A Derbyshire floral features firm is in training for London 2012 after preparing an eye-catching display as a trial run for next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Plantscape, based in Hulland, near Ashbourne, has been asked to install a display on roads leading to the Lee Valley White Water Centre, near Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, which is hosting the canoe slalom event next year.

The order has been placed by Broxbourne Borough Council, which wants to see how the planting scheme looks in preparation for the arrival of thousands of competitors and spectators in 12 months time.

It is the largest order the authority has ever placed with Plantscape and includes 106 lamp-post mounted Hanging Holestar planters, 158 barrier baskets and four seven foot tall Flower Towers.

The displays are coloured pink, inspired by one of the official colours of London 2012, and they will decorate a dual carriageway leading to the Lee Valley Regional Park, where the centre is based, and in Waltham Cross town centre.

The flowers, which include geraniums, begonias and fuchsias, are currently being grown in Plantscape's glasshouses, alongside thousands of other planters containing blooms which will decorate streets and businesses across the country. They will be delivered at the end of the month.

Mark Stone, managing director of Plantscape, said: "The eyes of the world will be on Broxbourne as part of the London 2012 Games next year, so we are thrilled to have been asked to create a display to mark the occasion.

"The flowers are already looking spectacular and the planting scheme will be fantastic when it is put in place.

"Then we will be keeping a close eye on it, so that when we come to install the planters for real in 12 months time, we can be confident that they will create the perfect impression."

Broxbourne Council Cabinet Member for Direct Services, Councillor Hazel Jackson, said: "We are extremely proud to be hosting an Olympic event in the Borough next year and are determined to create a good impression.

"The floral displays are a key part of that so, although we have every faith in Plantscape, having worked with them before, we wanted to see what they looked like in advance."

Four years ago, Plantscape helped Glasgow to win the 2014 Commonwealth Games by creating a display which impressed visiting judges.

It also decorated lamp-posts on the approaches to the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, Merseyside, for the 2008 Open Championship and in 2007 it fitted barrier baskets on Tower Bridge in London, when the capital hosted the start of the Tour de France.

Previous work for Broxbourne Borough Council includes the creation of an all-purple display to help publicise a recycling scheme which involved handing out thousands of purple sacks to householders across the borough in 2008.