Continue reading »]]> Moseley in Bloom will be launching its 2012 campaign on the weekend of 24^th and 25^th March and this year already looks to be action packed!

The Saturday will see the return of our stall on the award winning Moseley Farmers Market. Not only will you be able to purchase various springtime plants at the stall to help your garden and house escape the winter blues, but you will also be able to sign up as a “Friend of Moseley in Bloom” supporting the Moseley in Bloom initiative further and entitling you to a free Open Gardens ticket (which you will be able to collect on the day of the Open Gardens) along with other benefits!

The stall will also enable you to have a sneak peak of the work taking place with Queensbridge School on an anti-litter campaign which will hit Moseley during 2012.

From 10.30am on the Sunday sees the first of our Volunteers Weekends where we will be starting the second phase of the Car Park project. This exciting part of the project looks to improve the bedding area located next to Kingfishers (on the left hand side as you enter the car park). Improvements are designed to help ensure the area is safer, removing the pathway behind the laurels and ensuring a more attractive entrance for visitors of Moseley.

Preparation work will also be taking place on the Sunday at St Mary’s Church to create a wild-flower area – the start of an ambitious project which hopes to grow year on year in size. This links directly to the Royal Horticulture Society’s campaign to introduce more pollinating plants to help protect the vital insects such as butterflies, moths, hover-flies and bees that enable us to bloom each year…

We are seeking volunteers to help us on this day (which also coincides with the monthly car park clear up) so do please come along if you can along with any tools such as loppers, forks and spades. Don’t let the fear of hard grafting get to you however as there is plenty of lighter work available. You support is much needed! Help us to make Moseley to sparkle ready for Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations!

For more information email info@moseleyinbloom.org.uk or contact Adam Styler on 07588 868 533.

Continue reading »]]> Well what a successful Launch to the 2011 Moseley in Bloom Campaign! Firstly we had a great start to the year with our Moseley Farmers Market Stall on Saturday 26th March where many people came to buy produce to help fund various intitatives for Moseley in Bloom. On the day we also conductied a survey to engage with the public to find out their views of Mosleey, the Birtiain in Bloom campaign and how Moseley in Bloom assists with the community. This will help us identify areas where we can improve and help support our community further. Watch this space for the results!

Secondly – did you hear our very own co-chair Carol Miller on the Radio? There were two chances to catch up on what Moseley in Bloom had planned over the weekend when Carol was interviewed on the Molly Green Breakfast show (BBC Radio WM) and then by Carl Chinn on his Sunday morning show, again on BBC Radio WM. Community Horticulture Manager for the RHS Stephanie Enyon was also interviewed by Carl who gave a bigger picture as to what the Britain in Bloom campaign.

Then on Sunday the Sunday mornging of 27th March  Birmingham City Parks & Nurseries, members from Cannon Hill Peoples Park  and Volunteers from the community came out in force to plant over 300 tree saplings at the Queen Mothers Plantation in Cannon Hill Park. The sapplings included hazel, hawthorne, birch, rowan, cherry and dogwood to ensure there is year round colour.

Another 120 tree saplings were planted in other areas of Moseley including St Marys Church, Woodbridge Road and Coppice Oaks by volunteers.

The launch coincided with the RHS Britan in Bloom Launch 2011 launch who teamed up with the Woodland Trust to give away up to 200,000 free tree saplings to RHS Britain in Bloom 2011 Finalists – including Moseley in Bloom. Both the RHS and the Woodland Trust are supporting the United Nation’s 2011 International Year of Forests to raise awareness of conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and recognise the benefits trees bring to our wildlife and communities.

A big thank you froim Moseley in Bloom goes out to everyone who turned out and planted the tree sapplings over the weekend and turned out for the Farmers Market which made the weekend such a huge success.

Continue reading »]]> Moseley in Bloom will be celebrating the launch of the RHS Britain in Bloom campaign on Saturday 26th March with their first Farmers Market of the year and then planting over 300 tree saplings on Sunday 27th March from 11.00am.

Volunteers will be  rolling up their sleeves to be part of a tree planting movement to double native trees and woods in the UK. This year more than 300 tree saplings will be planted by Moseley in Bloom volunteers at Moseley Millennium Wood in Cannon Hill Park – supplementing the planting that was originally carried out in 2000 with another 120 tree saplings in other sites in and around Moseley.

The RHS Britain in Bloom has teamed up with the Woodland Trust to give away up to 200,000 free tree saplings to RHS Britain in Bloom 2011 Finalists – including Moseley in Bloom. Both the RHS and the Woodland Trust are supporting the United Nation’s 2011 International Year of Forests to raise awareness of conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and recognise the benefits trees bring to our wildlife and communities.

