UK gardening charity the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has announced that it will be overhauling its plant award system.
Detailed input from the RHS plant committees will help to determine the new structure, as well as feedback from specialist societies, Plant Heritage National Collection holders and other experts, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) was established by the organisation way back in 1922 – and it was designed to help green-fingered enthusiasts and gardening professionals alike to choose what plants to grow.
This has become a more timely concern than ever, as close to 80,000 different plants are currently available on the market.
Director of the Yorkshire Arboretum at Castle Howard Dr John Grimshaw supervised the process and said hundreds of people brought their expertise to the discussions.
"These plants really have been thoroughly scrutinised," the expert commented, adding: "I think it's significant that a core of more than 5,000 plants have retained the AGM, demonstrating [the award's] essential strength."
