Gardening correspondent David Bingley is mesmerised by the blooms at an Oxford floral show

A GLORIOUS display of floral exuberance brought a burst of colour to an Oxford college.

Lady Margaret Hall In Oxford was the wonderful venue for the Flowers @ Oxford international extravaganza, which treated garden-lovers to experiences never before gathered in one show.

The late summer festival of flowers (which ran from August 22-24) is a collection of floral displays, competitions, workshops and demonstrations.

The sales areas catered for the needs of all levels of floral designers and I was impressed by the expertise of the younger age group who were also there helping guide visitors and support them when selecting materials from the very extensive range that was available.

Organiser Judith Blacklock and her team worked miracles to encourage many of the world's best designers to support the three-day festival. An army of volunteers also helped set up and support the design teams with their work.

The college and extensive grounds proved to be an ideal setting for the display of the floral art work. The seminar rooms, library, corridors, and stair wells were all used by the designers to push the boundaries of floral creativity in practical spaces.

The ideas were amazing and will, I'm sure, be used and adapted by visitors who couldn't help but be inspired by the most amazing floral art ever seen in Oxfordshire.

The Fellows Gardens and the River Walk areas featured exhibits displayed in a natural environment. The Gerbera exhibit by John Warland, in the Front Quad, brought together colour, form and reflection in a truly dazzling display.

The centrepiece display in the dining hall, by Solomon Leong, was stunningly beautiful. The work involved was mind blowing. Rudy Casati used a wide range of autumnal colours with a very wide range of plant material and yes the odd vegetable, to great effect.

It is unfair to select so few examples of the designers' skills and craft, but visitors will have taken away memories to put into their own future work.

The competition classes were based on themes, and it was very interesting to see the judge's comments, the marks awarded and to be able to see why the winners won!

I particularly admired the Turner Prize entry, representing the surrealist artist Rene Magritte - with its imaginative and fun millinery.

Other florists entered Free Space, Breaking the mould, Move on up, Inspired by Sculpture and Catching Dreams classes.

Flowers @ Oxford supported two major charities, Walking with the Wounded and Save the Children.

There was a whisper that the extravaganza could become a biennial event. Let us hope Judith and her team can reward us with a repeat festival in 2016 - after such a brilliant exhibition of floral art and design this year we must hope she can.