Back in 2005 a tornado struck Kings Heath, Moseley and Balsall Heath wreaking destruction and uprooting many old street trees. Moseley in Bloom then recently formed a mission to replace the many street trees that were destroyed – planting over 157 street trees to date.

Moseley in Bloom volunteers of all ages will be planting hazel, hawthorn, birch, rowan, cherry and dogwood saplings to give year round colour at Moseley Millennium Wood, Cannon Hill Park (near Holders Lane) between 11am-1pm on Sunday 27th March. Moseley in Bloom is inviting anyone to come along and take part. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Moseley in Bloom on 07588 868 533 or email info@moseleyinbloom.org.uk.

RHS Britain in Bloom showcases the very best in community horticulture and attracts thousands of entrants each year. A total of 77 cities, towns, villages and urban communities from across the UK have made it through to the 2011 finals – including Moseley in Bloom who will wait with baited breath until the September awards ceremony in St. Andrews to see how they have fared.

Adam Styler, Moseley in Bloom Volunteer Coordinator, said, “Since the tornado destruction in 2005, Moseley in Bloom have embarked on a tree planting initiative to replace those that were lost. This helps to build upon that campaign. This is a great opportunity for our community to be part of a national event helping to develop the Moseley Millennium Woodland planting that started here in November 2000. Not only are we helping to double the amount of woodland in the UK – making it a more pleasant place for us to live, but we will also be making a significant improvement for the local wildlife that is struggling to survive in our ever growing city.”

Stephanie Eynon, Community Horticulture Manager, RHS, said, “RHS Britain in Bloom and RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood enables people to join together to improve their local communities and restore civic pride through long-term, sustainable projects which are also beneficial for wildlife. We are delighted to be partnering with the Woodland Trust in order to focus this year’s launch on trees.”

Continue reading »]]> It’s certainly now the busiest part of the season and again Moseley in Bloom is calling you to arms!


The sun is shining and hopefully today marks the start of our (dare I say it!) barbeque summer! You will probably have noticed that the floral displays are now up around the village and it wont be long before your visual senses are stimulated for the season…


Please see the summary below of upcoming activities in June and where we need your help and also find out how you can get your hands on a free pair of Open Gardens 2010 tickets!

The Important bit…

Please do come prepared on the days. Whilst we hope that the summer is upon us, do make sure you bring some warm clothes with you and a waterproof coat. Also bring some suitable footwear (boots are ideal) if you are gardening.

If you have gardening gloves and your own equipment such as trowels, forks and other weeding instruments, please do bring them (labelled with your name). If you don’t have any in your possession then don’t worry – we have spare gloves and some spare tools that you can use.

We hope you can join us on these days. If you know of friends, family or even colleagues that may be interested, please feel free to invite them along.

Look out for next month’s activities which include the pre-judging preparations!

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Continue reading »]]> Yes, the new season is upon us and the spring flowers are starting to grow! Not only does this mean we are starting to see the end of a bleak winter and spring arriving… it also means that Moseley in Bloom are preparing for a very busy year – starting with the spring launch at the Farmers Market on Saturday 27th March and our Green Spring Clean on Sunday 28th March…

Visit us on our very own stall, get your hands on some great bargains with the spring flowers that are available and get your free set of seeds harvested from our very own Meteoric Makeover. Not only can you get yourself a good deal for your garden, but you can also get some expert horticultural advice from our expert gardens.

On Sunday (from 10.00am) come down and meet us at the Meteoric Makeover (the former Bristol Street Motors show room) and join us for the Green Spring Clean. You will also be able to warm yourself up with some hot Moseley Minestrone – a soup from a selection of vegetables grown by keen gardeners in Moseley!

As you are aware by now (if not – where have you been?!) we are not only competing in the Regional Heart of England in Bloom campaign – we have also been shortlisted to represent our region for the Britain in Bloom campaign.

If you want to make a difference in the community as well as being part of a winning team (and lets not forget to mention meeting a lively bunch people from a wide range of backgrounds!) – come on down and join us on both days!

Continue reading »]]> It’s daffodil time in Moseley: as Wordsworth might have observed, “Beside the pubs, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze” – and there are more and more daffodils planted each year by the volunteers from Moseley in Bloom. 

However Moseley is officially bursting into bloom this Saturday March 28^th at the Farmers’ Market from 9 am.  Bloomers will be on parade at a new springtime plant stall laden with potted bulbs in bud and in bloom, narcissi, tulips and anemones – ready for planting out: so if you missed out last autumn you could cheat a bit and catch up now with some instant spring colour for your garden. And if you need some advice, Moseley’s finest gardening gurus, all professional horticulturalists, will be on hand with the answers to your questions, queries and perennial plant problems in a special limited edition of “Gardeners’ Question Time” 

Moseley is determined to hang on to the Gold Award it won last year in the Urban Communities’ category of the Heart of England in Bloom. Times are tough and the volunteers recognise that they will have to work even harder this year to raise funds.  But we have new ideas and new people on board, so it’s

            Banish the Gloom with Moseley in Bloom and Help us Shine in 2009!

