Our annual gardening competition, Phoenix in Bloom, celebrates our residents who go the extra mile and make the effort to make our community more beautiful, regardless of size of the space or their experience. Whether that’s sprucing up a balcony or common area, keeping your garden tidy and beautiful or cultivating a show-stopping display, everybody’s contribution counts!

Residents from across the Phoenix area entered this year’s competition and were shortlisted by our expert judges, residents Eileen Davies and Ruby Weightman, and Phoenix Estate Services Team Leader, Ben Moss. The judges scored each entry against criteria such as colour, arrangement, profusion and use of space.

Here are our winners with the judges' comments on their entries:

Best Residential Garden

1st place: Stephen Fuller
“As always, an amazing garden. Has something for everyone and some things you wouldn't expect. Huge variety of plants. Different zones to suit all members of the family.”

2nd place: Mari Mohtaj
“Neat, tidy classic garden with an array of different plants. Lots of colour and well maintained.”

3rd place: Mandy & David Hall
“Very welcoming bright front garden. Striking use of colour and good use of variation of petunias.”

Best Balcony Display

1st place: Patricia Woolley
“Full of colour, good variety of plants, well-spaced and maintained, lovely features and good use of lighting.”

2nd place: Philomena Palmer
"Good use of space, very neat and tidy and very colourful."

3rd place: Marjorie Henry-Lawrence
“They have filled a very small space with a variety of colour. Good use of height.”

Best Community Garden

1st place: Farmstead Community Garden
“Good variety of flowers. Has a lovely community feel to it. Would love to see even more fruit and veg next year.”

2nd place: Hazelhurst Court Community Garden
“A nice space for the elderly to enjoy and is well maintained. Has improved since last year.”

3rd Place - Marton Close Community Garden
“Amazing effort for a sole person who has created and maintained the space for people to enjoy.”

Young Gardener of the Year

Demi Bissmire
“Absolutely amazing effort! Lovely and colourful. Great job. Keep it going next year.”

This year’s winners were invited to an awards ceremony and handed their prizes by Phoenix resident and Chair of the Board, Carmen Simpson. Carmen said: "Despite the unpredictable weather we've had this year, our residents still managed to pull off amazing results for this year's competition. It's a true testament to the dedication and effort our residents put into their gardens to help make our community a more beautiful place to live, work and play in. Congratulations to all of our gardeners and keep up the great work!"

Congratulations to everyone and thank you for all your work to make our community beautiful with everything from your gorgeous gardens to blooming balconies! If you missed your chance to enter this year, don’t worry, Phoenix in Bloom will be back in summer 2025. To make sure you don't miss your invitation, make sure to sign up for our e-news.