Marking 60 years of Britain in Bloom, the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) is celebrating by sharing ‘friendship flower seeds’ to highlight the friendships made through caring for plants and a shared love of gardening.

Over two million flowers, including sweet peas, cosmos and nigella will be sown, planted and grown by the three thousand community gardening groups that make up RHS Britain in Bloom and its grassroots version It’s Your Neighbourhood.

The flowers will be displayed in public green spaces and then gifted to people and communities across the UK.

The RHS will also be collecting and sharing stories of friendships formed through gardening to encourage more people to get stuck into community gardening.

RHS community development manager, Kay Clark says: “We’re providing the seeds as a ‘thank you’ to all our existing groups and the hundreds of thousands of passionate volunteers who work with plants year-round to strengthen their communities and improve the local environment.

“We are encouraging people to grow some of these flowers for wildlife, and share some as bouquets with friends and other people who deserve them in their communities.”

To find out more on how to get involved, visit www.rhs.org.uk/get-involved.

Or to share your stories visit www.rhs.org.uk/get-involved/britain-in-bloom or tag #RHSBloom60 on social media.