GINSPIRATION made Alitex of South Harting the toast of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
With an urban conservatory fitted out like a gin palace, it was an intoxicating entry from the bespoke conservatory and greenhouse company.
And the stand won over judges, visitors and the odd celebrity at the prestigious event, earning a top five star award, as well as a trophy for the Royal Horticultural Society’s Director General’s Favourite Stand, beating more than 300 others.
“That was a really fantastic accolade to get,” enthused Alitex marketing executive Lucy Wheeler.
The company has been showing at Chelsea for 56 years, and the team works for six months with garden designers Taylor Tripp, of Winchester, to prepare.
This year, Alitex teamed up with Hawthorn’s Gin for the urban conservatory, with cocktails being handed out. Two National Trust greenhouses were on the stand too and one, the Ickworth, was launched at Chelsea.
Actor Richard E Grant had a look inside the greenhouses, and comedians Rob Brydon and David Walliams admired the stand.
Alitex has an open morning on June 18, from 9am to 1pm.