Sherborne In Bloom!

Hooray – at last the Britain in Bloom organisers are taking seriously the contribution that wildflowers can make to our environment! This year they are encouraging communities to plant wildflower seeds to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and to help the spread of pollinating insects.

Some of us have been banging on about this for years: municipal planting of hybrids in neat rows and co-ordinated colours is all very well, but these plants do little or nothing to provide vital pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinators.

As we reported in October 2010, one group in Sherborne has taken up the challenge to provide a wildflower haven for butterflies and bees on the site of a working electricity sub-station. The ground around the sub-station building had been abandoned and derelict for decades and, with the permission of the energy company and the town council, the group of friends has taken over the garden. They have spent the past 18 months clearing the site: digging up the undergrowth, weed-killing, stone picking, rubbish clearing, levelling the ground and generally tidying up the place.

And now, at last, the site is ready to be planted with seeds. On 9 May a group of volunteers aged from 3 to 73 years of age planted the site with a seed mix donated by Clive Farrell, the international butterfly expert, who lives in a neighbouring village.

This project is just one example in our town of people taking the initiative and working to transform the environment for the benefit of all inhabitants, human and otherwise.

The Castleton Sub-station Wildflower Garden will convert an eye-sore into an attraction that the community can be proud of – well done to all the guerrilla gardeners!