ORGANISERS of this year's Winchester In Bloom say they are worried the city may miss out on floral displays because no plants have been ordered yet.

They say that by this time of year, the city council has normally ordered more than 300 hanging baskets, troughs and plants to decorate the streets.

However, the council says it is still in discussion with WIB members, and has pledged the city will benefit from displays as usual.

WIB, which has helped organise the floral festivities for 15 years, says it usually approaches businesses in the city to ask if they want any baskets or troughs to enter the floral competition.

If the companies are interested, they pay WIB and the group reimburses the council, which buys the flowers from Choice Plants at Timsbury, near Romsey.

The displays are then fed and watered by the authority, which is where most of the costs are incurred.

A budget of £35,000 was set aside for the scheme for the next two years, and WIB gave the council suggestions on how to save money, including watering baskets every other day rather than every day.

David Selby, acting chairman of WIB, said: "If they don't hurry up it's going to be too late to sell baskets, and the nurseries are going to get a bit concerned."

A spokeswoman for the council, said: "We do want it to go ahead, but we want to lead by example and use drought-resistant plants.

"They haven't been ordered as yet, but we want the city to be in bloom -- it's just a case of doing it differently."