Stratford garden efforts recognised

THIS year has been another hugely successful year for Stratford in Bloom, receiving many plaudits for its wonderful floral displays, not only from countless local residents and businesses but also from visitors to the town.

In celebration, its Annual Presentation Evening was held recently at The ArtsHouse which was attended by a record 250 people.

At this prestigious event the Stratford in Bloom Local Gardening Competition Awards were presented. This has always been a popular and hard-fought competition with entries from residents, businesses, schools and community groups. The evening was a great success and a real celebration of the many fabulous, local floral achievements.

It was very encouraging, this year, to see winning entries from residents and businesses that have not been in the running before, such as The Windmill Inn (winner of the public houses category) and C.A Rookes Wine Merchants who took top spot for the Businesses and Shops award.

The Front Garden category is probably the most hotly contested of all, and many people will not realise that the Stratford in Bloom judges visit every single front garden in each of the nine electoral wards in pursuit of the very best displays worthy of the top places.

To make things fairer this year, the front garden category was divided into two awards – ‘Traditional Front Garden’ and ‘Small Border and Containers’. This allowed smaller front gardens with a few pots or hanging baskets to have a chance of success alongside the larger front gardens. The Traditional Front Garden winner, for the second year running, was Roma and Keith Foster of Trevelyan Crescent and first place in the Small Border and Containers category went to Patricia Ayres of Trevelyan Crescent. Recognition was also made of the top three place winners in each of the electoral wards.

The final award of the evening was the Chairman’s Trophy. This is awarded each year in recognition of special gardening achievement. The recipient this year was Stratford Railway Station in conjunction with London Midland and Avon Support. The station has undergone a major floral transformation with an array of hanging baskets and stunningly colourful, planted containers. These are all enthusiastically maintained by the members of Avon Support Ltd, which offers social care support to people with a learning or physical disability. The station is a lovely sight for the many people who use it regularly and a beautiful welcome to those visiting the town by rail.