Machinery had a brush with royalty at Chelsea Flower Show this week as the Queen's grand-daughter Zara Phillips made a guest appearance on the John Deere stand.

She posed with an original John Deere lawn tractor as the company celebrated 50 years of producing garden machines.

"Zara was tremendously generous with her time," said John Deere marketing manager Gordon Day, seen in the background as Zara poses for photographers.

John Deere hit all the newspapers the next day with pictures of Zara on the classic lawn tractor, a restored model 110, and cutting the special cake produced for the event.

"Cake, champagne and a member of the royal family - it doesn't get much better than that," said Adrienne Mitchell of ASMPR, who handle John Deere publicity in the UK.

John Deere were also showing their new X135R rear-discharge, rear-collect lawn tractor as part of their homeowner range.

Meanwhile other machinery manufacturers put on a show with some impressive stands.

Kubota had their latest mowers and ride-ons on display with Tim Yates, the dealer manager for the tractor and groundcare division.

"It was a great start to the show and we are very pleased with the stand and the visitors," he said.

Bosch also had a stand with their best-selling home and garden equipment products, including shredders and mowers.

"Chelsea was a great success for us," said a Bosch spokesman later in the week.

Mike Kitching of Henchman, the hedge-cutting platform producers, was on fine form. "Chelsea is certainly a major highlight for us among all the shows we do," he said. "We meet really serious customers at this prestigious event."