We have received pictures from the following for this special 2023 Award to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III. Thank you to all those who entered for this award.
West Lakes Academy
Dalston Pillar Box Topper
Friends of Egremont Castle
Hideaway Loft, Laversdale
Door wreath:
To hang on the front door of Hideaway Loft in the obvious colours of red, white, blue. I incorporated some of the rosetteswhich my Grandson, Vinnie, had won at local Agricultural Shows with his prize-winning sheep. The reason for this was because the colours were perfect, “patriotic”, and I strongly believe in recycling (in this case, the rosettes)….what better use could these have been put to!
Antique wheelbarrow planter:
Again recycled, and used the same “patriotic” colour theme, with mainly perennials in order to consider sustainability and the “Greenhouse Effect”. I used peat-free compost and a minimum of annual plants merely to add extra colour and fill in gaps. Plants used as “thrillers, fillers and spillers” were as follows:
- White Argyranthemum(Marguerite) for the centrepiece & thriller
- Hedera for spillers
- Nepeta racemose “snowflake” & “grog” (white and purple) as spillers
- Red grasses (Uncinia egmontiana & Carex testacea ‘Prairie Fire’) to add colour, flow and texture –fillers
- Semiaquilegia ecalcarata (violet)- fillers
- Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley), a “must” since this was Queen Elizabeth’s favourite flower!- filler
- Bacopa snowflake-filler
- Bidens “Nice n Spicy”(red)-fillers
- Ajuga reptans valfredda ‘chocolate chip’ (blue)-filler.
To finish it all off I incorporated a vintage-style rusty metal crown to add a touch of unique charm to commemorate Coronation Day of King Charles 111.
Antique miniature “wheelbarrow of old garden tools”:
Considering the extent of King Charles’s passion for the countryside, garden and rural issues, I decided that a side-display of a small wheelbarrow filled with old tools including a trowel, fork, sheep shears, garden rope, etc. would be very appropriate to compliment my large wheelbarrow filled with flowers.
I suspended fabric bunting (red, white and blue) between Hideaway Loft and Tithe Barn.
Ulverston in Bloom
King Charles III Coronation feature – SPECIAL CATEGORY AWARD
As we know that King Charles is very interested in the Environment and Biodiversity, Ulverston in Bloom would like to offer our work on improving Biodiversity to celebrate the Coronation.
We commissioned a Biodiversity plan for Ulverston in the autumn which could be added to the plan already in place for the Gill Banks area (which enters IYN each year). This includes the major green spaces in Ulverston and the town centre. Everyone agreed to have a plan drawn up and contributed information about their Biodiversity work. Once the draft plan drawn up by an Ulverston based Ecology business was available it was circulated for comment and then adopted.
We have worked in partnership with the new Westmorland and Furness Council, their contractors and the Croftlands Community Association to agree large areas of grass that will not be mown until September in which we will plant and seed wildflowers. We have also agreed on an area by the shops to be turned from grass to a wonderful biodiverse pair of flower beds in the style of Piet Oudolf: The plant names and numbers are shown below:
Dryopteris affinis Cristata 15 Brunneria macrophylla 25 Alchmellia mollis 10 Luzula nivea 10 Tiarella ‘Spring Symphony’ 15 Geranium macrorrhizum 25 Galanthus elwesii 100 Narcissus spp & Tulia spp 100 &100 Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ 6 Nepeta ‘Walkers Low’ 7 Deschampsia cespitosa 5 Pennisetum setaceum 4 Artemisa ‘Powis Castle’ 5 Echinops ritro ‘Veitchs Blue’ 8 Alchemila mollis 15 Geranium x Rozanne 12 Rudbeckia fulgida var. ‘Goldstrum’ 15 Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ 15 Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’ 18 Achillea ‘Terracotta’ 18 Erigeron karvinskianus 18 Allium sphaerocephalon 50 Allium christophii 30 Allium aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’ 30
In a second area, we cleaned up a scruffy car parking spot and turned it into a flower bed and repainted the railings and furniture.
We have also launched a Save our Swifts Plan and agreed with over a dozen households in Ulverston that they will take swift boxes which we will provide.
Wiggonby School
Wreay
Wreay has organised a Royal Scarecrow competition from 1st -7th May. There are 17 entries including the school, the Church, the pub and the village hall. Most of the villagers were involved, with many tea and coffee breaks.
Victoria Infant School, Workington
The children have created a bug hotel and designed and built ‘Dinosaur Land’ and ‘Fairy World’ in honour of the coronation.
Orgill School
We, at Orgill School, have created a planter replicating the St Edward’s Crown that will be used for the Coronation. The top of our crown features a bug house shaped like the Sovereign’s Orb. We have had lots of community support from parents, businesses and our local Egremont Young Farmers to help make this happen. We have adorned the tree nearby with log slice artwork celebrating the King. The children are looking forward to watching our planter flourish with lots more planting, both for our Cumbria in Bloom entries and in the future.
