Community spirit still alive and well

Responding to a call for help from a designer I greatly admire, I dashed up the A1(M) to Peterborough last week. Chris Beardshaw had been invited by the DIY SOS Big Build Team ‘Children in Need Special’, to design a landscaped garden and playground surrounding a newly built community center that will primarily house the Little Miracles Charity, a parent led support group for families with children that have additional needs, disabilities and life limiting conditions.

The project commenced on Tue 17th Sept 2013 and by the time I arrived a week later the entire main building had been completed externally and the landscaping was in full swing although with completion due in three days, there was a significant amount of work still to do. So all checked in and hard hat adorned, I entered the site to get stuck in.

Main building and surround

Does mint feature in Chris’ Arthritis Research UK Garden?

While watching the opening coverage of the RHS Chelsea on the BBC yesterday, I was enchanted with the Arthritis Research UK garden that Chris Beardshaw has designed and constructed for the show this year, and engaged by his typically eloquent description of the journey it represents. I was also surprised to learn of his personal battle with the disease and could relate to his previous personal choice not to expose his diagnosis.

Hocus Crocus - now you see it.

Rosa banksiae ' Lutea'

I’m a long term fan of Crocus, but surprisingly and probably disappointingly for them I've never made a single purchase from their website and tend to use it for inspiration purposes and then source my plants elsewhere. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I just like to see exactly what I’m buying!

Anyhow, I was in the market for a Rosa banksiae 'Lutea', (a thorn-less rambling rose, displaying abundant beautiful small yellow flowers at this time of year) and noticed that Crocus were opening their doors to the public for a day, so I took the opportunity to check out their operation with my family and make a direct purchase.

The Crocus story appears to be a remarkable one; it started in 2000, with sales of 15 plants in the first few months to becoming one of the leading online plant retailers in the UK whilst also supplying a succession of highly acclaimed designers and achieving 'best in show' at Chelsea for 5 out of the last 6 years.

Remarkably my three young children enjoy a day out at a plant nursery, always keeping themselves entertained and today was no exception, particularly when my wife suggested ‘if you look hard enough among all those bamboo varieties you may find a panda.’ So off they hunted!