EVERYTHING is coming up roses for the team at Studley in Bloom who have picked up a Certificate of Recognition from Heart of England in Bloom – despite this year’s competition being cancelled.
The recognition ‘came out of the blue’ said Studley in Bloom chair Jan Platt, especially as they’d decided early in the pandemic not to enter any events this year.
“When it all kicked off we decided we would still plant the village as this was something we could do on an individual basis,” said Jan.
With their usual funding streams of coffee mornings and afternoon teas hit, timely grants from Studley Parish Council and Stratford District Council meant they could still go ahead with their summer planting.
“On May 31 we took delivery of over 1800 small plants which had to be sorted so the volunteers could collect these individually ensuring social distancing at all times,” said Jan.
“A volunteer was given approximately five planters to organise which are then the responsibility of that individual. This means deadheading and general care.”
The choice of plants was crucial too – the mixture of upright and trailing begonias proved quite resilient to weather changes.
Their efforts were widely appreciated by residents too, with only two acts of vandalism recorded throughout the summer.
Last month the volunteers stripped out the bedding plants and these will be replaced with winter blooms and spring bulbs.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their support and of course the Parish Council which went ‘above and beyond’ by giving us an extra grant,” To join Studley Bloomers, call Jan on 07948 607460 or Barbara on 01527 854071.
