Rutland gardeners are going for gold at this year's East Midlands in Bloom
Gardeners have set their sights on gold awards at this year's East Midlands in Bloom.
Preparations are well under way in Oakham and Uppingham with committees out in force over the bank holiday weekend.
Uppingham in Bloom hosted its open gardens event on Sunday to showcase some of the town's best gardens and raised a record £1,750 for its projects - the biggest ever total from an event.
Liz Humphrey, Teresa Thompson, Dinish Kumar, Marion Drake, Sarah MacNicoll and Chris Morten (11296449)
Deputy chairman Sue Streeter said: "We had 12 gardens open and about 250 people came to visit.
"The whole day went brilliantly and we're very grateful to everyone who supported us."
Last year the town won an East Midlands in Bloom gold medal and they hope to match it this year.
The main focus will be new planting at Tod's Piece and revamping one of the town centre flower beds.
Sue said: "Another gold award would be great. "
Oakham in Bloom volunteers were also out on force over the weekend to tidy up the town.
After winning a silver gilt award last year, chairman Chris Morten is now aiming for gold.
The roundabouts on Burley Park Way will be a main focus for the team with wildflower seeds planted outside the showground to attract bees and butterflies.
The peacock outside Oakham Library has been stripped back and will be getting a new look thanks to Rutland Willows.
Chris said: "We are looking forward to putting Oakham on the map."
The committee suffered a setback earlier this month when they discovered a bed near the BP garage had been sprayed with weed killer.
It was confirmed a BP contractor accidentally sprayed the plants and is are working to rectify the error.
