

to art school, but it was not to be,

so I went into agriculture instead!

Far more fun, driving a tractor!

THEY LAUGH

It's a real first. We've never shown at Malvern, have we?

-No.

-I couldn't do it without Mum

cos she's my horticultural expert, and I really need Mum

every now and then to come and say,

"Am I doing this right, or what's up with this particular

"plant?" And she's just there.

She just knows it all. She's just fantastic.

-You're the expert.

-We're just going to go and have some fun, aren't we?

-Yeah. We're going to go and have a lot of fun.

-Yeah.

Time for Natalie to share the plans for her vision.

-I was thinking a big front one on the grille...

-Yeah.

..with something trailing, so it sort of comes down.

Cos when they walk in the hall, that's what they're going to see,

-so that needs to be full, doesn't it?

-Absolutely.

The RHS judges are renowned for being incredibly difficult to

please. They once didn't let someone have a gold standard because

a little bit of pot was showing, so they're really tight on standards,

so it's going to be a really difficult environment

to please those judges!

And a preshow run-through goes some way to calm the nerves.

I'm just going to weave up something

cos I want it more than just ivy wrapped around.

I think we need some fresh flowers coming out of it, don't we?

We could wrap it in hessian, nice and rustic.

-Yeah, we could do. That would be lovely.

-Mm-hm.

But then, what do you think about the seat?

I think it looks pretty cool as it is.

-You still want to see the tractor...

-So just leave it like that?

-Yes.

OK.

As well as the judges' high standards,

Natalie will have a lot more to contend with.

The difficult thing with us is we're dealing with a natural product,

so that's a real challenge for us, is that we're up against the time

in terms of, you know, the flowers will wilt if we do it too early,

so it's a really crucial timing.

That's the pressure, really, for Malvern Autumn Show.

In the North Cotswolds, Cate's mind is also on the show.

Oh, it's like a badge of honour to win a class at Malvern, you know.

They're quite big shows in the floral art world.

We're bigger than Chelsea, so it is quite a big deal.

And like flower farmer Natalie,

Cate draws her inspiration from the countryside.

I suppose I'm a traditional arranger.

It's the Malvern Autumn Show and it is called Seasonal Splendour,

so, for me, it is about using seasonal flowers and foliage

that you can find at home because that's what it's about.

Hedgerows, you know, walk down the river,

you might find a bit of driftwood,

you know, anything like that, really.

Come on!

Whilst Cate likes to use what she can get her hands on locally...

They'll make really good

-sparkly Christmas tree decorations, won't they?

-Uh-huh.

..her garden won't provide everything she needs for the show.

Instead, she sources her flowers from her local wholesaler.

-Morning, Chris, how are you?

-Morning, Cate. Fine, thank you.

-And you?

-Good. Ooh! You've got some gourds.

Malvern Autumn Show is about celebrating harvest,

which is obviously really important to us as farmers and as a society,

so it's a real celebration of agriculture through harvest.

Maybe that one. Yeah, go with that one first.

No problem. Do you want flowers as well?

-Yes, please.

-OK, so go and have a look.

-Oh, right.

-Right, then, what are we after?

-I'm looking for autumn, really.

-OK.

-Autumn colours -

golds and bronzes, rather than anything else.

Cate is entering the Seasonal Splendour class,

which is a pedestal display.

In a pedestal class,

I'm sort of punching above my weight a little bit,

so I shall be happy if I get any card of any description.

Ooh, and the chillies, they're nice.

It becomes a passion, really.

It becomes a, you know,

can I do better than the other person and can I get that red card?

-That looks really good.

-Is that what you're looking for?

-Yeah. Thank you.

-No problem.

Satisfied with her pick of autumn, Cate heads home to check up on Tim,

who for once isn't out on the combine.

I'm just constructing this pedestal for Cate to do her flower arranging

at the show. It's what they call the mechanics of the job, I think,

in the flower arranging world.

Tim's a bit of a perfectionist.

