Dydh daa!
Welcome to the new Liskeard in Bloom website. Here you can find out almost everything about us. How we work. How we plan. How we recruit. Our Home page starts off with the latest news we have. Follow the links for more detail and you can always find lots more pictures on our Facebook page. We also publish regular newsletters. Latest one for August 2022 is here.
We got Gold – again!
| On Tuesday 3 October 2023, in lofty Truro Cathedral, a group of Liskeard’s finest gardeners gathered (along with a few hundred other gardeners) to hear the news you’ve been waiting for. So – here it is. Once again, Liskeard in Bloom won Gold in the Pennant Cup category (this means we were competing against other towns in the south-west of the same size). Followers of Bloom might remember that when we entered the same competition in 2019, we won – Gold! and last year, with our best efforts in Jubilee year, we won Gold again! The biggest thanks you’s go to not just our wonderful gardeners and twenty or more volunteers who help us throughout the year, but the business community (who sponsor and buy our baskets) and everyone in the town who encourages us to do our best and push our boundaries. [In the photo, Lynda Fletcher, John Crumpton, Lynette Rule, Mayor of Liskeard Cllr Simon Cassidy, John Hesketh, Mayor of Truro Cllr Carol Swain. Out of picture Cllr Jane Pascoe, Bill Greeves, Sue Sluman and Terry Treloar] And there’s more . . . The Flowers of Fore Street won Gold in the Business, Leisure & Tourism category AND the resident gardeners of Culverland Park won an award in the It’s Your Neighbourhood scheme. |
Ukraine 24 02 22 – 24 02 23
As Friday 24 February marks a year to the day when Russia invaded Ukraine, Liskeard in Bloom has installed a trough of spring flowers by the Celtic cross on The Parade in Liskeard using the national colours of that country.
During preparations for our competition entry for South West in Bloom last year, one of our volunteers decorated the windows of a vacant shop in the centre of town with a memorable quotation from Lady Bird Johnson – that flowers bring hope. We have since adopted her words to describe our work across the town centre. On behalf of the people in our town, we are proud to donate this visible symbol of optimism and belief.
Getting ready for Christmas
Our LIB volunteers have been working hard to plant out our spring flowers and bulbs. We also took the time out to make a dozen Christmas wreaths to festoon around Fore Street (see Jo next to one in this picture). Like to know more about our work in Fore Street? Click here.
We got Gold!
We attended the South West in Bloom awards ceremony in Crewkerne on 13 October 2022. Competing against Ivybridge, Crediton, Bovey Tracy and Dartmouth, we were hopeful for at least a handshake and a photo opportunity. Instead – we carried off the Gold Medal!
The judges who visited in July commented that …
‘standard of horticultural displays was excellent and some of the best we have seen’
‘planting was well thought out and colour coordinated in the royal colours of purple and gold’
‘the route (that the judges took) was exceptionally clean, weed free and clear of litter’
‘this was a well organised and active Bloom group run by enthusiastic volunteers with the support of the mayor, and both the town and county council’
So . . .we thank all our enthusiastic hard working volunteers who make it happen, our business customers and sponsors who fund our work and all our residents who stop to talk and keep us going through rain, ice, and the blazing sun.
Picture shows Mayor of Crewkerne, Cllr Kathy Head, John Hesketh (Chair LIB), Cllr Simon Cassidy (Mayor of Liskeard), John Crumpton.
The Peoples Choice 2022
At the South West in Bloom Awards on 13 October, LIB also presented its own award to Mayor of Liskeard, Cllr Simon Cassidy. For August and September, we’d been asking our supporters to choose their favourite flower display in town – and the winning display was our showstopper on The Parade – The Fountain Monument. By a clear margin, the vote for the Fountain was overwhelming, and we were delighted to present the town council (who own the monument) with our first Peoples’ Choice Award.
Hope for 2023 – our annual flower survey
Help us plan for next year by telling us what you liked this year. Tales 1 minute to complete. Go to our survey here.
We can carry on watering
This afternoon, we spoke with South West Water about restrictions on the use of water across the county. If a Temporary Use Ban (TUB) is brought in, then it will only apply to domestic water use – so it will limit your use of water at home in the garden, washing your car or filling your paddling pool. This means that we can continue to water and maintain all our flower displays. If you’d like to know more, read our latest newsletter here.
RHS judges visit Liskeard 20 July 2022
We had our annual visit from the Royal Horticultural Society earlier this week. Read more about their visit and what we did to prepare the town for them.
Donations are always welcome
Our business customers and sponsors, together with everyone who buys a plant or pot from us at our regular markets helps to fund the flowers in town. If you’d like to make a donation direct to us to support our work, follow this link. (and if you are kind enough to donate, please let us know so that we can thank you properly)
Our Jubilee palette
We’re getting ready to plant up the 150+ pots, troughs, tubs and baskets that make up our annual summer display in Liskeard. Because it’s a Jubilee year, we’ve picked out a range of jewel-like vibrant colours that reflect the 70 years reign on HM Queen. Ranging from the deep purple and gold of the Robe of Estate she wore at her coronation in 1953 to navy blue and white that she wore when she visited our town in 1957. We’ll be basing our planting and designs around this choice of colourways. You can too if you want to make up your own Jubilee display. View and download our selection of plants.
Our plans for summer 2022
October 2021 and we’re here in Liskeard Museum with Mayor Cllr Simon Cassidy, John Hesketh (Chair of LIB) and volunteer gardener Bill Greeves. You might not be able to see the detail of what’s in the glass case behind us (so pop along to the museum and have a closer look), but it’s a news cutting from 1956 when HM The Queen paid a royal visit to our town. So what’s the significance of that? it’s a unique royal connection AND it will inspire our choice of plant colours when we come to decide how our hanging basket, troughs, tubs and planters will be looking when we come to mark the Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Keep an eye out for our special Jubilee palette that will be launched in Spring next year!