ERICA Tippett of Bleujen Florist, Bude has managed to get into the semi-finals of the British Florist Association's Young Florist of the Year Competition.

In order to reach the

semi-finals Erica had to

travel to Birmingham in May where she competed against a number of skilled florists. They were each asked to create and design a piece of jewellery made out of florist sundries and fresh flowers and foliage.

Erica was one of only 10 florists selected for the

semi-finals, which will take place at Tatton Park, Manchester at the end of July. For the semi-finals Erica will have to create a number of

different arrangements, such as a hand tied presentation

bouquet, a body accessory, memorial tribute and so on.

At Tatton Park only five will be chosen to go through to the next round and the overall winner of the UK heats will compete with all the other European finalists in the 'Eurofleurs 2010' competition to be held at the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show.