Pedals and petals as Yorkshire celebrates award at Chelsea

The garden celebrates the county’s hosting of the 2014 Grand Départ of the Tour de France with representations of cyclists flashing through an idyllic Yorkshire landscape.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “To receive Silver-Gilt at the world’s greatest flower show in its 100th year is not just a proud moment for Le Jardin de Yorkshire but for all the people who have worked on it and of course all the great gardens of Yorkshire who we are promoting as part of our entry at Chelsea.”

Earlier, Pince Harry took on tour guide duties as the Queen paid a visit to a Chelsea Flower Show garden created by his charity.

Harry welcomed his grandmother into the B&Q Sentebale garden after giving the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Duke of Edinburgh their own tour of the horticultural attraction.

As he showed his father and stepmother around the garden, Harry joked: “If there’s anything you like we can probably do a deal. You can’t have it but we can probably do a deal.”

He also told the Duke of Edinburgh he was surprised to see him there, saying: “You’re supposed to be looking at strimmers and tractors, grandpa.

“I didn’t know you were coming, fantastic. Your opinion is highly regarded.”

The Sentebale charity helps vulnerable children in the African country of Lesotho. Its name means forget-me-not and represents the loss of Harry’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as the late mother of Prince Seeiso of Lesotho.

Speaking after the royal visit, Jinny Blom, the renowned designer of the charity’s Chelsea garden, said of the Queen: “She liked it. The Prince of Wales would like all the plants in the middle to go to the stumpery at Highgrove as he thinks they’re great, and the Queen thinks he needs them.”

Ms Blom said Harry’s family were proud of what he had achieved with the garden.

“They understand,” she said. “It’s a tough brief getting the message of the charity across and everyone was very complimentary and pleased for Harry.”

Open to the public from today, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is celebrating its centenary year. The Queen is patron of the Royal Horticultural Society.