Wildflowers are set to bloom across Ireland as garden projects compete for a £135,000 prize on offer from Kew Gardens for the best wildflower garden.
Twelve community initiatives across Northern Ireland are putting forward their plans for meadows of native flowers for the Grow Wild initiative which funds wildflower projects which transform local spaces.
Belfast City Council is creating a City of Wildflowers, with flowers blooming in some of the most deprived areas of the city. Among them are the New Lodge Community Garden among towering residential apartment blocks, described as a 'concrete jungle'. Local residents want to sow it with a sea of pretty flowers, making it a place people want to spend time in again.
Meanwhile the Cornfield Project in Coleraine is turning a neglected stretch of woodlandn and grass between two housing estates into a community outdoor activity centre among meadows planted and looked after by local volunteers.
Both are on the Northern Ireland shortlist for Grow Wild (www.growwilduk.com) – a project funded by the Big Lottery Fund and Kew to encourage the planting of wildflowers across the country. The winner is selected by public vote in October and announced in November, with planting at the winning project beginning next spring.