Not a bit, a lot of a perfectionist.

He creates me a nice base and then I do the flowers in it.

Farmers are jacks of all trades but masters of none, but...

..we do sort of get called upon to do all sorts of different jobs.

It turns out that Tim is able to turn his hand to most things.

If I say, "I want this, this, and this," he'll create it for me,

mainly using old agricultural spares, so he's created nice...

..with springs off tractors.

He's done a wire dragon for me before now.

He's quite good like that.

That piece of wood has been sat in the shed for 12 months

and I've been looking at it, thinking, "What can I do with it?"

And then, the schedule came out and I went,

"Ooh, could create a pedestal!"

That's more or less complete as it's going to be.

There's a block that they put their flowers in, goes there,

and then she builds up the arrangement around it.

Teaming up is a good recipe for success.

We work together quite a lot,

but probably best not on the farm so much,

with too close quarters!

You have to be friends, don't you, as well?

Cos it's quite a test.

Farming marriages are, you know,

if you can stick the first sort of five years, you'll stick the course.

So I'll leave Cate to get on with her flowers

and I do the farming bit!

HE LAUGHS

So good luck to Cate. It's over to her, really.

After weeks of preparation and planning,

it's finally time to pack up for the Malvern Autumn Show.

-Are they OK?

-Put them in the pick-up.

For Cate, it's a welcome break from the farm and a chance to indulge her

passion and, hopefully, find recognition for it.

Cross my fingers, toes and hope that I do OK.

For Natalie, there's a lot at stake.

It's the perfect opportunity to bring her British flowers to a wider

audience. A win of any kind will mean growth all round,

both in the soil and in the bank.

Right, let's go. Let's get on with it, then.

All aboard.

OK!

Put those in carefully.

We're going to put them on top of the other flowers.

OK.

With their fresh flowers and foliage cut,

it's a race against time to get them to the show.

Nestled beneath the backdrop of the misty Malvern Hills

in Worcestershire,

the 19-year-old Malvern Autumn Show is a two-day seasonal spectacular.

Inspired by autumn,

it offers up all the riches that harvest time can bring.

It's a complete day out.

For anybody who loves the outdoors or the rural

life, they're going to have a really great day here.

Over the next two days,

the Wye Hall will be transformed by an abundance of colour.

Florists, growers and amateur rangers

will come together to showcase the best of their art.

To place here could boost business and reward the creative endeavour.

Malvern Autumn Show is the last

of the RHS shows to be judged in the year,

so everyone's out to get those last medals that can be awarded.

The standard is absolutely staggering.

Natalie and her trusty vintage tractor Mehitable have arrived,

and it's time to get cracking.

The first thing I've got to do is the structure

and that's the hardest bit.

Dad would hate me for saying this, but there are bits of her that are

falling down, so we need to attach

bits of floral foam all over the place to her.

This foam will support the flowers and keep them fresh until judging.

I stupidly haven't got enough of these beauties.

I'm going to need my cable ties

because they just hold everything up.

Leaving the farm in Tim's capable hand,

Cate has made the 18-mile journey with her colourful cargo.

Sometimes, just putting things on the pedestal just gives you...

I don't know, you just feel a bit more...relaxed.

Like Natalie, Cate's first big challenge

is to work out the structure,

starting with the all-important floral foam.

I suppose it's like painting by numbers when you've done it

quite a few times. If you can't get the skeleton right,

then you can't fill in and you can't get the shape right.

That ivy leaf is not good enough.

It's going to come out, so it's no good.

Her pedestal display is one of nine amateur entries in this year's

Seasonal Splendour class.

The standard is extremely high, so if I've got a first,

second or third card, I would be thrilled,

or a highly commended would be amazing,

but the reality is that that's quite a tough call today.

When I judge, I'm actually looking for distinction.

I'm looking for the wow factor, something special.

Detail is really vitally important.

They've got to have thought about all those tiny little bits that...

There's no good going, "Oh, that'll do".

