The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
When flower power reigned
‘Where have all the flowers gone?’ asks John as he remembers back to the days when Dundee was in full bloom
Dundee hopes to become a great holiday destination for visitors and tourists.
The waterfront development with the new V&A, train station and hotels will likely boost visitor numbers, together with existing attractions including Discovery Quay, Camperdown Park, Broughty Ferry beach, golf courses, vibrant night life with music in pubs and clubs and numerous others.
My problem as an older Dundee citizen is that I remember the days when we were also a very colourful city, with flowers everywhere in parks, open spaces and people’s gardens.
We were very proud of our creativity when it came to flower displays.
I had the privilege of undertaking a five-year gardening apprenticeship as the Dundee parks would take on about 15 new apprentices every year.
They were needed to grow and propagate all those flowers, trees, shrubs and roses which brightened up the town.
The parks manager Sandy Dow was a trained horticulturalist who just loved flowers, so we grew bedding plants at Camperdown glasshouses by the thousands, and also roses aplenty at the nursery.
We were taught essential gardening skills and took pride in creating our colourful city.
Parks had great displays of summer and spring bedding with wallflowers and tulips, housing estates had rose beds in grass verges, and the town centre had vibrant flower beds everywhere.
Down at council house level, the new
My problem as an older Dundee citizen is that I remember the days when we were also a very colourful city, with flowers everywhere in parks, open spaces and people’s gardens
tenants, many from the demolished Overgate, found themselves with a garden where they could grow free food.
Then a competitive spirit emerged as front gardens gradually grew flower borders and the competition for the most colourful impact of flowers resulted in a profusion of geraniums, begonias, salvias, antirrhinums and other bedding and always edged with alyssum and lobelia. These were great times for Dundee. No decent garden would be without the red Paul Crampel geranium, as well as the pink Christine and white Hermione, and we extended our planting schemes from flower beds to tubs, window boxes and hanging baskets.
Then the Britain in Bloom competition for the whole of the UK reared its head and flower power was everything.
New flower beds were created in the town centre (now a taxi rank) and grass verges were planted with drifts of daffodils and crocus to brighten up the roads into the town.
Time moves on and fashion changes
and our parks manager retired.
Competition in the Britain in Bloom was fierce with Aberdeen way ahead with more roses and masses of daffodils.
Slowly, flower beds in Dundee disappeared. Interest in gardening waned as other social activities took prominence, then as townsfolk got wealthier and car ownership rocketed, people needed somewhere to park.
Gardens were then changed into hard standing for the vehicles.
Lawns, roses and flowers are slowly disappearing from the private gardens as slabs, sets and gravel take over.
Flower power in Dundee centre is now hard to find, but as we all look to ways to improve the appearance for our perceived increase in visitor numbers the use of flowering plants should not be underestimated.
Spring and summer bedding plants will always give impact but need trained gardeners to grow and look after them so there is an added cost.
However the benefits of creating a town with an impressive show of flowers, is well worth the cost.
Flowering shrubs like forsythia, philadelphus, rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas and many more, and numerous large shrub roses are all easy to grow and fairly vandal proof and labour free.
Other plants for impact such as dahlias and oriental lilies could be found a space in parks borders where vandalism is less prone.
The impact of flowers will always enhance the visitors experience and give them more reason to return with friends for another visit.