Gold celebrated at Ellerslie International Flower Show

There were huge celebrations last night when Xanthe White's creation, 'A garden for Christchurch' at Ellerslie International flower show 2012 was awarded Gold and also won Best Overall Garden Construction.

Colin Parker from Daltons, who sponsored the garden, said last night, 'We are delighted for Xanthe, it is a fantastic result and it's been great to see the garden come to life and reflect her vision of creating an inspiring garden for Christchurch. We are very proud to be a part of that."

This year Xanthe was one of four top New Zealand designers to be selected to exhibit in the exclusive Gold medal gardens, site GM1 (only open to previous gold award winners) and challenged to 'create an inner city garden for Christchurch'.

Commenting on the win, Xanthe said, "I feel honoured to have created something for Christchurch and the brief we were given struck a real chord with me as we were preparing for show last year when the earthquake struck. To have won gold makes it even more special."

This is the third time Daltons have sponsored Xanthe White at the Ellerslie International Flower Show. Previously they sponsored her 2003 'Kiwi Backyard' garden which won Silver, and in 2004 the People's Choice award for her garden, 'Having it all with Daltons'. In total Xanthe has been involved in 4 different shows at Ellerslie and has won the 'supreme award for design'. She has also exhibited at Chelsea International Flower Show, winning a Silver Gilt award in 2005 and Silver in 2011.