After the exciting month with the launch of the buoys and our sixth gold award, October to December was our opportunity to plant and reseed all over our area in the centre of town.
We got good publicity with Radio Lincolnshire, Boston Standard The Target and Lincolnshire Live and arts’ publicity.
https://inspiringcity.com/2021/07/06/boston-buoys-art-trail-opens-in-lincolnshire/
We worked hard on the park beds to clear and plant, trying to fill the beds with new and different plants.
It is a large area, and we had to remove many yards of weed suppressant which was hindering the growth of our plants.
There were some plants that had taken over and we rescued some for planting elsewhere. It was a huge job for our volunteers.
This is an area in the park we have visited with officers from the Borough suggesting ideas to make it a more attractive place for visitors
We have looked at the bins and signage which are past their prime, dirty and damaged.
It has been agreed that work will be done to replace damaged bins, update the furniture and look for new tables for the café.
There are residents who use the area every day and we talked to them about their suggestions.
It is important to Boston in Bloom that it is not only plants that matter. It is everything in the public domain that we use, we walk past daily, that greets the visitor.
The street furniture should be fit for purpose and give the town a cared for look. The Borough have taken note.
The railings around the park were already being painted, and the railings around the Memorial gardens will be next. Custom House Quay is also in the upgrade plan too. We continued our visit to look at the Market Place and noted all the duplicated signs. We will update the Residents of progress.
The Chairman was a member of the Boston Group taking members of Historic Places Panel on a 9 kilometer walk around the town. They loved it and had a number of recommendations that will be reported to the Borough in the New Year. They noted on our visit the number of half filled car parks, all on impermeable surfaces and suggested ways of changing this. It is always useful to get the views of visitors to the town particulaly experts.
“Historic England's Historic Places Panel visited Boston in Lincolnshire on 28th and 29th September. The Panel heard presentations from the local authority and had a fascinating tour of the town's historic centre and port. The visit focussed on the Council's programme of High Street improvements and potential bid for 'Levelling Up' funding, as well as looking more strategically at the future of the town in the post-Covid and post-Brexit world. The highlight of the visit was the dinner in the Guildhall with catering by the multi-talented students from Boston College. The Panel will be publishing its report later in the year, together with a follow-up visit during 2022.
By November we had nearly finished the beds, not forgetting the long Police beds, also planted with spring flowers bulbs and perennial plants. We have to thank new volunteers Mike Gilbert who has worked on these beds in his spare time, and Peter Hall who has worked tirelessly on Pilgrim’s Patch. John Bird, a long time member has worked on the wild flower meadow at Haven Bridge, clearing it for the new reseeding. It has made such a difference to the group.
The Station Adopters have also made a difference, and replanted the planters under the canopy in the station. They also planted hundereds of daffodils in the sculpture bed which will look stunning in the Spring. The daffodils were part of a donations of twenty two sacks of bulbs and other delightful spring plants from Boston Seeds. ”
Historic Places Panel visits Boston
“A Boston based seed manufacturer has donated thousands of bulbs to a resident led horticultural partnership to aid in bringing more colour to the town centre.
Boston Seeds, based at Langrick near Boston, donated in excess of 5,000 daffodil bulbs and several boxes of hyacinths to the Boston in Bloom partnership last week.
The award winning partnership, who recently announced their success in obtaining another gold medal at the regional East Midlands in Bloom competition, is made up of local residents who take pride in the town centre, and have involvement in several projects around the borough, including the Boston Buoy Trail, Mosaic Walls, Central Park borders, Haven Bridge’s Wildflower Meadow and many more.
Alison Fairman, Chair of the partnership, said: “The Bloom partnership are very grateful for the generous donation from Boston Seeds, which we received last week. The bulbs provided are being planted at various locations around the borough and, come Spring, will provide a stunning display of vivid colour throughout the town centre.
The Golden Daffodils will be an appropriate to commemorate our sixth gold award announcement in the RHS East Midlands in Bloom competition, despite such a difficult and turbulent couple of years.”
George Wallis, Commercial Director at Boston Seeds, said: “We are always pleased toof Boston.
We have been supporting Boston In Bloom for a number of years to enhance the local landscape in a town with a rich heritage in horticulture and agriculture.
Boston in Bloom is run entirely by volunteers and benefits hugely from donations and support from local businesses, so we are delighted to contribute around 5000 daffodil bulbs to plant this autumn for a spectacular spring display.””
‘Seed Provider donates to award winning community partnership
It took us many hours to plant the bulbs and there are still some waiting to be planted after Christmas!
We were delighted to hear from the Lincolnshire Co op that they had chosen our group to be one of four selected by the Eastwood Road Co op to be Community Champions “Following the recent voting, we’re delighted to confirm that Boston in Bloom Partnership has been selected to be a Community Champion from Sunday 5th December 2021 to Saturday 5th March 2022.”
Our certificate for our hard working volunteers, given this year for the first time.
So once again we would like to thank the Big Local for all their help in this strange year and for their constant support. We are very grateful.
