GIANT coloured lily pads will form the central attraction at an award-winning Himalayan gardens in North Yorkshire.

The lily pads are being created for the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park at Grewelthorpe in the Yorkshire Dales near Masham.

The lily pads are being created for the middle lake at the gardens and each pad will be a different colour to represent a flower or leaf found at the gardens in red, orange, yellow and pink.

The gardens said the buoyant pads will be constructed like a boat with a submerged, weighted keel to prevent them being blown over in a high wind and will be created from stainless steel covered with a fibreglass skin.

The installation has been created by the multi-award winning sculptor and designer Rebecca Newnham, who has an interest in kinetic sculpture which interacts with the environment. She already has two other floating installations at the garden – The Wave and Magnolia – amongst the 60-strong permanent sculpture collection.

The gardens also have one of the North’s largest collections of rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias included in its collection of nearly 20,000 plants. It has 1,400 varieties of rhododendron, 250 different types of azalea and 150 different magnolias set within a valley and woodland walk.

There is also an information centre, tea room and children’s playground and plant nursery.

This year the gardens will be open Tuesdays to Sundays and Bank Holidays from March 30 to July 1.