This summer’s Spelthorne in Bloom competi-tion will be launched in June, when the entry forms will be published online and in print, and the posters will appear on Council notice boards. The children’s poster competition attracted more than 100 entries, despite many schools being closed, and we had many entries from children who were studying (or learning) at home. The winner was Olivia Arguirova , aged 10 from Stanwell Fields Primary School, and her poster will appear on the entry form and on the posters which will be circulating during June and July. The closing date for entries this year is Friday 16 July, and entry forms will be available at Squires Garden Centre in Shep-perton, and at Notcutts Garden Centre in Staines Road, Laleham. New sponsors have come forward this year. The Best Kept Front Garden category has been sponsored by Mrs Zandra Ceaser, in memory of her late husband Gerry. Many will remember Gerry as a former Leader and Mayor of Spelthorne Borough Council, and some will remember that he was the first ever Chairman of Spelthorne in Bloom. So it is good to remember his contribution in this way. The Best in Show category has been sponsored by Squire’s Garden Centres. Many people will know Colin Squire, who lives in Laleham, and his daugh-ter Sarah Squire, who is now Chairman of the Gar-den Centre Group. It is their 85th Anniversary year, so Colin has kindly agreed that the Best in Show can be sponsored in memory of his late father, Mr DJ Squire, the founder of the garden centre group all those years ago. A new category has been introduced for the overall Best School entry, kindly sponsored by Notcutts Garden Centres, and the competition will be open to Spelthorne schools for the best school garden, best edible garden, and best scarecrow. Organisers hope all primary schools in the borough will be willing to take part during the summer term, as the entry forms will be sent out during half term, to give plenty of time for schools to enter before the sum-mer holidays begin in late July.
Spelthorne in Bloom Chairman Nick Wood-Dow said it had been a struggle to keep the campaign going during the pandemic, which had affected 2020 and 2021. “We volunteers were determined to do all we could to keep Spelthorne in Bloom going, after our 30th anniversary year in 2019. Last Octo-ber, the Mayor and I presented all the winners with their prizes in their own homes, due to Covid re-strictions, and the photos appeared in the Spelthorne Borough Bulletin.
This year all the entries for the children’s poster competition came in by email or submitted online, so I would like to thank Spelthorne Borough Coun-cil so much, as officers managed the IT challenges of receiving entries and enabling our volunteers to judge them, so that we could choose a winner in time. “We are sending out entry forms during June to as many people as possible, eg people who have en-tered before, and members of local Horticultural Societies, and via the garden centres. We ask keen gardeners to send in their entry forms by 16 July, so we can plan the judging for August. We also hope to hold our end of year Awards Evening at Notcutts, as long as all Covid restrictions have been lifted, and our guests can once again attend big events, and enjoy socialising with others.”
Spelthorne in Bloom is a free to enter competition to find the best gardens in the borough, and we hope that as many keen amateur gardeners will enter as possible to make this a great success.