As part of the first ‘Boats in Bloom’ national awards, the Canal and River Trust is calling on local outdoor lovers to take to the canal towpaths this summer and nominate their favourite flower-filled boats.

Quirky, stunning, eccentric, beautiful and edible are just some of the words to describe the blooming boats on the nation’s waterways.

The charity is keen to celebrate green-fingered boaters and waterside gardeners and needs local help to find the most spectacular boats in Wales.

Nominations for special prizes – including most edible boat, most flower-filled boat, and most inventive use of space, alongside categories for waterside gardens – will run through to July 31. They’ll be whittled down to a shortlist by a judging panel of boating and gardening experts which will be put up for public vote to determine the nation’s most spectacular blooming boats.

Nick Worthington, South Wales and Severn waterway manager at the Canal and River Trust said, “Take a walk along any of Wales’s towpaths and you’ll come across a boat or a garden that lifts your spirits with its beautiful blooms. With Boats in Bloom we’re saying thank you to all these gardeners who bring so much pleasure to other people.

“Plants don’t just look pretty – a pot of herbs or a planter full of vegetables can be a sustainable lifestyle choice, while flowers provide food for bees and butterflies. In fact there are all sorts of ways gardens bring benefits for wildlife, even if they’re on the move on the roof of a boat!

“We’d love to see how boaters and waterside gardeners in Wales are transforming the space around them. If you have a favourite boat or towpath garden, or are especially proud of your own, please let us know. We want Boats in Bloom to raise a smile, give people ideas and maybe inspire them to try a spot of gardening, or boating, themselves.”

The charity’s lock keepers and other staff and volunteers, who look after 2,000 miles of waterways across England and Wales, are also presenting colourful certificates to anyone whose boat or waterside planting is putting a smile on the faces of passers-by.

To find out more please visit: canalrivertrust.org.uk/boatsinbloom