Britain in Bloom finalist St Ives plant friendships that last
‘Friendship’ is the theme of this year’s Britain in Bloom community gardening competition, which celebrates 60 years of bringing people together to make their local areas flourish.
Now that the 2024 finalists have been announced, In Bloom groups across the country will be looking to impress the Royal Horticultural Society’s judges this summer, with the winner of each category to be announced at an awards ceremony in the autumn.
This year, groups will be judged against criteria with the environment, community engagement and horticulture at its core.
UK finalists of the ‘Large Town’ category, St. Ives in Bloom (Cambridgeshire), have been busy installing and maintaining planters supplied by Amberol across their community. In keeping with the 60th anniversary theme, they also delivered a friendship-themed project within their local community.
Amberol recently caught up with Hattie Grimwade, Volunteer Co-ordinator of St. Ives in Bloom, about their projects and how Amberol’s planters have helped them come to life.
A friendship-themed planting project
St. Ives in Bloom engaged in a joint friendship project with the Norris Museum and Spring Common Academy, a nearby school for children with special educational needs.
The students designed and planted bedding flowers in the stone planters which are placed outside the local history museum, bringing a burst of colour for visitors (and bees!) to enjoy.
St. Ives In Bloom have also been busy installing several of Amberol’s self-watering planters across the town.
Let's take a look at at their spectacular displays:
Amberol’s box planter giving extra blooms to St. Ives’ bus station.
Amberol's Floral Fountain Planter bursting with colourful perennials.
Large Amphora Precinct Planters in St. Ives’ town centre.
Choosing Amberol
Reflecting on the quality of Amberol’s planters, Hattie goes back to St. Ives in Bloom’s first purchase:
We bought our first Amberol planters (the tiered planters) for a small local shopping area in 2017 and they are still going strong. They are extremely durable.
In Bloom groups are usually run by dedicated volunteers who set schedules for maintaining and watering planters across their areas to keep the flowers looking vibrant as the seasons come and go.
We wanted to know how the self-watering feature of Amberol planters helps In Bloom groups day by day. Hattie says:
As our volunteers do the watering, we need to keep the task to a minimum, and very much appreciate the self-watering aspect of the planters.
This feature is very important to us – we would not be able to have so many floral displays in town without it.
How does the self-watering feature work?
Amberol’s unique Aquafeed™ self-watering system contains a series of capillary action wicks that ‘suck’ water up from a reservoir onto a dispersal mat, which then distributes the water evenly across the compost, keeping it moist at all times.
Self-watering planters are a real asset to community gardening and In Bloom groups, as they only need to be watered once or twice a week. This saves time, water, and money.
Amberol values friendships that last.
Hattie remembers the first time she encountered Amberol:
We met the Amberol team at Anglia in Bloom, and have stayed with them as they are always friendly and reliable.
Are you a member of a community group looking to make a positive change to your local environment?
Grant funding may be available for your next project. Check your eligibility here.
Spring/summer 2024 photo competition
Our spring/summer photo competition opens for entries on 1st May 2024 and runs until 30th September 2024. Results will be announced in October 2024.
Entering is very easy; just submit your photos of Amberol’s self-watering planters with your wonderful displays via the online form on the Amberol website. Your photos will then be entered into the public vote taking place in October.
How can we help you?
If you would like to create amazing floral displays like the ones in our customer galleries, do contact us here at Amberol, we are always happy to help. You could even arrange a personalised no-obligation virtual demo to see our products up close and personal. Call 01773 830 930 or email sales@amberol.co.uk for more information.
