FIVE exhibitors from Suffolk and Essex had gold awards to celebrate on day one of the 2012 Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

All five successes came within the Floral Marquee at the show, which attracts hundreds of top growers from across the country.

Among the gold award winners were Richard and Sheena Drane, from Boxford, near Sudbury, with a display of succulents, including cacti and other exotics.

Other gold winners in Suffolk included Bellflower Nursery from Langham, near Bury, with a show of Alpine and herbaceous campanulas, and fern specialist Fenatrix, from Stoke Ash, near Eye.

In Essex, there were gold awards for Todd’s Botanics from Coggeshall, with a display of dought-tolerant and structural plants, and for Writtle College, near Chelmsford, which also received the title of Best Floristry College Exhibit in the Romance & Roses Marquee.

Silver gild awards went to Harvey’s Garden Plants, from Thurston, near Bury, for a show of sun-loving perennials and grasses, and to Potash Nursery, from Bacton, near Stowmarket, for a display of fuchsias.

A major theme of this year’s show, which is open daily until Sunday, is community gardening, with the Royal Horticultural Society, which stages the event, having linked with the Groundwork charity to demonstrate the social benefits of “urban greening” work carried out both by Groundwork and RHS Community Gardening.

The show also includes exhibits representing different garden styles from around the world and the results of a “Low Cost, High Impact” competition challenging designers to show what can be achieved on limited budgets.