Here’s the latest news from Jan Foster, Friends of Hoylake & Meols in Bloom:
We hope everyone has enjoyed our patriotic display this year. The weather has caused different problems than usual. We used Petunia in the tubs to get the red, white and Blue. This gave our volunteers a lot of work as the wet meant they had to be de-headed more often, not the most pleasant of jobs!
We used Salvia in the brick planters as these planters are harder to water and Salvia are drought tolerant. Little did we know that drought would not be an issue this year! In fact the wet weather made them grow much taller than expected and put down large roots, which our poor volunteers will tell you, were very hard to get out last Saturday.
As you may have noticed we have changed all the displays now. The tubs are, as usual filled with Daffodils and to finish off the year we have added a small ring of gold pansies.
The brick planters have been planted with tulips. Each one has 100 tulips and each planter is planted with a different colour and variety.
We have over-planted the Tulips with ornamental cabbages for the winter and the barrier baskets have now been planted with daffs, pansies and wall flowers. The cyclamen that we planted for the golf (paid for by the Council and the Golf club) have now been planted in the Parade Gardens.
This brings me to the next points:-
1: THE SENSORY GARDEN IN THE PARADE GARDENS
The long awaited Sensory Garden is now finished (almost). Most of you will know the story of the garden but those who don’t, here is the background.
In 2003 the children from Holy Trinity school were asked to draw a picture about what they liked about Hoylake. Their pictures were made into a design for a mosaic (as pictured above) by a local artist. It took ten years to raise the money and in 2010 we managed to secure a grant to develop a garden around a mosaic.
Once we received the money it still took a very long time to get it right because of the many problems along the way, the weather being one of them. We are, finally, very proud of the result. We now have a lovely area with four double seat/planters which we have planted with sensory plants. We have the amazing mosaic with a lovely path surrounding it. We have a lovely mural telling the story of Hoylake in seven panels designed by Barbara Singleton.
Last but not least the beautiful wild flower bed. Yes we know, it flowered it socks off during the period when you could not get to it because of the build work but we will do it again next year!
The next generation of children from Holy Trinity School have planted scented Daffodils. We have a few finishing touches to make but we hope you all make the most of it and enjoy.
We are planning to add a few pieces of play equipment for handicapped children on the grassed area near the tennis courts but we will have to raise funds for this. To this end we are hoping to have a fund-raiser on March 9th next year. More about this later.
2: FUND-RAISING
Most of you will be aware that all the flowers in Hoylake are NOT paid for by the council (except those Cyclamen for the golf).
We cannot maintain the planting in Hoylake without funding and we all know that funds are hard to come by these days but we can and will do it with your help.
We are having a major membership drive.
We have become aware that some people think that, to become a member they need to help. This is not the case.
To become a member simply means you donate Just £5.00 a year or £7.00 for a family.
Other ways to help are:-
- Sponsor a tub.
- Make a donation.
- Hold a fund-raising event
To become a member or make a donation please contact:Â Mrs Dot Rooney 632 4215
To sponsor a tub or memorial plaque please contact:Â Vicky Clarke 6322646
To become a volunteer please contact:Â Jan Foster 07725540049
To help in the kiosk next year please contact:Â Jan M 07749541864
(The kiosk, in Meols Parade Gardens, Â is open Sunday afternoons for light refreshments to hel raise funds for the planting).
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