It was an absolute delight to be able to show Anglia in Bloom judges the wonderful work done by so many wonderful people and groups in Sudbury, as our volunteers toured the town with them on Friday. Anglia in Bloom judging is based on Horticulture, Community and Environment, so as well as showing them some of the many floral displays and flower beds around the town, we had the privilege of introducing them to some of the fantastic projects we work with. Big thanks go to: *Chris Boatright and all at the Kernos Centre, a charity in Friars Street providing counselling and support for people with emotional and psychological difficulties, and whose garden we help look after *Rob Brooks and all at the Eden Rose Coppice, a charity running a woodland sanctuary near Quay Lane for people living with cancer or terminal illness *Haidee Stephens and all at ActivLives who look after the planting in Belle Vue Park through their weekly Grow Your Community sessions *June Povey of the Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership which helps look after Sudbury Railway Station for giving up their time to talk to the judges. Also thanks to Sudbury mayor Ellen Murphy and all at the town hall for their hospitality on the day, and to town manager Rachel Price, the community wardens, the town council, Babergh district council and Flowers Groundcare for all their work year-round to improve the appearance of the town for the benefit of all, to all the local businesses who sponsor our work, and to all the residents and businesses who do their bit to brighten up the local environment. We will also give ourselves a pat on the back for all the hard work our volunteers put in throughout the year! Awards day is 7th September, and whatever the result we think Sudbury has much to be proud of!
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Entries to adult categories have now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered this year - we will be in contact very soon to arrange a visit from our judges!
Children still have until 9th September to enter the Tallest Sunflower category. Once you think your sunflower has reached maximum height, get the tape measure out, get the camera out and fill in an entry form by clicking below! The date has been announced: Anglia in Bloom judges will be visiting Sudbury on Friday 22nd July!
Take a look at a map of the judging route by clicking here. Anything you are able to do help make our town look more attractive, from floral planting to litter picking, is sure to help (and of course makes the town nicer for us all!). Get together with neighbours, or join us in our voluntary work - click here to get involved! Great to speak to so many people at the May Green Sundays event on Market Hill.
Our volunteers were at the monthly event with some of our own-grown plants, as well as fistfuls of gardening advice, and free sunflowers for the youngsters! Good luck to everyone who took a sunflower or a leaflet about our Pride of Sudbury gardening competition: you can get your entry in by clicking here. Entries are now open for our Pride of Sudbury gardening competition. Get some top growing tips from sponsors Bridge Farm Plants by heading to our Tips & Advice page - click here!
The Suffolk Free Press has published a wonderful two-page spread about our Pride of Sudbury gardening competition, including photos of many of the winners and their gardens.
Pick up your copy this week and take a look! www.suffolknews.co.uk/sudbury The results are in - a round of applause, please, for our winners! Photos coming soon.
BEST FRONT GARDEN – Prizes by Perrywood 3rd place: Peter Webb Judges loved the design of the garden, which encourages visitors to explore further, thanks to a variety of curved beds and borders which thread throughout the space. 2nd place: Joy King Joy King has made excellent use of a small space. The planting was vibrant and colourful, and traditional cottage plants such as Roses, Dahlias and Peonies filled the borders alongside annual Rudbeckias and Cosmos. 1st place: Fred Godding Successfully defending his title! Fred’s garden combined functionality with a bright and impressive floral display. Sweeping beds of flowers surrounded a gravel parking area. There was a huge variety of planting including exotic plants and a number of unusual shrubs, alongside more commonly grown plants. BEST BACK GARDEN – Prizes by Waitrose 3rd place: Lorna Hinds Lorna Hind has created a very cheerful space at the back of her house. The basic structure is low maintenance, and she had used this to her advantage to focus her efforts on maintaining colourful planting to a high standard. She must also be commended for caring for a communal space in her street. 