Author: Isa Martin

Pictures by Leah Georgiades

This morning a wildlife workshop event was run by Froglife, experts in natural habitats (www.froglife.org). It provided the children with an introduction to amphibians, reptiles & their habitats which included designing your own wildlife garden and followed by the practical activity of guided pond dipping in the Rotunda pond.

We all had a really wonderful time – We enjoyed trying to guess the amphibians and reptiles, we designed wildlife friendly gardens and had fun pond dipping. And yes, we found common newts, ramshorn snails, freshwater hoglouse to name but a few.

Many thanks to Will from Frogslife for the wonderful session. I think both adults and children learned a lot.

We also run the first of our extra sessions in the Rose Garden, tackling the weeds. Please join us on Tuesdays (10 to 1pm), Thursdays and Fridays (10 to 12). The Thursdays and Fridays sessions run until June 25th. The Rose Garden needs you!

Dear Volunteers and members of Friends of Preston Park

We are delighted to inform you that we have entered the Rose Garden into this year’s South & South East in Bloom competition for 2024. We are hopeful that our lovely Rose Garden will be appreciated by the judges as much as we do. That said, we need some help to get it shipshape before the judges arrive on 27 June. Therefore, other than the usual Tuesday volunteer gardening session, 10.00-13.00, we are putting on a few extra sessions that we are hoping anyone interested will turn up to. These will include Thursday and Friday, 10.00-12.00. (So, 28, 30,31 May, 4, 6,7,11,13,14,18,20,21, 25 June).

Please bring your own gloves and any tools that you have. We will try to provide those who don’t have any, with tools. Also bring snacks, water and sunscreen.

We will start each session in the Rose Garden with a discussion on what is the priority. Please don’t feel this is a set commitment. Just turn up and do an hour if that is all you can do! We appreciate it and so do the roses!

Many thanks, FoPP
 

Friends of Preston Park (FoPP) held their first Cherry Blossom Tree picnic this week to celebrate the blossoming of our avenue of cherry trees in Preston Park, as well as the arrival of improved weather so that we can all get out into the park and enjoy it more. Those who came brought along a picnic and an urge to recite a haiku or two, in poetical homage to the amazing festivals held in Japan to celebrate the blossoming of such trees. Traditionally, haikus have a 5,7,5 pattern of three phases and 17 phonetic units. This also includes a ‘kireji’ or “cutting word” and a ‘kigo’, a seasonal reference. Some came prepared and others tried, mostly successfully, to wing it. It was great fun for all. Each attendee went home with a small gift of a specially prepared wildflower seed pack, to plant in the coming weeks. We hope everyone will successfully produce some wonderful blooms. Please get down to the park if you haven’t recently and note the number of bees on these trees. It’s a very satisfying experience. 

Our next FoPP event will be next Sunday, 31 March. Simeon Elliott will be giving a walk around the park to find out what birds we have. Please sign up via our website on Eventbrite. 

The Cherry Blossom Tree Picnic is our first event of the year, due to take place in the Park this Sunday 24th March. This event is closely followed by our Bird Walk with Simeon Elliot on Sunday 31st March, 8:30 to 10:30 am. Please register on Eventbrite for tickets and information.

Last month we lost a large elm tree north of the Coronation Garden. It succumbed to the ferocious wind and rain and fell onto three young elm trees, which sadly had to be felled.

The Coronation Garden daffodils planted two years ago are splendid and the magnolia is looking at its best. The beds at the entrance of the Walled Garden have been carefully cleared of bramble by our volunteers.

Our dedicated team of volunteers have been looking after the beds along the Preston Road and the Dalhia walk, which are planted with a variety of narcissi and daffodils.

The Rockery is looking impeccable as usual and these bright tulips add a vibrant touch of colour. Friends of Preston Park purchased a propagating bench with donations from Pride and we are growing our own plants for the Park.

The Rose Garden has benefitted from thirty tonnes of mulch, spread on the beds by volunteers and CityParks gardeners. Two lecterns have been erected to help you identify the roses in the different beds. You will notice new varieties supplied by the rose grower David Austin.

We have many events which may be of interest to you. Tickets are available on Eventbrite (free or £3).

We are running a Gardening session this Sunday 10-1pm. See below for information (scroll down). All welcome.

We are sorry to announce that Sunday 4th February gardening session has been cancelled.

Please come and join our regular gardening sessions. They run from Tuesday to Thursday 10am-1pm. Meet our Head Gardener at the Rockery chalet at 10 am on these days.

A date for your diary

For many the annual Friends of Preston Park’s wreath making event is the start of the festive season. Held over two days at The Rockery it proved to be extremely popular, and in spite of the adverse weather conditions the mood was festive and joyful.

There was an abundance of material gathered locally to choose from and a wide range of seasonal, vibrant and colourful wreaths were made in traditional or contemporary styles, according to one’s creativity.

We are pleased to see this event is growing in demand year after year due to its modest cost and the freshness of the foliage. We advise early booking next year!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and many compliments on your home made wreaths.

December 2023

In January 2023 we launched our Rose Garden appeal to purchase roses to replenish the empty beds and replace old and diseased shrubs. The generous funds given by the public were kindly matched by the rose grower David Austin, thus enabling us to acquire 350 shrub roses, in a variety of colours and forms, all chosen for their fragrance and resistance to drought. Two new species were introduced, Dannahue, a compact and shapely apricot flower, and Penelope Lively, a classic and elegant mid pink rose.

A plaque with a new design is being made and will be positioned at both entrances of the garden to help identify the different varieties.

We would like to thank CityParks groundsmen for giving us a helping hand in planting the roses and Preston Park ranger Marie Ingledew in bringing her team of volunteers to plant and prune.

Our dedicated Tuesday volunteers have been very busy all year long weeding, pruning, planting  and keeping a vigilant eye on the health of the roses. They ask members of the public to keep their dogs on a lead as the roses have young stems that bruise or snap easily when dogs go through the beds and considerable damage has been noticed over the years.

In spring 2024 we will be mulching the Rose Garden once the pruning is done and we aim at purchasing enough fertiliser to hoe in. We welcome any donations to go towards the purchase of the fertiliser so if you would like to donate please use the donate button on this page.

Thank you to all our generous donors who are contributing to making the Rose Garden the most cherished garden in Brighton for today’s and tomorrow’s generations.