GARDEN lovers will be making a beeline for a new garden festival on June 9 and 10 and its organisers are inviting anyone interested in exhibiting or taking a stall to contact them.

Hosted in the gardens of the historic Hellens Manor House at Much Marcle, the event will offer a wide range of rare and unusual plants and out-of-the-ordinary garden-related products and services.

Tom Petherick, acclaim-ed author and leader of the Heligan garden reclamation team, will open the festival and launch his new book, Sufficient. Other features include a slide show on Beth Chatto's woodland garden, an introduction to permaculture and a talk on garden archaeology.

There will also be garden designs, talks and demonstrations, willow and woodland craft workshops, garden games and even expert croquet tuition, with children's activities including a magic garden, treasure hunt and real chess'.

Anyone interested in exhibiting or taking a stall should contact Kate Robertston on 01981 540221.