Britain is in bloom. Petunias, phlox, pinks, poppies, geraniums, fuchsias… flowers gaze at you from everywhere — from borders, from street squares, and from street lamps — sporting laden baskets of trailing plants, tubs of flowering plants on compound walls, in patios, and, most beautifully, at quaint old tube stations, lovingly watered by the railway staff. At the tiny Bayswater tube station, with only two platforms and stairs that meet in a small landing on top, at street level is a small bay of boxed and hanging plants, a perfect photo-stop for the milling tourists, and a place to sit down and catch one’s breath after lugging one’s bags up the stairs of this antiquated station. Scented lavender with its graceful bushy spires beautify traffic islands, and the fantastic buddleia takes over hedges by the railway tracks, bursting into purple blooming tails, perfectly in tune with the colours of Wimbledon.
Said to be Britain’s biggest hobby, gardening does make the nation special. The Worshipful Company of Gardeners (WCG) is first mentioned in City Corporation records in 1345, coming out of the mediaeval Craft Guild. Indeed, many of the gardens laid out in the old style are called Art and Craft gardens, for their sheer artistry.
The aim of the WCG was to promote good gardening, support charitable acts via horticulture, beautify London, and generate new members. Today, not more than 300 members are kept on the rolls, at any given time, making it quite an elite establishment. The prestigious Prince of Wales Trophy is presented to potential professional gardeners who demonstrate a care for the environment, thus encouraging the young to be innovatively eco-conscious. ‘Flowers in the City’ is the largest horticultural campaign in London, launched by the WCG, yielding tremendous results.
From London in bloom, it became Britain in bloom — first held in 1963 by the British Tourist Board, based on a French initiative. The Royal Horticultural Society has conducted it from 2002, demanding horticultural excellence, environmental responsibility, and community participation from the hundreds of participating groups. These regional groups are finally pared down to about 80, for the national finals, with the results announced in October. Areas safer, cleaner and greener and, simply, better places to be — these are the simple yet effective aims of this huge effort. Advice, support and recognition are available to all participants, and also for business establishments to join in. A significant achievement is the involvement of schools, with children encouraged to come out with original ideas in gardening and suitably rewarded. The campaign recognises the tireless work of the huge volunteer force that cares for parks, squares and public green spaces, improving the bio-diversity of congested cities like greater London.
The Churchill Arms, a time-honoured pub with an Irish owner who missed his garden, has a unique garden — its façade boasts hundreds of baskets of flowering plants, going right up to the terrace. Watering is done by an extended hose, the whole effort charming passers-by and tipplers, and netting the owner prizes from the Chelsea Flower Show.
Corner street stalls beckon with fresh flowers and small potted plants — one simply has to take the time to smell the flowers. Supermarkets and village market days sell potted plants, seeds, bulbs, fertilizer, composted soil, handmade terracotta pots, and fresh produce, often grown organically. With Prince Charles now a keen eco-friendly gardening enthusiast, and his Highgrove Estate marketing its organic products at Fortnum & Mason, gardening is not just muddy hands and clompy boots it has taken on a royal sheen.
Whether one walks the acres of the legendary Kew Gardens or not, one is sure to browse through the plant sales outlet at the entrance to Kew tube station, to pick up an English rose, perhaps the most potent symbol of a green nation and a city in bloom.
