2020 VIRTUAL CAMPAIGN RESULTS
We'd like to say a massive thank you for all your entries this year to our Virtual Campaign! Below is the list of the Best Judged entry for each category.
BEST LOCAL AUTHORITY PLANTING (sponsored by CGM)
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- DUNSTABLE
In 2020 the council chose bright colours to cheer people up after the lockdown. We have increased the number of varieties used and introduced a tapestry effect to our planting schemes. Plants are grown in peat free compost. Dunstable in Bloom have 20 volunteers to help deadhead and weed the displays.
BEST LARGE CONTAINER PLANTING (sponsored by Amberol)
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- ATTLEBOROUGH
Large container in Queens Road Cemetery, Queens Road, Attleborough. July 2020. Thankfully the plants arrived before lockdown and were planted up by Town Council Staff. This planter brings a touch of cheer to bereaved relatives who tend their loved ones’ graves. Large container on the High Street brings a ‘garden in a pot’ a colourful display of passing spring into summer.
BEST HANGING BASKET (sponsored by Amberol)
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- SOUTH WOOTTON
This wonderful display is in the front garden of Judy and Paul Davey, Residents and supporters of South Wootton in Bloom.
BEST COMMUNITY EFFORT
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- CHATTERIS
The area has 5 separate beds which are usually all looked after by volunteers and last were year were sponsored by local groups and businesses for the first time.
For 2020 each bed took on a new role.
WE had one that thanked the NHS & other groups of key workers, one for Captain Tom, one to commemorate VE Day & one which was a rainbow bed.
A call out went on Facebook for members of the community to come along and add to the beds in their own time & in their own ways – adhering to social distancing.
Each day the beds got more and more added to them from families, local schools, businesses & community groups. The Chatteris Royal British Legion Youth Section did the VE Day Memorial bed which featured an almost life size silhouette of a Tommy.To compliment this every household in the Town was encouraged to put out bunting for VE Day & sit in their gardens on May 8th for tea and scones at 3pm. Facebook was literally filled with pictures of everyone’s bunting and tea-parties. It was fabulous to see. It really was a true community effort.
BEST WOODLAND/CONSERVATION PROJECT (sponsored by Barcham)
BEST JUDGED WOODLAND
ENTRY :- GOSFIELD
Bluebell Wood on the outskirts of Gosfield
BEST JUDGED CONSERVATION
ENTRY :- HALSTEAD
Halstead River Walk is maintained by Braintree DC together with HiB volunteers. It has matured over the past 10 years since it ws opened and is constantly evolving with developer placing new play equipment in one area and a community orchard planned for the future. It is a haven for wild life.
BEST WILDFLOWER DISPLAY (sponsored by Harrowden Turfline)
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- HUNSTANTON
Wildflower ‘river’ Oasis Way verge: No new wildflower seed was sown this year and so the display is a result of seed set from previous years. Corn Chamomile, Corn Marigold, Common Poppy, Cornflower and numerous other species flowered. They attracted many insects including Common Blue, Small White, Small Skipper, Wall and Meadow Brown Butterflies.
BEST AREA OF SUSTAINABLE PLANTING
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- HALSTEAD
This bed, sponsored by Halstead Road Runners, is close to our senior school and Leisure Centre – the starting place for Halstead Marathon. Bed is planted with shrubs and perennials to depict a road through countryside, with a winning gold euonymous at the finish line!
BEST USE OF ROSE PLANTING (sponsored by Patron of Anglia in Bloom, Peter Beales Roses)
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- WOBURN
The rose hedge is tucked away in a quiet close in Woburn village. I presume the rose bushes were planted along the front of this bungalow many years ago and the bushes have merged to form this beautiful hedge that flowers from June until August each year. I tried to identify the rose but could not find it in any of my books.
BEST INNOVATIVE PLANTED CONTAINER (sponsored by Patron of Anglia in Bloom, Notcutts Nurseries)
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- GOSFIELD
Planting in wheelbarrows by local residents and clubs. An excellent display and subject of a competition.
BEST PLANTING ON A THEME
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- HOUGHTON HALL
Creating themed beds has enabled local schools and organisations to immerse themselves with planting a green space to develop horticultural skills and team building. We have made a pollinator bed, fair story bed and a dig for victory. All very different, but creating a talking point within the park.
BEST PUBLIC ART
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- NORWICH
All Saints Twinning Garden sculpture, Norwich. Recently the Friends of Norwich in Bloom raised funding to reconstruct this sculpture in All Saints Churchyard. It is the focal point for a Twinning Garden to celebrate our twin city links. The sculpture was designed and built by George Ishmael with stained glass by Sarah Bristow.
BEST USE OF RECYCLED MATERIALS (sponsored by Anglia in Bloom)
BEST JUDGED ENTRY :- BURY St. EDMUNDS
Named ‘Crowning Glory’ the display of Recycled Materials was unveiled on the 7th July 2020 in the Abbey Gardens and features 500 handmade ‘Jewels’. It is displayed so that families and children can vote for their favourite ‘Jewel’. Crowning Glory will remain on display until the autumn.
The 2-meter-high ‘crown’ is inspired by the heritage of King Edmund, first patron saint of England, combined with the ‘Jewel in the crown of Suffolk’ status of Bury St Edmunds, led naturally to the name ‘Crowning Glory’. It adds to the celebrations marking the 1000-year anniversary of the Abbey.
With extensive community involvement from Care Homes, Hospital staff & patients, Key-worker School Children, Vulnerable adults, and families during the ‘Lock-down,’ the 500 ‘Single-Use’ plastic bottles were gathered together under ‘permitted exercise’ rules. These were added to old tennis racquets, bottle tops, chicken wire, tin cans, and abandoned heating pipes.
