Storrington In Bloom is taking off

Friday June 13 - Closing date for Front gardens and Community Areas

Sunday June 15 - Guided Walk from Fryern Dell to Meadowside with BBQ at 2pm

Friday July 4 - Closing date for public voting for business premises.

Sunday July 6 - 10am - 12pm - Clean Up day in Storrington

Sunday July 13 - Storrington In Bloom Gardens Open - 2pm - 5pm

Tuesday July 15 - Judges Arrive!

Down in Storrington, front gardens are taking shape, allotments have already had their first spring judging visit, and the local businesses in Storrington have shown great interest in putting on displays in the shop windows and gardens.

Look out for Victorian themes in the traders’ window displays, and remember, for them it’s a people’s vote, so you can use the voting slip in the Sussex Local June issue to register your favourite display before the closing date.

For gardeners entering the Best Front Garden and Community Areas, the closing date is getting closer, so if you haven’t filled in your form, taken it back to the Village Florist, and claimed your voucher for your free pair of gardening gloves from Squires, then make sure you get your form completed soon.

The Storrington In Bloom volunteers have been hard at work sowing seeds, planting seedlings, and preparing tubs and planters ready to grow into their displays, and the Greenfingers team have just planted all the summer planting in the large High Street tubs.

A new initiative for Storrington this year will be an Open Gardens scheme, with three gardens showing how you can make the most of your plot, so look out for the signs along the roads soon and posters in many places locally, giving all the details. If it is successful, then more will be added next year!

The Conservation Society have been working hard on their new project, Fryern Dell, and have joined forces with Friends of Meadowside and Horsham District Council to prepare an entry into the South & South East In Bloom’s Conservation area category.

To promote this new entry, there will be a guided walk from Fryern Dell to Meadowside along Riverside Walk on Sunday 15th June at 2pm, and the walk will end with a BBQ on the meadow so look out for details. The Churchyard has entered the competition too, and already their snowdrops and crocuses have been a picture!

The Tombola stand at the Annual Duck Race helped raise some needed funds for the In Bloomers, and a successful coffee morning at the Village Hall also helped to raise awareness.

Horsham District Council have arranged with their contractors to mow the grass along Old Mill Drive on a weekly basis to support the In Bloom efforts, and the Parish Council’s Maintenance Manager is tackling the refurbishment of almost all the park benches in the village. Everyone is sure that this co-ordinated effort will really reap benefits for all the residents and traders in the village, and attract visitors to come and enjoy the colourful displays.

The judges will be arriving in July, and so a further Clean Up day has been arranged the week before, so this is your chance to come along and find out what it’s all about, and make some new friends!

Report and pictures contributed by David Wright.