Green-fingered locals win prizes
Blair in Bloom holds annual presentation of awards
Blair in Bloom held their annual review and presentation of awards in St Catharine’s Centre on George Street onTuesday evening last week.
The new chair of the award-winning volunteer group, Mary Birch, welcomed competition winners before giving a report on the activities of the group during the past year.
She said: “This has been a year of change for Blair in Bloom.
“We decided not to enter the town into either the Beautiful Scotland or Take a Pride in Perthshire competitions.
“But the biggest change was the stepping down of chairperson Helen McCann as she and husband John are moving to Edinburgh to be nearer their family.”
Mrs Birch also reported the loss of the golfer statue at the junction of Golf Course Road and Perth Road which collapsed with metal fatigue.
“We plan to hold a competition with Blairgowrie High School students to design a replacement and we are being supported by Blairgowrie Golf Club who have offered £500 towards the cost of the new structure.
“We were lucky enough to be awarded £ 4 0 0 0 f ro m t h e Te s c o Bag s f o r Hel p scheme which we are using to upgrade and refurbish Coronation Corner.
“2018 is the 40th anniversary of Blair in Bloom and we are now busy planning our planting scheme to reflect the ruby theme.
“So far we have planted 2000 miniature red tulips in containers around the town.
“We have also marked the Snow Road with white planting in the cart at Westfield, Balmoral Road, and 1000 white crocus in the Westfield car park which we can add to year-on-year.”
The garden competitions earlier this year were judged by Elspeth Bruce from Perth and Kinross Council’s community greenspace team, and certificates were presented to the winners by Sir William Macpherson, honorary president of Blair in Bloom.
The winners are as follows: best garden - 1 R Boyce; 2 M Anton; 3 M Birch; private containers not on public view - 1 M Birch; 2 A Townsley; 3 R Boyce; private containers on public view - 1 T Caldow; 2 M Anton; 3 A Townsley; vegetable garden - 1 R Boyce; 2 F MacQueen; hanging basket - 1 J and M Ware; 2 T Caldow; 3 M Birch; summer bedding in small garden - 1 M Anton; 2 T Caldow; 3 M Birch; business premises - 1 Rattray Bowling Club; 2 Blairgowrie Golf Club; 3 Blairgowrie Holiday Park ; garden feature, judge’s choice - R Boyce, garden pond; photographic competition, adult - Fiona Leslie; under 18s - Fergus MacQueen. Congratulations to all winners.