Beeston In Bloom keep calm and carry on

If you travel the short distance along Town Street and Beeston Road you will see evidence of Beeston in Bloom and what they have been doing to keep their projects going during the current situation.

Starting at Beeston Primary School you will see the border outside the school that, in only a short year, has flourished. Planted in collaboration between the RHS and the school in 2019, it is looking colourful and attracting plenty of bees and butterflies.

The wildflower border nearby at the bus terminus would normally have been sown with seeds in April, but as parks department diverted staff to essential duties, this was not possible. However, the plants from last year have self-seeded and produced a stunning display – especially after the periods of rain we’ve had recently.

In Beeston Cemetery the group tried an experiment and cost saving exercise, by sowing their own wildflower border last November. Following an appeal on Facebook for seeds, the borders were raked and cleared of weeds before scattering the donated seeds.

While sticking to the lockdown rules and social distancing guidelines, we have done a marvellous job keeping the roadside planters along Beeston Road looking good. We faced difficulties with limited availability of plants and prolonged periods of hot dry weather. However, judging by comments on Facebook, our efforts have been appreciated.

We have maintained regular contact with each other via technology – a challenge for some of us – and have discussed what to do next. The creation of the pebble border spelling out BEESTON in an empty flower bed was a good example. It seemed a simple solution, but the difficulties in getting the materials is evidence of our commitment to seeing a project through.

Cross Flatts Park has been a godsend for many people and was an obvious choice for members to meet and take their daily exercise. The raised beds and borders have been weeded, deadheaded and watered throughout May and June, and it’s nice to see so many new visitors. Their kind words and compliments make our hard work worth all the effort.

We held a successful plant sale and have another coming up on Saturday 25 July from 10am-12pm outside the Bridge Cafe (Watsonian Pavilion) in Cross Flatts Park.

I’m confident that, if the Yorkshire in Bloom judges had been in July, they would have awarded us another well-deserved gold medal.

This post was written by Linda Stanley

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