Summer 'Bedding'
One of the most obvious causalities of lockdown and having no gardeners on site for several months has been the traditional summer bedding in the Rose Garden area of the Memorial Gardens. Having nobody on site, we were unable to grow the necessary plants for the normal display.
We clearly did not to want to leave the centre beds empty for the whole of the summer so a decision was made to direct sow the beds with a cornfield annual mix.
When the gardeners returned at the beginning of June, we were faced with the largely dead remains of the winter/spring display. This was quickly removed, the ground forked and raked over and then the cornfield annuals direct sown mixed with a corn husk bulking agent to ease the scattering of the seed. In hindsight we may have been a little too generous with the amount of seed used, but at least it has left no room for weeds. Two commercial seed mixes were used - DLF Colour Boost 1 & 2.
The display has lasted better than I dared hope, and is still going strong, has drawn many positive comments, and has been much appreciated by visitors and locals alike.
One thing I have heard many time is “ooh look, wild flowers, how wonderful”, but I must emphasise that these are not native wild flowers at all, and includes such species as Californian Poppy, Zinnias and Marigolds. However, wild flowers or not, they have also been much appreciated by the abundant insect population, so I am happy to say, an all-round success, despite the situation.