2nd place James Iannone James Iannone’s garden epitomised the spirit of In Bloom. He had transformed a rundown communal area into a haven for himself and his neighbours. A high wall was covered with a glorious display of well-planted wall baskets and decorations, and all over the paving was an eclectic array of planters. Judges were impressed with the dedication to the garden: a hose was seen dangling from a first-floor apartment window! 1st place: Peter Scott Our winning entry was a real adventure of a garden. Long and narrow, it has been divided into sections, and it appeared every plant department of the garden centre had been raided in its making! The outside-the-box thinking that had gone into the design was much enjoyed by our judges. BEST COMMERICAL PREMISES – Prize by LAC Cleaning Winner – Yorley Barn Nursery School We were delighted the nursery put themselves forward to show all the wonderful work done by the children. We were very pleased to hear how much they enjoy their gardening activities, and hope it will spark a lifelong interest for them. TALLEST SUNFLOWER – Prizes by Drage & Tozer opticians Sudbury in Bloom were able to hand out dozens of sunflower seedlings to Sudbury & Cornard youngsters. They haven’t all come back to us with their measurements but we hope they had positive experiences growing them! Our horticultural expert Mark Mason is convinced he has grown the tallest sunflower in Sudbury but as he didn’t meet the criteria of being aged under 10 we couldn’t let him enter! 2nd Lottie Piot 1st St Gregory School nursery class BEST CONTAINER OR POT – Prizes by McDonalds This was a category where our judges struggled to compare such varied entries. We saw many impressive collections, lots of different plants and some very creative approaches as to what can be used as a container! 3rd Colette Bentley Probably the entry furthest from the beaten track: an old chest of drawers planted up with succulents! 2nd Lorna Hinds Awarded for the overall quality of her varied collection of containers. 1st Anne Vale Anne’s entry had the wow factor with an abundance of summer bedding plants overflowing from her pots. BEST HANGING BASKET – Prizes by Bridge Farm Plants of Monks Eleigh 3rd James Iannone Judges were wowed by the mass of colourful flowers he had used to cheer up his outside space. 2nd Peter Day A creative approach with handcrafted brackets and containers. 1st Peter Webb Simple planting but done with aplomb! BEST WILDLIFE & ECO-FRIENDLY GARDEN – Prizes by Ipswich Building Society We were delighted to see wildlife and eco features in all the gardens we visited, regardless of category, including lots of waterbutts, compost heaps, bird feeders, and water features. Judges were faced with difficult decisions in this category as entries were so different in size and aspect. 3rd Colette Bentley Described by our judges as a lovely garden, the space has been designed to be enjoyed by people and wildlife alike. 2nd Steve Laws Another excellent garden with a glorious display of wildflowers at the time of our judges’ visit 1st John Hughes A well-organised garden with lots of feeding. Highlights included a swathe of wildflowers and a pond suitable for all sorts of visitors. We are looking forward to taking part in the first Green Sundays event in Sudbury on 20th June.
We will be on Market Hill (St Peter's if wet) 10am-3pm with activities, giveaways, competition entry forms and advice. To tie in with our Pride of Sudbury gardening competition we will be handing out lots of free plants to help residents with their entries. After visiting the Make-Your-Own-Plant-Pot stand, head to us to try your hand at potting up a bee-friendly perennial or herb, free to take away afterwards. Children aged 10 and under can claim their free sunflower seedling so they can take part in our Tallest Sunflower category (residents Sudbury & Cornard districts only). We will also be giving out lots of free grow-your-own plants, including tomatoes, potatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, sweet peppers and chilli peppers. To raise funds for our work about town we will have a selection of plants grown by our volunteers available to buy too. Find out more about the event by clicking here. We want as many people as possible to enter this year's Pride of Sudbury competition, so to help everyone boost their confidence and gain their greenfingers we have produced a series of video tutorials.
Head to our Tips & Advice page, or our Facebook page, to watch the videos, which have been produced especially for us by sponsors Bridge Farm Plants. Videos include Wildlife Friendly Gardening, Planting Hanging Baskets, Planting Containers & Pots, and a fun Sunflower Growing video for children. Get watching, get inspired ... and get entering our competition! |
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March 2024
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