For the past 8 years Oadby & Wigston has achieved a Gold Award for the Borough’s entry into East Midlands in Bloom, a competition organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
On Wednesday 11 July, East Midlands in Bloom judges will be in Oadby & Wigston borough. Following a tour of the borough, which will include the Oadby Village student allotment, the judges will finish their programme with a visit to the picturesque Botanic Garden in Oadby guided by a member of the garden staff.
Director of the Botanic Garden Dr Gornall said: “We are delighted to be a part of the East Midlands in Bloom competition. We pride ourselves on being the most diverse garden in the region and hope the judges will find much of interest to them. The key features of the Garden include the water, parterre, sandstone, rock and fuchsia gardens, and the desert and tropical greenhouses.”
Simon Lucas, Chairman of Pride of the Borough, the organising group for the East Midlands in Bloom entry commented that “we only have 3 hours to show the judges around our borough and there is so much going on it is very difficult to find time to include everything, but we couldn’t miss the wonderful Botanic Garden and are pleased to have found time to make a short visit to the Student Village allotment.”
Councillor David Carter added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to show the partnership work that goes on between the council, Pride of the Borough, other voluntary organisations and businesses to improve the environment of Oadby & Wigston.”
The Botanic Garden is visited by thousands of schoolchildren for whom it is an educational resource linking in with their classroom projects. With a focus on global biodiversity, it is also open to the public who can see and learn about a wide range of plants that grow in the extensive collections from around the world.
As an academic institution engaged in teaching and research, the Botanic Garden’s mission is to:
• Maintain the most diverse garden in the region, in terms of plants, conservation collections, landscape features, and historically and architecturally important buildings;
• Underpin scientific research and teaching at the University;
• Devise and provide education programmes aimed at all age groups, reaching out into the wider community to demonstrate the contemporary significance of plants in a rapidly changing world.
For further information about the Botanic Garden, Visit: https://www2.le.ac.uk/institution/botanic-garden/gardarb
