Green-fingered residents celebrated a jubilee of their own as they exhibited their finest fruit and vegetables in the 150th Highgate Horticultural Society summer show.

The wet weather may have put pay to the prize for plumpest tomato, but it certainly did not dampen spirits as more than 200 plants were entered into the annual show.

Founded in 1859, the society is believed to be one of the oldest in the country and has enjoyed something of a resurgence in recent years.

Society secretary Roxane Stirling said: “We were quite concerned because of the amount of rain, we thought it might literally be a washout, but we had more entries than last year.

“There has been a massive resurgence in gardening with residents growing their own organic food.

“But fashions in flower and vegetable growing change over the years. If I had shown my grandmother a courgette she would have thought it was a marrow that hadn’t quite made it.”

Held at the United Reformed Church in South Grove, Highgate on Saturday (July, 14), the show took on a jubilee theme with special prizes awarded for the best Victorian posy.