John’s flower show prize
Perthshire man John McDonald also scooped a silver award at the worldfamous Chelsea Flower Show.
Having returned with a bronze from his first foray into exhibiting at the major horticultural event in 2016 – after he was selected to represent a local club – this year John decided to go solo and was delighted to go one better when his creative talents earned him another prestigious prize.
The Auchterarder resident said: “I was back at Chelsea this year but I entered a floral arrangement from myself, not for a club, so it was just me to create the whole thing.
“This was in the floral design area which has different categories of exhibit, all varying in size of space and specification.
“I was in a category titled Destination Unknown and it had a stand within the space that had to be used, with nothing touching the floor.
“My thinking was that to show a place or destination wouldn’t be unknown, so the arrangement should be more about a journey or form of journey.
“I wanted to create something sculptural but with delicate florals as a contrast so I created two sails and wove flowers into each as screens.”
John, who is originally from Crieff and heads up the floristry team at Gleneagles Hotel, added: “I was really pleased to get a silver. This is the second time I have been to Chelsea and managed a medal each time so I am very happy.
“It is quite a logistic McDonald John
thing to do Chelsea, as it is so far away and you have to work through the whole night for placing your arrangement so it’s pretty tiring – finding somewhere to stay with parking is also challenging.”