Blooming Good Year for birthday bash

One of Forres’ most popular and well-known societies is celebrating its 21st birthday this year – Forres in Bloom.

Since its birth in 1990 the gardening enthusiasts have won some of the most prestigious awards in horticulture including Beautiful Scotland, Britain in Bloom and the Europe-wide Entente Florale.

And like any 21 year old, Forres in Bloom (FIB) will be having a long celebration of this important milestone.

First up is a display in the Falconer Museum on Forres High Street which will tell the story of some of the group’s triumphs over the years.

The display which is on until the end of August will also feature one of FIB’s most well-known contributions; the beaver sculpture which normally resides in Grant Park which will be kitted out for the occasion with felt flowers.

A stall at Forres Highland Games on Saturday, July 9 will also promote the Forres in Bloom work.

The following week, from July 11-14, the serial competition winners will be holding a contest of their own.

Group members have set themselves the ambitious task of visiting every street in the royal burgh and will be giving prizes to the Forres’ best-kept front gardens.

And on July 22, if you go down to Grant Park, you’ll be in for a big surprise as that the day FIB will be having a teddy bear’s picnic where youngsters (of all ages!) will be able to have lunch in the lush surroundings with their favourite cuddly toy.

The fortnight afterwards (July 25-August 6) FIB will be holding another competition to find the best-kept shop window in Forres.

On August 1 the group will be taking part in an attempt to break the record for litter picking in Moray, aiming to make the town free of any debris.

The day after, FIB will be doing what FIB does best – competing in a gardening competition. Judges from the Royal Horticultural Society will be in town to judge Forres in this year’s Britain in Bloom competition.

They will be considering three categories: horticultural achievement, environmental responsibility and community participation, or as FIB president Sandra Maclennan prefers to put it: “Plants, places and people.”

As usual, FIB will be providing the judge with a hearty lunch and inviting people from all over the community to head along and show them a good hearty Forres welcome.

The group will round off August with two other events, a duck race in the Mosset on Saturday 13, and a flower festival held in conjunction with St. Leonard’s Church on High Street entitled ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful”.

In September FIB will hold its final event of the summer – a heaviest pumpkin competition for the town’s young people –in conjunction with that other great local gardening institution the Forres Horticultural Society which is celebrating its 80th anniversary.

“Forres in Bloom thanks the people and businesses of Forres for their whole-hearted and sustained commitment to preserving the quality of life in our beloved town of Forres,” said Mrs Maclennan, adding enthusiastically: “We love where we live!”