The Royal Horticulture Society is this year celebrating '50 Years Britain in Bloom' after it was first held in 1964. It all began when Roy Hay MBE, visited France as a horticultural journalist in 1963. Whilst there, he discovered the 'Fleurissement De France' and was enthralled by the blooming flowers, shrubs and trees. Hay’s horticultural interest discovered that the French Tourist Authority were working towards bringing more floral colours to areas of France. Therefore, upon returning to the UK, Roy contacted the British Tourist Authority and director Len Lickorish. Following talks with Len, it became evident that the pair shared similar interests in regards to beautifying Britain and so 'Britain in Bloom' was born.
The horticultural interest spread quickly with numerous organisations getting involved including the National Farmers Union, London Tourist Board and National Association of Rural Communities, not to mention various media outlets and a great proportion of the British public. Regional communities were invited to partake in an annual competitions - which they would work towards for most of the year - where their blooms would be compared. The first winner was Bath in 1964.
Over time, the organisation has grown and grown. In 1983, The 'Tidy Britain' group gained control of the organisation, introducing event sponsorship which intern led to a greater budget to expand the event. This led to a series of changes including the introduction of various divisions for competitors; regions would now be categorised according to size of bloom and range. Sponsors over the years have included Shredded Wheat, McDonalds and B&Q.
In 2002, the Royal Horticulture Society took control of Britain in Bloom and has continued to develop the yearly event with greater categories including Towns, Villages, Urban Areas, Cities and Coastal areas; with over 1000 entries each year showing just have far this ‘idea’ has come. To put this into perspective, thousands of spectators gathered in Usk, Wales on the 3rd July 2014 to greet HRH The Duchess of Cornwall when she visited the town to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the UK’s biggest community gardening campaign of luxury flowers, stunning blooms and vast shrubbery.
Throughout 2014, many have congratulated the RHS on their milestone and we wanted to show our appreciation and support for the company who have this year made significant, horticultural history. Appleyard London would like to take the time to congratulate all those involved in achieving this historic milestone whilst sending our deepest thanks to those who were instrumental in the birth and development of Britain in Bloom.
Earlier this year, Bristol held the annual horticultural awards with the prestigious honour of 'The Britain in Bloom Horticulture Award' going to Shrewsbury! We offer them our greatest congratulations! As with the event itself, the blooms and stature of the designs have continued to grow while interest levels for the event and for horticulture itself are growing no end and this is only positive for Britain in Bloom.
We would not blame you for wanting to keep up to date with the RHS so visit their website - www.rhs.org.uk and unearth a vast array of horticultural knowledge.
The 2014 winning Dingle Gardens in Shrewsbury:
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog post on the RHS Britain in Bloom 50th Year Anniversary.
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