While the rain in June and July may have dampened the enthusiasm of the average gardener, the specialist growers seemed to be reaping the benefit of a wetter-than-average season.

More than 34,000 people visited the three-day show, and individual show secretaries had to negotiate extra tables to accommodate last-minute entries.

The fuchsia, cacti, gladioli and carnation societies all reported exceptionally large numbers of quality exhibits and the National Dahlia Society had their best show since 1981 with 1,132 individual vases of dahlias.

Exhibitors had travelled from all over the UK and Ireland to show their blooms, resulting in a spectacular display.

North England Horticulture President Martin Fish said despite the poor summer weather, exhibitors still produce an excellent crop of flowers, fruit and vegetables.

"When you think that this year we have had a very, very bad growing season, the growers have been under a lot of pressure. Despite all of that they have come good and it is excellent quality.

"It is perhaps the best autumn flower show throughout the whole of the country."

The heaviest onion competition is always a crowd-puller and although this year's winner at 13lbs five-and-a-half ounces was slightly smaller than the World Record-breaker seen at Harrogate in 2005, it was still an impressive sight at 12-inches tall with a nine-inch diameter.

Interest in grow-your-own fruit and vegetables continues to rise and RHS Garden Harlow Carr created a replica of their vegetable plot featured in a recent television series which showed how much could be grown in a small space.

Fernatix, a Suffolk-based nursery selling a wide range of ferns took the Best in Show award among the horticultural nurseries.

Steven Fletcher and Kerry Robinson are relative newcomers who have quickly established themselves as regular gold-medal winners at the major horticultural shows, and their £500 prize money will be going towards their new polytunnel.

The Askham Bryan College garden, which was constructed during the show by Tim Lancaster and Keith Chapman, attracted a lot of interest. Martin Fish, President of the North of England Horticultural Society, presented a £500 cheque on behalf of the society towards their trip to Japan to compete in the UK Skills finals in November.

Organisers said visitor numbers were down slightly on previous years but this was not unexpected, given the difficulties gardeners have encountered this season as well as current uncertainties in the financial markets.

But many exhibitors still reported excellent trading, especially on the first day.