The poppies at the nectar bed in Wharfemeadows Park looking good in mid May.
Margaret and Jacquie after doing some work on the bed.
Nectar Bed poppies
Otley to represent Yorkshire in Britain in Bloom
Since 2000 Otley in Bloom have been enhancing green spaces around Otley and coordinating our entry into the Yorkshire in Bloom competition. For the last 3 years the town has been awarded Gold and Best in Category.
This continued success has caught the eye of the Britain in Bloom organisation and Otley has been invited to enter the prestigious competition joining the likes of Harrogate, Filey and Kippax who have all represented Yorkshire in the past. Being chosen to enter the competition already marks us out as one of the best cared for communities in the country and the publicity from the competition will allow us to increase trade, tourism and wellbeing for residents.
Katie Burnett, Secretary of Otley in Bloom, said
“It is a really special opportunity to showcase our fabulous town and build on the national recognition the Tour de France and Tour de Yorkshire have brought. I’ve been involved with OIB since 2005 and firmly believe that attractive green spaces and floral displays have a positive impact on everyone’s health and wellbeing.”
Judges from the Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom campaign will be assessing the town’s
- Horticultural Achievement
- Environmental Responsibility
- Community Participation
The Otley in Bloom team will coordinate the town’s competition entry by creating a route to take the judges on which shows some of the highlights of our green spaces. David Bellerby, Competition Coordinator explained the benefits of the competition for Otley, “It has taken us 16 years to prove we have the right balance of horticultural projects to be worthy of a place in the Britain in Bloom competition, the feeling for us is that of a footballer chosen for the national squad for the first time. We can expect great coverage in the national and local press, and we hope that lots of residents and businesses will support us this year in going the extra mile to make our town shine. Having great green spaces is important in creating a sense of pride and community, helping people get enough physical exercise and supporting wildlife and biodiversity. The floral displays in the town centre are important for the businesses in creating an atmosphere that draws potential customers into the town, encouraging them to linger and spend money that then gets recirculated around the local economy.”
Otley in Bloom’s campaign for Britain in Bloom glory starts here and your help is vital.
Get involved now….
- Be part of our fundraising “Open Gardens” event on June 25th, either by opening your garden to visitors or spending a pleasant afternoon visiting Otley’s private gardens.
- Join our team of volunteers – help with gardening, administration, litter picking, social media, and watering plants is needed.
- Ensure that your premises at home and work look their best this summer and don’t forget to keep dead heading and watering as it is easy for summer displays to “go over” in a hot summer.
To get in touch, register your garden for the Open Gardens, or to come to our next meeting call Katie Burnett 01943 462390
Litter heroes wanted
Otley in Bloom members will be taking part in the national Great British Spring Clean to get half a million people out and about cleaning up their local communities in March 2017.
Friday 3rd March at 11am – The campaign will be launched by the Town Mayor Cllr Ian jackson and Keep Britain Tidy’s Tidyman at the Maypole, Manchester Square, followed by a town centre litterpick and refreshments for volunteers at the Council’s Orchard Gate offices at 1pm.
Saturday 4th March at 10am – Cllr Linda Hoare will lead another litter pick, starting at the Maypole in Manchester Square.
Sunday 5th March at 10am to 12noon – Cllr Ray Georgeson will lead a family session at Gallows Hill nature reserve – meet at the car park.
Volunteers are asked to email admin@otleytowncouncil.gov.uk or call into the Council’s office in Orchard Gate to confirm they’d like to take part. Litter-pickers will be provided, but please bring your own gloves. Only people pre-registering will be allowed to participate to control numbers and ensure health and safety.
The Otley Phlox
The Story of the Otley Phlox
Fred M. Simpson was born in 1879 to an Otley ironmonger. Through his working life he was a plumber in Harrogate, a farmer in Canada, and then a poultry breeder in Otley. His passion for horticulture only began in his 50s when ill health forced him into a most productive retirement. He used his skills in cross breeding to breed new strains of Korean chrysanthemums, lupins, Michaelmas daisies, and finally in his 70s perennial phlox.
In 2014, Otley in Bloom heard about this pioneering horticulturalist and wanted to bring his plants back to Otley. An ongoing search has so far not revealed any known examples of his chrysanthemums, lupins and Michaelmas daisies, but this year we will be planting in Wharfemeadows Park examples of five perennial phlox varieties bred by Fred M Simpson in the 1950s.
Mr Simpson bred the phlox to be more compact and bushy than other available varieties. The guiding principle of his work is described as “a search for perfection, a discontent with things as they are, a feeling that however good a plant of his creation might be it could be made better. “I’ve got a good thing here but I must try to improve it” has been his personal motto. And his criterion has been his personal sense of beauty, that subtle appreciation of colour and form which he shared with his artistic sisters – ‘If it doesn’t suit me out it goes out onto the muck heap’”*
*extract from West Riding Farming Personalities article from Otley Museum
With grateful thanks to Otley Museum and Jane Britten.
The plants have been propagated by Courtyard Planters who have donated plants to Leeds City Council Parks in Otley and to the National Collection at Temple Newsam. If you would like to purchase an Otley phlox, they are available from Courtyard Planters, with 50p from the sale of each plant coming to Otley in Bloom to support more horticultural projects.
If you are able to report any known examples of other plants bred by Fred M Simpson, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Our snowdrops came up all over Otley
In autumn 2015 we planted thousands of snowdrops around Otley. We saw blooms all over town last February, and again this Spring there have been masses of flowers. Here are some at the Whartons School.
Otley in Bloom 