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A big thank you to all of you who helped with today’s Mosley farmers market. We made over £250! This is a brilliant result for our last market of the year.

This month’s super sales people were: Jenny, Carol, Glenn, Steve, Joan, Jon S, John C, Chrissie, Sue, Andy (also ever popular plant donations from Deborah and Maggie)

The three Moseley in Bloom markets are a really important part of our fundraising and profile raising and have this year brought in over £700 to the coffers. It’s a lot of fun being on the stall but as with everything there is a lot of hard work behind the scenes. So may I say a particularly big thank you to Jenny and to Jonathan for organising it all.

Natalie, P.S. to get involved or volunteer email Nat@moseleyinbloom.org.uk

Continue reading »]]> I am delighted to say that despite slow trading conditions and a very
windy spot Moseley in Bloom made a profit on the plant stall yesterday.
This is a great result and a tribute to the hard work of Jenny and the
team who this month were:-

Jon S, Ann and Andy Roxburgh, John R, Sybil, Janet, Joan, Chrissie,
Adam, Deborah and Glenn

Thanks also to Maggie and Deborah for their vegetable donations which
sold like hot cakes!

Flyers for the open gardens event on the 14th and 15th June were given to every visiter to our stall.

Map of route

Well done to all
Natalie

Continue reading »]]> We’re under starters orders. It’s just one week until we launch Moseley in Bloom 2008, our fourth year in the campaign but our first as national finalists. Britain in Bloom is about communities creating long term improvements to their local environment and the more we can raise our profile the more people will be encouraged to support and participate in our goals. A launch helps spread the word, but it’s more hard sell than hard graft.Moseley in Bloom chair, Natalie Higgins is disappearing under a blizzard of emails, agendas, rotas and quotas and juggles taking young son Daniel, her laptop and mobile to the swimming baths to maintain her twin roles of Supermum and Top Bloomer. Business Bloomer, Jenny Brewer has balanced the budget, persuaded more pubs, restaurants and businesses to have hanging baskets and is keeping a close eye on horticultural happenings at Birmingham Parks and Nurseries. I have issued a press release, taken some pictures for the Judges Portfolio, written the new spring leaflet, and liaised with Moseley based graphic designer, Arlene Adams about our logo which she created and donated. We want a bolder version to emblazon on our new banner and some umbrellas for the judges!

We’ve decided to run a special edition of Gardeners’ Question Time at our first plant stall of the year at the Moseley Farmers’ Market on Saturday 26th April and use it as the springboard to burst into bloom. Luckily for us, the gardening gurus of Moseley are not only landscape professionals and ace horticultural experts, they are a very amenable and friendly group who allow enthusiastic bloomers like us to browbeat them into doing things for the community.

Jonathan Sandilands will field the first questions on his return from leading the team of ‘bloom buyers’ on their dawn raid to the Birmingham Flower Market. We buy top quality wholesale plant stock and sell it at very competitive prices to raise money for the public floral display in Moseley Village. Jonathan advises on plant selection and pricing and assists with transport logistics while Jenny is busy labelling the plants, checking the float, briefing our volunteer sales team and setting out the stall to be ready for the first customers at 9 am. She’s worried that we might be facing a serious plastic bag shortage before too long!

Jonathan volunteered to design and plant the new flower bed that we created a couple of years ago when the Council demolished the old public conveniences in favour of a modern ‘Superloo’. He is a well known local figure and is invariably interrogated by green fingered shoppers so he will hardly notice that he’s on stage! Next up will be John Cutts of Landscape by Design who devised planting schemes for a number of our permanent projects and supported our Front Garden Tree scheme by offering residents free advice on the selection, siting, care and maintenance of trees suitable for front gardens. And finally, our other consultants, the ladies from Lupin Garden Design, will take the stand to answer gardening queries about problem plants and pernicious weeds.
Our springtime plant stalls are an important part of our fundraising drive, but the Moseley Farmers’ Market it is also a very pleasant social event for local people. It is a great opportunity for us to raise awareness and recruit more people to the cause.

I’m expecting Natalie’s Volunteers rota in my Inbox at any minute, there’s a committee meeting tomorrow and I mustn’t forget to order some more balloons.

Stephanie Silk
Publicity Bloomer
www.moseleyinbloom.org.uk