Climate change 'bringing new crops' to South East

Visitors to the Hampton Court show will see lemons and peaches being grown

Rising temperatures could see lemons and sunflowers being grown as crops in the South East, a Kent agricultural college has predicted.

Hadlow College has designed a garden which looks at Kent's role as the Garden of England for Hampton Court flower show, which starts on Tuesday.

Garden designer and former Hadlow student Mandy Buckland created the garden, called Food 4 Thought.

It includes fruit from Kent's past, present and future.

Hadlow College said the entry was designed to promote and celebrate Kent's importance as a food producer.

It features a modern courtyard garden with an outdoor dining table and ribbons of vertically-grown strawberries.

Crops that have traditionally been grown in Kent, such as apples and herbs, have been used in the garden.

But on the other side of a "window of change", visitors will see Mediterranean plants including peaches and nectarines being grown, highlighting the potential to adapt crops to global warming.