EAST HULL CELEBRATES BLOOM COMPETITION WINNERS

Keen gardener John Parks has his late mum to thank for encouraging him to enter a gardening competition which has seen him win a Hull in Bloom title for the first time.

A retired joiner, Mr Parks (67) of Springdale Close, Preston Road Estate, picked up the title of Best Front Garden in the city-wide competition after three consecutive years of winning the award in the Park Area in Bloom challenge. The judges said: “As soon as you enter the Close, you know which garden has entered Hull in Bloom as the front garden is full of colour, with a very patriotic St George’s flag floral display.”Mr Parks was encouraged by his mum Gwen, who died last year at the age of 84.

He says: “I’ve been doing the garden for about seven years and my mum urged me to enter the Preston Road competition as she thought I’d win. One of the community wardens also encouraged me so I did and have won it for three years running. I was shocked to win the Hull title this year. My mum would have been so proud. We liked to have our breakfast and dinner in the garden, which is full of hanging baskets and a mix of everything from roses to gladioli. The St George’s flag display was full of begonias.”

Green-fingered Margaret Cundill of Westerdale Grove received the city award for Best Basket/Container. The judges said: “A wonderful sight greets you as you walk into the garden, with a variety of baskets full of colour.”

Meanwhile, Denis Shaw from Arthur Lucan Court picked up the title of Best Senior Citizen’s Garden, with the following endorsement from the judges: “Again Denis has produced eye-catching, well-maintained displays. His enthusiasm is shown in the care of the garden.”

Ken Cromack from St John’s Grove, a previous winner who launched the competition in East Hull earlier this year, was given two highly commended accolades, one for Best Full Garden and the other for Contribution to Wildlife.
The competition in the Park Area was run by the environmental charity EMS Yorkshire in conjunction with Gateway, Hull City Council’s neighbourhood regeneration programme. The winners from Park Area progressed to the city competition, and they received their awards at a ceremony at Hull Guildhall. A separate awards evening, for winners of the Park Area in Bloom competition, will take place at the Freedom Centre, Preston Road, on Wednesday 13 October. Jan Boyd, Chief Executive of EMS Yorkshire, says: “There’s a great spirit among residents in Park Area to take part and it’s so good to see that we had the most entries in the city competition once again. We’ll look forward to celebrating all of our entrants at the awards night in October.”