A green fingered Helensburgh florist is competing for a for a medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show next week.

Debbie Gough, of Plantation Florists, has been tasked with creating a floral throne for a Spring wedding in a bid to be crowned florist of the year.

The talented florist has been working on her design for four weeks so far and estimates her design will require hundreds of flowers and be about two metres high.

She told the Advertiser: “With just six weeks from receiving the brief until the competition it has been a whirl of designing, creating and planning logistics.

“The staging of the throne takes place through the night aided by a head torch.

“It really is not very glamorous.”

She added: ““To be honest the hardest part has been finding accommodation near the venue where you can actually park because I need to take it down in parts and then build it.

“So building it is actually the easy part.”

Debbie is the only woman from Scotland to compete in the category’s final this year after being shortlisted in the regional heat in February.

She said: “The theme for the regional heat was to make a stole for a bride to wear at a winter wedding in a Scottish castle.

“I made a stole that included individually glued pussy willow buds from 400 stems and approximately 4,000 in total.

"It was a bit of a nightmare to be honest as the Scottish heat took place just a few days after Valentine's Day.”

Debbie explained that only 16 competitors from the eight regional heats are selected.

She added: “I’m quietly confident.

Debbie, who has worked at the florists on James Street in Helensburgh for 25 years.

In 2016, she competed in the Chelsea Flower Show for the first time and walked away with a silver medal.

And last year she received a bronze and silver medal in the International Designer of the Year competition run by the leading florist magazine Fusion Flowers.

“Although it is extremely stressful there are many good reasons to compete.

“You are often asked to make things you would rarely be asked to create.

“It really pushes you out of your comfort zone.

“I have also made some really good friends who have been willing to share so much over the years from across the world leading to opportunities I would never have had if I hadn't competed."

Debbie thanked everyone for their kind donations so far. 

To support Debbie and help her pay for travel, accomodation and flowers to practice her design visit our crowd funder page by Googling 'Debbie Gough crowd funder.'

The Chelsea Flower Show runs from May 22-26.