If a leaf has one tiny nick at the side, you'll get marked down.

It has to be perfect.

So no slug holes in your hostas, no curled-up leaves,

because if they've got a bit of frost or anything like that,

cos it was a bit frosty this morning.

So you have to be really, really...

..particular, almost clinical, really, about what you're doing.

The leaf's not good enough. Look, it's got a hole in it.

There's one there and a tiny little hole up there.

It's not cool cos I'm running out of foliage.

I'm using things that I've got on my hedgerow.

This was grabbed out of our trees last night,

just to create a bit of shape.

Some lovely natural ivy, which is great this time of year.

I'm a little bit nervous that I'm going to run out of this

if I'm not too careful, so I'm going to be a bit careful with it.

The pressure is on,

as this category is being judged

by the Royal Horticultural Society.

When I first started exhibiting...

..I really felt sick, that first one.

I can relate to a new exhibitor.

That sense of pride of what one's doing, and the fear of the judges,

and, "Will they understand what I've put together here?"

You need to try something different.

Anyone in business will tell you, if you don't change or evolve,

and stay the same, you lose trade.

That's exactly the same as an exhibitor.

You can't stay still.

The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in London in 1804.

Gaining its Royal Charter in 1861,

the charity's vision is to enrich life through plants

and make the UK a greener, more beautiful place.

Today, shows like Malvern and Chelsea help continue that vision.

Natalie has called on her friends to bring her vision to life.

Any particular colour, any flower?

You go for it. Anything at all.

-Right.

-Directing the team,

Natalie combines all their skills to transform the tractor.

We've got the other milk churn.

Bryony's going to do that.

-Lovely.

-I'll crack on doing a bit more filler there.

-Yeah.

What we have got is those reeds for the tyres.

-OK.

-Shall we have a look, see if they're going to work?

-Yes.

-And kind of make our own wreath.

-OK, cool.

-Yeah, that would be great.

Cate may be on her own in the amateur section,

but it's all coming together.

I've actually got the foliage in.

Just putting in the berries

and the skimmia are coming in to give it that burnt redness.

And the Chinese lanterns, just to give it that sort of autumny field.

I do have a bit of a hole in my hosta leaf.

Might risk it.

Might just go...

Maybe!

I think it's natural decay, rather than a hole,

so that's how I'm going with it.

It'll be fine. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Outside, the show is in full swing.

It's harvest galore.

And sheepdog trials with a twist.

Away. Away, away, away.

APPLAUSE

OK.

The front grille's all sorted now, which is fantastic,

and we have got the Karma Choc dahlias,

which are really lovely and nice and deep and beautiful,

and actually, these Cafe Au Lait dahlias, which are really nice.

You can't import them, so actually,

it's quite special to bring those to Malvern Autumn Show.

We've got a fair bit done, but a fair way to go as well,

so I'm not going to get comfy yet.

We need to crack on.

The RHS will be judging Natalie and

all the commercial exhibitors today.

Judging criteria for the RHS is, first of all,

you judge the plants - are they excellent, very good, good, etc?

And then you go the overall impression,

and then you go to the endeavour.

Now, the endeavour's a difficult one.

You know, it's how difficult was it to put together?

Have they used anything original?

Is there anything that would excite the audience?

I've no idea whether going for the tractor

is going to make us stand out

or whether it's a bit of a risk, or a step too far.

I'm not sure. The theme's Arboretum, so we'll see.

All the other exhibitors here have got trees and they're all decorating

their trees beautifully,

whereas we've gone for a tractor that actually was bought to be in an

orchard, and so we're going to have some apples and we're going to tie

that theme in a little bit more subtly,

so whether the judges can pick up on the nuances of our exhibit,

we'll wait to see.

Let's hope so, eh?!

This year has been a year of total extremes,

so to actually see these guys put on, with their skill,

all what they do here is amazing.

In the amateur section,

Cate's base structure is ready

and now it's time for her star flowers.

