Brighton could become a much less cheerful place if the city council cuts the budget for hanging baskets and turfs over flower beds.
The City in Bloom project funds such measures to the degree of £30,000 and is being placed under review as part of local authority cutbacks, the Argus reports.
However, gardeners who hold influence in the community are fighting to maintain the current amount of funding.
Chairman of Kemp Town Gardening Club Paul Skelly claimed the initiative is a major contributor to civic pride and noted the necessity of the city looking its best for major events planned next year.
"In 2012 Brighton and Hove will be hosting the Olympic Torch and it is the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, let's not have a City in Gloom," he told the local newspaper.
Head of science at the Royal Horticultural Society Roger Williams recently claimed plants and flowers can provide localised areas of cooler temperatures in urban areas, speaking on the Financial Times Science podcast.
