On the crisp morning of Saturday 19th November 2022, nearly 30 residents and volunteers from the local community gathered to work together and add a splash of colour at Kingsgrove.
800 spring-flowering bulbs were provided by a local garden centre, including of a variety of daffodils, bluebells, grape hyacinths and Grecian wildflowers. They were funded by Preim and St. Modwen and planted along the edges of the play park and woods near the public square.
Tom Page from Wild Wantage was back for a second year to lead the planting, explaining how to dig, how to insert the bulbs and to demonstrate the ’bulb dance’, where one stomps on the newly planted area to make sure the bulbs are securely planted.
Anne Richardson, Community Development Officer for Wantage and Grove, helped organise the day and had a great time meeting residents and chatting to them about ideas for future projects.
Anne said, “I especially loved the location as the children were planting bulbs alongside the playpark, and in the spring season they will be able to see the flowers they planted grow and blossom while they play.”
As the morning went on and the temperature warmed up, more people came out to help. Resident Rep James Hodgson helped with some planting and taking photographs, and some families from nearby Charlton Village offered their help as they passed by.
A university student whose parents live on Kingsgrove even used the bulb planting event as a case study for one of her degree modules, speaking to the group about the value of this kind of event for the community in terms of placemaking.
At the end of the morning all the bulbs were successfully planted and will begin to bloom over the next few months, well into springtime. In the new year take a walk along to the play park to see the beautiful new bulb flower displays and visit the flowering bulbs planted last year along Elder Way too.
