King’s Heath gardening projects are celebrating a terrific triple success in this year’s Heart of England in Bloom Awards. The Floral Trail was awarded Silver Gilt at the Awards Ceremony that was held for the first time in King’s Heath at All Saints’ Church and this success was matched by Fox Hollies School who were also awarded Silver Gilt in the Schools Competition, And Kings Heath Community Centre received a Level 3 award in the “It’s Your Neighbourhood” competition.

Over 250 delegates from across the region attended the ceremony including 12 Lord Mayors. Gardening celebrity Alys Fowler who welcomed everyone to King’s Heath said she could not now “imagine living anywhere else” while another local resident comedian Janice Connolly aka Mrs Barbara Nice had the whole audience singing along to her own version of the Terry Wogan hit song “The Floral Dance”.

Bob Prew, chair of KHCP’s Clean and Green Committee, that organises the Floral Trail said, “The whole event was a wonderful advert for King’s Heath. Everyone said how much they admired our new Village Square and all our floral displays. We are slightly disappointed to narrowly miss out on achieving Gold again this year but Silver Gilt is still a magnificent achievement for King’s Heath. It is the same level as achieved by Evesham, Henley in Arden and Warwick”.

The Floral Trail’s Silver Gilt award in the main HEIB main competition came on top of a Silver Gilt award for Fox Hollies School in the schools competition. Their garden was described by the judges as an "oasis of calm", "a great asset" and a "wonderful educational facility". And a week earlier at a separate Awards Ceremony in Henley King’s Heath Community Centre was awarded a Level 3 Award in the “It’s Your Neighbourhood” competition.

King's Heath Floral Trail has now achieved national recognition by being featured as a case study on the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Web Site (click here).

RHS reporter Sophie Dawson and photographer Julian Weigall visited King's Heath on 30 July.

Read their article on how volunteers and businesses are transforming King's Heath by clicking here.

Kings Heath is hoping for a top floral award following a visit by two Royal Horticultural Society judges in the annual nationwide Britain in Bloom competition. Judges Martyn Hird and Mel Henley toured King's Heath following a presentation at Fox Hollies School where they also met with youngsters who have created a flower and vegetable garden on previously unused land.
This was King's Heath’s first entry into the national competition having been selected to be one of only 73 finalists out of over 1,000 entries.
The results of the annual competition will be announced in Guernsey in October after which a local event will be held to announce the result along with the winners of the annual front garden competition for residents and, for the first time, a competition for businesses.
Bob Prew (top right in the figure below), chair of  KHCP's Clean and Green committee, said he hoped the judges had been impressed. "They witnessed not only a magnificent blaze of colour – hanging baskets, planters, railing baskets, bedding plants and Birmingham's largest variety of trees but also the enthusiasm and vibrancy of the community that made this all possible".

A new guide to encourage visitors to discover and explore historic Highbury Park has been published as part of King's Heath Floral Trail's entry into Britain in Bloom 2012. Artist Catharine Clarke and ecologist Ellen Pisolkar, who are both local residents, have collaborated to publish the first illustrated guide to this much loved park. And Catharine's illustations for the guide are on display until 17 September at an exhibition at All Saints' Centre in the Village Square. On Saturday 28 July they led the first in a series of discovery walks round the park ending with a visit to the exhibition.

The guide celebrates the park's rich history formed by the tapestry of the three estates - Highbury, Uffculme and the Henburys - and includes a timeline that records significant events in the development of the park from the Bronze Age to the present day. It also highlights some of the magnificent flora and fauna to be found in the park during the whole year as well as showing visitors some of the park's secret corners, layers of history and wildlife.

Copies of the guide can be picked up at the exhibition in All Saints' Centre, the Library, the Community Centre and many other local outlets or instead, you can instantly download a copy from our site by clicking here or on the image above. The small image above shows a group being led around wonderful Highbury Park on Saturday 28th July 2012, whilst below is a lovely picture taken at the time of sunlight seeping through the vivid green foliage of the trees that visitors can see at anytime.