A back garden in Yorkshire provides the setting for the sizzling summer comedy Say it With Flowers, written by Jane Thornton and directed by John Godber, which opens on July 9.

Gardening is normally regarded as a relaxing, harmless pastime, until that it the annual round of the village in Bloom competition kicks off, and sometimes in more ways than one.

This bittersweet comedy from the author of I Want That Hair and Shakers peers behind the petunias and looks beyond the lobelia to discover more about life and love on the patio.

When the Parish Players are forced out of their hall and have to find an alternative way to fill their long, retired days, the friends pull on their gardening gloves and enter the Village in Bloom competition.

But not everyone is keen on the idea, and with the dog next door and its goth owner threatening to cause trouble, there are plenty of ripples on the garden pond.

The play features a fantastic set designed by Pip Leckenby, including a real garden pond and the cast includes former Emmerdale star Dicken Ashworth, popular Truckers James Hornsby, Annie Sawle and Claire Eden, along with newcomer Jacqueline Pilton.

Say it With Flowers will run nightly at 7.30pm from July 9 to August 1.