THE tongue-in-cheek gardens of Newent-based Peter Dowle caught the eye of royalty at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Prince Philip stopped to look at the three Credit Crunch gardens and was particularly taken with the Banker's Garden, based loosely on a Monopoly board.

"He had a good chortle and asked if we could roll the dice," said Peter, who created the gardens with designer Sarah Eberle.

The three urban garden designs won silver gilt and two silvers and it was a good day, too, for celebrity gardener Chris Beardshaw, whose scholarship mentoring team scooped silver gilt.

Meanwhile in the Great Pavilion, Fibrex Nurseries of Evesham won silver for their displays of pelargoniums and ferns.

Chris, who lives near Cheltenham, was delighted with the award for Dawn Chorus, built as the finale to the first of his year-long scholarships with student Lindsay Anglin, from Bristol.

"It's a fantastic result, not only for Lindsay, a first-timer at Chelsea, but for the scholarship as well," commented the BBC presenter and former Flying Gardener.

Peter Dowle and Sarah Eberle were brought in at the eleventh hour by the RHS to fill space when Australian nurseries pulled out in the aftermath of the bush fires.

The Banker's Garden, which won silver gilt, features colour block planting. Next door, The Off-shore Garden sees water of moat-like proportions, complete with remote-controlled boat, while the fluctuating water level reflects the rise and fall of the owner's investments. In the Overdrawn Artist's Garden, steel grids are infilled with gravel, sand and crushed CDs to create a picture and the borders include vegetables and herbs.

It was disappointment though for florists from Churchdown and District and Lydney and Severnside flower clubs whose displays failed to win medals.