HEY are going for gold again. Bosses at Hampshire-based and world-renowned Hillier Nurseries and garden centres are working flat out on their Chelsea Flower Show exhibit Crossing Continents and staff shirts capture what it is all about.

Hillier's MD Andy McIndoe, who is behind the show garden's design, said:"We are working from 8am until 7pm on this exhibit and we've got about 4,000 plants in our show garden in the heart of the Great Pavilion. Our display is the biggest in the pavilion and it ranges from small perennials up to large trees. We only get a week to build it. Altogether there were at least 12 lorry loads of plants brought up to the show site. It's quite an operation to get it all up here and set the garden up."

Plants in Hillier's display include agapanthus which originate from South Africa, fatsia japonica from Japan, common elder found across Europe, and physocarpus opulifoliuos from North America.

Hillier's commissioned floral stylists Okishima and Simmonds to create an eye-catching headdress and flower-adorned dress to celebrate the Crossing Continents theme.

A model will wear the Bohemian creations of fresh flowers and foliage at Hillier's exhibit on press day at the show next Monday.

The designs reflect the beauty and different varieties of trees and plants from across the continents grown in British gardens.

Mr McIndoe.

Shirt specialists Bent Banani have designed the showshirts - which map out the world's continents in flowers on a blue background - for Hillier's staff at Chelsea and Mr McIndoe added: "Our distinctive, unique shirts have caused quite a stir at Chelsea Flower Show in recent years and this year's Crossing Continents design looks set to be a classic."

Mr McIndoe has been involved in putting together Hillier's Chelsea displays for 25 years and his colleague Ricky Dorlay 50 years.

"The whole cycle of preparing for Chelsea takes 12 months but the key preparation work has been done over the last three months. As soon as one show ends work starts on the next. I absolutely love coming to Chelsea. It's very additive and a great experience at the world leading horticultural show," added 58-year-old Mr McIndoe, who has been at Ampfield-based Hillier's for 37 years.

"We are going for our 70th consecutive gold medal," concluded Mr McIndoe who has a team of up to 20 staff helping with construction work at Chelsea which opens to the public next Thursday. However, Royal Horticultural Society members will get their first glimpses of Hillier's display on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Looking forward to this year's show 74-year-old Ricky Dorlay who has prepared plant material for Hillier's display for half a century said the weather can make a big difference to how well plants grow in the lead up the the event.

He said: "Mother Nature holds all the cards and every season is different.”