Hopefully, I've done what they want and brought it forward and taking it

back through the wood as well,

so that you have perspective of it flowing through the wood,

not being static.

I've chosen quite a mix of flowers today.

I've got a shamrock chrysanth because it is a British-grown thing.

It symbolises, I suppose, more old-fashioned autumnal arranging.

Back at the tractor,

Natalie's mum is arriving with much-needed supplies.

-A splash of autumn colour, isn't it?

-Think we've brought enough?

I think you've brought enough, yeah!

And husband Andy.

Hey, thank you.

-Then I've got these.

-No, hang on.

This is the really important thing.

Yes!

Daughter Elodie is also on hand to lend a critical eye.

Do you think it's any good?

You love it, don't you? What are you?

Monkey.

You're a monkey. What do monkeys do?

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!

Yeah!

Cate's daughter Bridget is also at the show and she's entered the

Christmas Decoration class.

Which one are you going to put it on?

For ages 12 to 16,

this class stipulates that the decoration must be designed to hang

and can be brought already assembled.

We do it every year,

and we go to my house and we all make them together.

-Yeah.

-I like that.

-That one's really good.

-I know, that is so cute.

-And the little mouse in it.

-Yeah.

-That's sweet.

Definitely not preassembled,

Cate can decide to change anything she likes along the way -

but not without risk.

You've got to make sure you don't over-push your flowers in,

otherwise your oasis starts to crumble away,

so a bit tense at the moment

cos you've just got to get everything in the right place

and then leave it alone and run away and hide!

It's a bit like having a souffle that you take out of the oven,

it looks great, and then it goes...pffff!

Sleeves rolled up, Natalie's mother Roz has jumped straight in.

We've all come together in doing our bit to cover up

Mehitable and make her look beautiful.

What I'm looking for is a wow factor,

when you come in and she just looks wow!

Covered in flowers,

covered in British flowers, and it just makes your heart sing.

In the giant veg tent, looks simply don't matter.

It's all about the whoppers.

9.20kg.

Every visitor on the showground will want to see our giant vegetables,

over 500 entries in that category alone,

and we really are expecting world records.

I'm David Thomas from Cornwall and I grow giant veg.

It's a hobby and it's fascinating

to start with a small seed and end up with something huge.

It's addictive to me and I love it.

I hold the record for the heaviest red cabbage.

The heaviest cucumber.

And the heaviest parsnip.

To grow a giant veg is no big secret.

It's just good care and the right seed to start with, really.

This is a giant green cabbage.

We picked it up with the neighbour's mini digger in the garden,

dropped it in the back of the truck,

and then there's a forklift this end that unloads for us.

If you break a leaf off, that doesn't count.

You can't weigh the broken leaf.

So everything's done as gentle as possible.

Every ounce counts.

Back in the floral hall, the judges are due to inspect in an hour.

I think, for timing,

not sure. Because when you think of it, we've got this stand to do

and also the one behind you, so we are on a deadline now.

The flower board is designed to hold lots of separate stems

to showcase variety.

These are little test tubes that have got rubber lids

with a hole in, and you can poke the stems of the flowers through

so they're permanently in water, but it's all hidden behind the wall.

There are hundreds and hundreds of test tubes

all the way around the back here.

And we've done them all.

A little bit tense at the moment.

One more big flower to put in there,

and then a bit of filling, and see where we are after that.

But, yes, need it to be...

Don't want to see any of this green foam in here.

But at the same time, your foam is becoming...

..quite hole-y, so every time you put a flower in,

you might disintegrate your foam,

so it's getting a bit critical as to how much more you put in.

Just going to tidy up.

Clear everything out, make it nice and neat,

which isn't easy when we've been drilling holes

and the place is covered in flowers.

So we've just got to crack on and get it tidy.

T minus 30 minutes for judging,

so we've got to really get a wriggle on.

So, yes, it's tight. Tight, tight, tight. Ooph!

So there's not much time left to make final changes.

