Four exhibitors from Suffolk and north Essex have secured coveted gold medals at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

Carnation specialist Marshalls Malmaisons, based at Shelley, near Hadleigh, and Mickfield Hostas, from Mickfield, near Stowmarket, both won gold in the Plant Heritage category, with Marshalls also winning the award for Best Plant Heritage Exhibit.

And in the Floral Marquee, there were golds for ferns specialist Fernatix, based at Stoke Ash, near Eye, and for garden design and nursery company Todd’s Botanics, from Coggeshall.

There were silver-gilt flora awards for Harveys Garden Plants of Thurston, near Bury St Edmunds, and Potash Nursery from Bacton, near Stowmarket (both in the Floral Marquee), for Mattocks Roses from Pettistree, near Woodbridge (in the Rose category), and for Caroline Tait and John Esling from Friston, near Saxmundham (in the Conceptual Gardens category).

Silver flora awards went to the British Pteridological Society, based in Lowestoft, and Sarah Cook, from Shelley (both in Plant Heritage), to Richard and Sheena Dranem, from Lawshall, near Bury (in the Floral Marquee), and to Writtle College, based near Chelmsford (in the Floristry Colleges category).

The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show runs until July 14.