Britain very much in Bloom again!

It was heartening to read this year’s Britain In Bloom awards was such a success. After a couple of covid-hit years, the return of this event, which has become an institution since its inception in 1963, is very welcome indeed.

Now run by the RHS (it was founded by the then British Tourist Board), it seeks to encourage communities to work together to create wonderful horticultural displays, with an extra emphasis placed on the environment this year. What is especially heartening is the geographical spread of the shortlisted towns and villages – this is very much something that resonates across the whole of the country. From the images I was lucky enough to see, Amersham was a worthy overall winner, but hearty congratulations to all other category winners and, indeed, all those shortlisted. It’s clear that an incredible amount of work has gone in to brighten up so many places, and that can only be a good thing. Well done!

Now we’re heading into November, the nights draw in rapidly and the time we get to spend in the garden decreases. But there’s still plenty we can do outside – for one thing, as Carol Klein says in her column on page 22, there are few jobs as rewarding as collecting seeds to sow for blooms next year (and they’re free!).

I shall be spending the weekend pruning and snipping, and there are bags of leaf mould that need to go on the soil too, so there’s always something to do! Have a great gardening week.