Back in December 2013 the turf was cut away. Then in April a wild flowers area was treated and created in the Abbey Meadows by the Carbon Cutters and friends.
There are now the first of the flowers with walkways between – mowed in quite a formal way.
The traffic island near Abingdon Business Park looks rather plain during the winter months, and then the weeds seem to take over, but as May is followed by June the island is transformed with a prolific display of wild flowers.
Corn poppies, ox-eye daisies, and blue cornflowers are particularly abundant. They need minimal maintenance, and make lots of pollen for the butterflies and bees.
Just beside that same roundabout there is a board advertising the Truck Festival. It is a festival that has been happening for about 15 years.
The Truck Festival takes place within Hill End Farm, Steventon, about three miles from Abingdon. About 5000 people attend and so it is on a friendlier more manageable scale than some music festivals. Barnival signs have appeared round the countryside to baffle those of us who are not in the know, but I gather it refers to the barn stage.
The Abingdon Horticultural Society held their Spring Show at the Northcourt Centre on Saturday 5 April. Ian sent some pictures and a report…
The long wet Winter has caused problems for many of us, yet the minimal frost and high temperatures have encouraged the flowers and plants to yield early results. In fact, many of us have found that the early blossoms mean our favourite candidates for the Show were in their prime too soon. The essence of exhibiting is timing, and that played a big part this year.
We had an excellent turn out for our Show, and the entries far exceeded last year’s participation. There were 36 (23 last year) members who exhibited with 189 (133) entries.
See the Abingdon Horticultural Society website, or Contact Ian (ieshepherd at yahoo.co.uk) for information. He says “You might even find you would like to join us! We have a programme of talks, shows, visits and usually a Summer holiday. We will be very pleased to see you.”
Summer is almost over and schools are going back. The holidays began well and the Abingdon Outdoor Pool became very popular until the second week of August when the weather became more typically mixed.
The blooms in Abingdon this summer have added colour as they always do, thanks to the town and district councils who still see them as important.
Nothing very different from previous summers with a mixtures of hanging baskets
and flowers beds. It has been pointed out by some that there are no blooms in the Abbey Shopping Centre this year. That would be for Scottish Widows to decide as they run the precinct.
One bed that was different this year was near the Outdoor Pool – planted by the Carbon Cutters with flowers to feed bees. I took a picture of it being planted on the day the Open Air Pool opened. Today was the last chance for a swim in the outdoor pool and the sunflowers have fed lots of bees.