The Convenor of Judges Robert Hillier of England says the exhibit is a real show-stopper.

“The Botanic Gardens exhibit is simply outstanding. They have kept the garden very focused and not over complicated it – the public will be blown away by it.”

Life and Death is a display of the plant kingdom in light, sound, movement and texture, bringing together elements of sensory inspiration. Using plant materials associated with natural decay, the garden demonstrates nature’s ability to reuse and recycle.

Hillier says the message is strong and it is a very clever garden: “The garden has an enormous wow factor”.

“They have a good message to give and get it across well.”

In the Starlight Marquee, Life and Death is about challenging Ellerslie visitors to think about the planet and taking care of the environment.

The Judges said it was a “stunning garden taking the viewer into the underworld of root system, fungi and decomposing organisms using a captivating display of lighting and sound effects to enliven this other world in an extraordinary fashion.”

The garden also won Gold and a Gold Lighting Award.

Find out more at www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz

Highlights of the 2010 Ellerslie International Flower Show are:

Gardens by international designers Chris Beardshaw from England and Japan’s Koji Ninomiya.

All Black halfback Andy Ellis and his mate Danny Kamo from John Marsh Landscape Architects with their “grown up” garden. There is no cricket, beers or barbecue this year, instead the duo are making a serious statement about the impact humans are having on the environment and the planet’s natural resources.

Gold award-winning Ellerslie 2009 designer Dan Rutherford who has gone south to create an ice garden for the Christchurch International Airport Company. It will feature a two-metre high towering iceberg and evolve over the five days to give Show visitors a full sensory experience of being in the Antarctic.

Christchurch-based international designer Craig Pocock’s garden of industrial-sized dumpsters, mini skips, a shipping container and exotic aquatic weeds.

Te Waipounamu Garden: a traditional Maori garden which dispels the myths and answers the question on what is a traditional New Zealand garden.

Lincoln University students using imagery from traditional board games and video games to evoke childhood memories in their garden; while three graduates from the University have created New Zealand’s 21st Century quarter-acre paradise – in the sky!

Last year’s Supreme Award winner Bush Telly which has headed to the hills to create their 2010 exhibit, featuring a musterer’s hut set against a backdrop of Mount Cass and the rugged North Canterbury back country.

The National Flower Bed Competition being hotly contested by Wellington, the Coromandel, Rotorua, Kaiapoi, Akaroa and Ashburton to wrestle the title off the Garden City that is going for the hat trick.

New Zealand’s tertiary students competing for the title of Student Designer of the Year presented by Yates.

Some of New Zealand’s best landscapers being put through their paces in The Great North and South Landscape Build-off, competing to build a mirror image garden at Ellerslie with the emphasis on using “local materials for local projects”

The weather’s been tremendous, so grab your hat and head on out to see the show

Ellerslie International Flower Show, 10 to 14 March 2010. Check out the website for further information: www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz