Bestselling author and cook Mary Berry CBE has been announced as the latest RHS Ambassador at the world’s largest annual gardening event, RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show on Wednesday 9 July 2014. As an RHS Ambassador, Mary will champion growing your own food and her favourite garden, RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey.

Mary becomes the fifth RHS Ambassador, joining Alan Titchmarsh, James Wong, Nick Knowles and Adam Frost.

As a keen vegetable and fruit grower, Mary is well aware of the passion people can have when growing their own. RHS Ambassadors champion areas of horticulture they are passionate about, and use their profile and expertise to help the RHS bring that passion to a wider audience.

Mary says: “I’ve been a member of the RHS for 30 years, supporting its charitable work and enjoying many visits to its beautiful garden in Wisley, which inspires over one million visitors a year with world-class horticulture.

“We also have a culinary herb garden, grow fruit and vegetables in our garden and enjoy cooking the produce we’ve grown. Our latest success was fennel bulbs, which I love. I’ve yet to perfect celeriac - the results have been rather pathetic!

”There is great satisfaction with growing your own produce; we grow what we enjoy most and what is not too difficult to achieve success. I think it is important that children know where food comes from and that they should be encouraged to be hands on – the results are so rewarding.”

Guy Barter, RHS Head of Gardening Advice, says: “As one of Britain’s best-loved and most well-known cooks, it’s truly wonderful that Mary Berry has become an RHS Ambassador. We know that growing food is the number one way people start to get into gardening, so having Mary championing grow your own will be fantastic to encourage new audiences to get gardening.

In her role as an RHS Ambassador, Mary Berry be opening the RHS Wisley Flower Show on Tuesday 2 September 2014.