Pupils Plant 'Coronation' Flowers

Pupils from Banbury’s primary schools turned empty flower beds in People’s Park into a sea of colour this week.

The annual Planting in the Park competition saw more than 300 boys and girls from 13 schools transform the flower beds into living landscapes that reflected the event’s King Charles’ Coronation theme.

Planting Day, organised annually by Banbury Town Council, encourages young people to develop an interest in nature and horticulture.

This year, pupils with trowels, forks and dibbers used nearly 3000 plants as they turned their flower beds into colourful scenes that showed imagination and flair – and brought back memories of King Charles’ coronation celebrations.

Mayor Fiaz Ahmed, one of the competition judges, said: “This is an extremely worthwhile event and the number of pupils taking part demonstrates how popular it is. Their enthusiasm was amazing. Everyone had a great day and learned a lot about nature. They can visit the park throughout the summer to see how their flower beds progress.”

Fellow judge Paul Almond, the council’s director of environment, said: “I must congratulate the schools on their imagination and their energy. Choosing a winner was very difficult. The flower beds and centre pieces were all of an extremely high standard.”

Prizes were awarded in two categories.

The best centrepiece cup went to St Mary’s, and the best garden trophy was awarded to St Joseph’s.