You're never happy with it.

You never just walk away and say, "Enough."

And now I've moved the leaves, I've got a hole there.

So then you have to wiggle it all around again.

You need to show the tyre.

We do, don't we?

And then the other one into place.

Yeah, perfect.

Thank you very much, ladies, for all of your help today.

I couldn't have done it without you. I'm so, so grateful.

Thank you, girls. Thank you, everybody.

Never seen a tractor decorated like this before, so it's a first,

but it's brilliant.

It brings the countryside into the show.

With the hard work done, it's time for judging.

Judges Pip and Debbie are assessing all of the amateur classes.

It's a lovely season to be designing in.

You've got all these berries, fruits, wonderful colours.

We're just hoping to see some really great designs.

First up for scrutiny is Cate.

Her Seasonal Splendour display uses ivy,

hosta leaves, Chinese lanterns,

viburnum, skimmia

gourds and Fuego chrysanthemum.

Those hostas are lovely, aren't they?

Cate and Bridget can't wait any longer.

It's time to find out if the judges have awarded a card.

-What did we get?

-Very highly commended!

-That's brilliant.

-That's good!

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-That's really good.

-What has the judge said?

"Innovative use of wood slice to frame the design."

-Dad will be happy with that, yeah!

-Yeah.

"The top chrysanthemum and surrounding foliage

"are leaning a little to the rear." That's OK.

-That's very good. Well done.

-I'm so pleased with that.

It's a really, really great thing just to get a card

with three words on it. It's fab.

With Mum proud of her Highly Commended card,

Bridget makes a beeline for the Christmas tree,

to see how her decoration has fared.

Oh, I got second!

Really happy.

Mehitable has been adorned with dahlias,

hops, wheat and Virginia creeper...

..and given an orchard touch with added apples and pears...

..a garden bench and some decorative milk churns.

Natalie's exhibit is judged by a panel...

..who collectively score to award gold, silver-gilt,

silver and bronze,

or no card at all.

-Let's go and have a look.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Oh, it's an envelope!

-Do you want to open it?

-No, no.

It's a silver medal!

Wow! That is incredible.

That's great, isn't it?

-Well done, Mum.

-Well done, you.

-Fantastic.

-Yes! Got a silver medal! Woohoo!

That's great! We're going to have to put it on her, aren't we?

-Absolutely.

-That's lovely, isn't it?

That's really amazing.

An RHS silver medal is a serious badge of honour

for a professional just starting out.

-Champagne on ice?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Well done.

The Malvern Autumn Show floral competition

is over for another year.

With success all round,

the future is promising for our floral enthusiasts.

Come on, then.

Time for the Morris family to pop a cork or two.

We might have a little celebration this evening.

Champagne... Not...

Might be prosecco, you know, you never know.

You know what farmers are like,

you know, they don't splash the cash too often.

Very Highly Commended is not first, second or third,

but actually, in the floral art world, you're nearly there,

so that would be really my next challenge, then, to go for it.

Motivated to outdo herself at next year's show, for now,

it's back to daily farming life.

Good girl. What are you doing? Come on, then.

It's a varied and very special life.

No one day is ever the same.

And Cate wouldn't have it any other way.

I don't know anything else. It's just ace. It's brilliant.

I think you're quite privileged

to be able to call yourself a farmer's wife.

Natalie's first show has offered up some valuable insight.

I think I've learnt that, if you've got a can-do attitude,

you can achieve anything, really.

Her drive and determination to expand the business is unwavering.

It's got to be done. The return from conventional farming nowadays is

pitiful, and so if there are other ways in which more can be earned

from the land, and especially doing something that you love doing,

it's got to be good.

With a silver medal under her belt,

Natalie's floral future is very promising.

Thank you very much for all of your help.

-You've been a star.

-Oh, I loved it.

-Have you?

-Yeah, I really have.

-Are you exhausted?

-It's one of the best days I've ever had.

-Really?

-Absolutely.

-That's great.