Strictly Blooms Again!

Saturday 27th April 2013...

‘Strictly come Gardening’, Haywards Heath's Gardening show, will be back, bigger and blooming on Saturday, 27th April 2013 and will be trying to provide lots of ideas for you – and your garden!  

The popular expert panel is back, chaired by Jean Griffin, BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey's gardening guru. With two of the driest winters on record and a monsoon summer, how should you apply a ‘wet or dry’ plan for your garden. Whether we’re faced with extreme wet or dry (or both), what’s the best way of making the most of our garden?

These and many more will be the kind of questions the panel will face.   Strictly’s organisers are also delighted that, after their help and support last year, the Town Council’s Haywards Heath in Bloom Committee has agreed to officially ‘partner’ the event next year.

Orchards Manager, Nicola Bird, is thrilled: “Strictly really excited the south east’s gardening community last year and it’s brilliant that Haywards Heath in Bloom is going to be a big part of next year!”  

The Strictly Schools Competition is to be expanded.  Key Stage 1 children, who entered some fantastic interpretations of their favourite flower this year, will be asked to picture their favourite tree next year.  The older Primary children in Key Stage 2 will be asked to design a wild flower garden or vegetable patch, for which they will be given the seeds or seedlings to bring it to reality.  Secondary schools will be asked to take up the challenge of presenting ideas for creating sustainable gardens - for instance designing a garden feature from recycled materials, or inventing a self-watering garden.   

New on the day will be a Gardening Treasure Hunt, where clues will be hidden in the shops in the Orchards and there’ll be a ‘fun’ quiz, “Know your Plants”, to test the knowledge of the local gardeners.  

Last years’ exhibitors, plus many more, are planning to attend so we’ll again have the great Sussex gardens, plant specialists, nurseries, schools and colleges. 

There are also new features planned, including flower arranging teach-ins from De Novo Flowers - who will be telling visitors how to make even the simplest arrangement look stunning.   Jean Griffin says: "Strictly takes a novel approach to gardening.  We aim to offer lots of ideas and answer the questions all our passionate gardeners have. Our experts have loads of knowledge and experience which they are happy to share. Strictly is the place to pick up a new inspiration or aspiration.”   Watch this space for more news soon!