Related links

How to apply for RHS awards

The following information will guide any member wishing to submit a new cultivar for an RHS award.

If a grower wishes to submit a cultivar for award at any other Royal Horticultural Society Show, the completed form must reach the Secretary of the Committee by the Tuuesday in the preceding week, and the exhibitor will then be notified whether it is possible to convene a meeting of the Committee and, if so, by what time the exhibit must be staged. On the entry form the exhibitor must state:
(a) Whether the cultivar is suited for:
exhibition or garden decoration (whether in the open or under glass). A cultivar may be entered under both headings.
(b) The cultivar’s hardiness rating on a scale from 1—4:
H1 = plants requiring heated glass
H2 = plants requiring unheated glass
H3 = plants hardy outside in some regions or in particular situations or which, whilst usually grown outside in summer, need frost-free protection in winter.
H4 = plants hardy throughout the British Isles

AWARDS TO BORDER CARNATIONS & PINKS Any exhibition award may be recommended to any cultivar after, examination of specimens exhibited before the Committee. However, a First Class Certificate will be recommended only to a cultivar which has received an Award of Merit in a previous year.
Cultivars may also be recommended for further assessment as candidates for the Award of Garden Merit. The exhibitor of a cultivar recommended for further assessment will automatically be requested to supply material for trial. An Award of Garden Merit may only be recommended after further assessment has been carried out. Blooms with wired stems are not eligible to be considered for the award.

NUMBER OF SPECIMENS OR BORDER CARNATIONS REQUIRED For a Certificate of Preliminary Commendation, Award of Merit and for recommendation for further assessment as a candidate for the Award of Garden Merit: not fewer than three flowers, either cut or on a plant or plants. For a First Class Certificate: not fewer than six flowers, either cut or on a plant or plants.

NUMBER OF SPECIMENS OF GARDEN PINKS For a Certificate of Preliminary Commendation, Award of Merit and for recommendation for further assessment as a candidate for the Award of Garden Merit: not fewer than three stems, each with at least one open bloom, either cut or on a plant or plants. For a First Class Certificate: not fewer than six stems, each with at least one open bloom, either cut or on a plant or plants.

NUMBER OF SPECIMENS OF MINIATURE AND DWARF PINKS For a
Certificate of Preliminary Commendation, Award of Merit, First Class Certificate and for recommendation for further assessment as a candidate for the Award of Garden Merit: one pot grown plant with at least five open blooms.

AWARDS TO PERPETUAL FLOWERING CARNATIONS Exhibition awards will only be recommended to a perpetual flowering carnation after the Committee has seen it at three different seasons within a period of two years, i.e.
once in March, April or May
once in July or August, and
once in October, November or January.

Before an Award of Merit can be recommended, a cultivar has to receive a Certificate of Preliminary Commendation. This can be awarded at either the first or second showing. If a cultivar is thought not worthy of further consideration, the Committee will make no comment. If judgement is to be reserved until a future showing, the Committee will ask to see the cultivar again. This request can carry a cultivar from first to second or second to third showings, depending on when a Certificate of Preliminary Commendation is awarded. A cultivar may also be recommended for further assessment as a candidate for the Award of Garden Merit on any occasion at which it is seen by the Committee. An Award of Garden Merit may only be recommended after further assessment has been carried out.

NUMBER OF SPECIMENS REQUIRED For an exhibition award: on each of the first two occasions when a cultivar is submitted to the Committee, at least three open blooms must be shown. On the third occasion at least three open blooms must be shown to obtain an Award of Merit. If on the third occasion within a period of two years, or on some subsequent occasion, a cultivar is submitted with a view to obtaining a First Class Certificate, at least five open blooms must be shown.
For recommendation for further assessment as a candidate for the Award of Garden Merit: on any occasion at which the plant is seen, at least three open blooms.

REGISTRATION OF CULTIVAR NAMES No award to any carnation or pink cultivar will be confirmed unless the cultivar name has been accepted by the International Cultivar Registration Authority.