A Bradford teaching assistant has been selected by the Royal Horticulture Society (RHS) as one of ten keen gardeners across the country to champion their favourite flowers which will go to a public vote.

Michaela Worthington, 37, has been selected to champion a plant from the decade she was born.

The RHS has drawn up a list of ten plants which have been promoted at the Chelsea Flower Show since 1913, with one flower taken from each decade of the world famous gardening exhibition.

The ten blooms have been selected to mark 100 years of the Chelsea Flower Show and the public is being asked to vote for which should be ‘show plan of the centenary.’ They range from the Iceberg rose to varieties of lupin, geranium and rhododendron.

Miss Worthington, who is also a forest school practitioner, is championing the 1973-1982 era and the Erysimum ‘Bowle’s Mauve’ plant, which is a perennial with mauve flowers that can flower almost all year.

She said she loves Erysimum because of its beautiful colours but also because it is always buzzing with bees, butterflies and lacewings.

She said: “I am an amateur gardener who likes to grow vegetables as well as plants that provide great scent, colour and attract wildlife.

“I only have a small garden so tend to grow plants in pots. I garden with the children at the primary school I work at.

“I love pottering outside with the children and seeing how enthusiastic and excited they are about growing, and searching for all the bugs and insects the plants attract.

“I particularly like native wildflowers, and if a weed is pretty and attractive to wildlife, then as far as I am concerned it earns its place in my garden.”

The idea behind the champions is to help people make up their minds which should be the overall winning plant. They chose individuals aged from eight to 92 years old.

RHS historian Brent Elliot admitted drawing up the short-list was not easy.

He said: “We found it difficult. There were a couple of choices that were obvious, but several were very close."

Visit rhs.org.uk/chelsea/ potc to cast your vote for show plant of the centenary.