Silver Gilt

Hurray, all the hard work paid off. At yesterdays Yorkshire in Bloom Awards Ceremony we were awarded Silver-Gilt in the urban category.

Sorry Susan, I know we were 'going for gold' but it's close :)

I have just discovered some photos from our annual outing which somehow escaped being blogged so here they are:

We went by minibus, with Holbeck in Bloom, to Filey, had fish and chips, visited a nursery [it took a while to fit all the plants we bought into the mini bus and we all had to budge up] and on the way home we stopped to look at the scarecrow festival. We had a great day out.

Sara

Judging day

As always time sped up and everything was fraught right up to the last minute - not helped by the hot weather that frazzled tempers.

We had done as much as was humanly possible and had to hope it was enough. The judges were very friendly and we had lunch at the Watsonian before they set off round our route [they had judged Holbeck in the morning].

It was so hot in the afternoon the judges seemed to be speed judging. Susan and I had gone out to try and do last minute litter picking ahead of the judges mini-bus and it kept overtaking us. The first time we managed to hide in a hedge but the second time we have nowhere to go and they spotted us - oops.

We won't know for a while what the results are but as we were the last group to be judged hopefully it won't be too long.

And Vivienne found a way to keep a little cooler while we were waiting to serve afternoon tea.

Sara

What a Week

In the run up to judging we have faced and mostly overcome many challenges.

The Cardinal Triangle Bed nearly vanished under the long grass and then, when it was finally cut we had to rake all the cuttings up so they didn't kill what little was left. I think the grass cutting machines were set at grade 1.

Frederick made a sizeable haystack with the first clippings.

And this is the state of the uncovered grass - not pretty.

Because of the hot dry weather we struggled to keep plants healthy [although it didn't seem to affect the weeds anywhere near as much] and we have ferried gallons of water to those project that had no ready water supply [most of them as it turned out]. We pay the council to water the hanging baskets and barrier troughs at Tommy Wass, but when we were dead heading them we discovered they were dry as a bone so ended up having to water them too, and the Millenium Garden is close enough to the yard that we can use a hose pipe.

It was too hot to water straight after work so we were out every night at 7pm filling and transporting 2 cars worth of containers, sometimes re-filling and returning, and doing some weeding and litter picking as we went. I'm not sure what Vivienne's car looks like inside but mine looks like it's been parked in a hayfield with the windows down.

Because it was so warm and we were so busy I don't seem to have taken many pictures - this is Judith trying to keep cool under a big hat and looking like she escaped from the pages of the Diary of an Edwardian Lady.

And this is a garden we discovered on one of our re-filling trips which brightened our day.

Sara

01/06/13 - Working party

Well June came in flaming after all - I hope it continues for Beeston Festival next Saturday.

We had a working party at the Millennium garden to try and get the weeds under control. I think I must have pulled up enough sycamore seedlings to establish a whole forest - every time we go there's another plantation sprung up.

Linda and Susan are discussing how to fill in a few bare patches - I think we're going to need some more ferns and foxgloves - having cleared as much of the paving and daffodils as they could.

Frederick [and David who had left by the time I remembered to take any photos] did a sterling job of getting the weeds out of the bare patches so we could see how much space we had to fill.

And Pauline [and I] cleared weeds from the long borders and raised beds.

We have another working party on Sunday [9am 02/06/13] to clear the planters on Beeston Road.

There is a meeting on Monday night at the Watsonian [5pm 03/06/13].

Then it is Beeston Festival, where we have a stall selling plants, planters and crafts.

And after that we are in full swing trying to get ready for Summer Judging on Friday 19/07/13 with the following working parties already organised - however no doubt more will be added at Mondays meeting:

Monday 10 June - planting RHS veg etc on Beeston Rd - Angela and Adam to be our guest celebrities to witness the event!!

Wednesday 12 June - continue clearing Beeston Rd planters

Saturday 15 June - working party Cardinal Triangle - 10.00am

Sunday 16 June - working party filling Dewsbury Rd planters - 8.30 Tommy Wass

Aren't we going to be busy little bees. I must dash now - I have some cards to make.

Sara

Due to technical difficulties [mainly my lack of computer prowess] I'm reverting to using this blog !