Bloomin' marvellous!

Lovely golden-flowered wild rose at the top end.

Hi all
'Our' Graham has been hard at work in the garden, planting the most beautiful combination of flowers, herbs and even vegetables. Here's a taste for you. Enjoy – and come visit!
Really sorry, no dogs, no wheels, though.

Centre piece in gold and purple – Chives, Aquilegia (Granny's bonnet), tulips – golden-flowered rose in the background

Mysterious Mecanopsis – what a success story here!

Beans flowering in the vegetable patch

More photos from the Lynnside Community Garden

Dear All

The top end of the garden is taking shape beautifully, thanks to a lot of work, thanks mostly due to Graham's tireless efforts.

He has contributed the photos here, taken over the last few weeks. Lovely autumn colours, don't you think?

If you would like to contribute in terms of time and/or money, we will be happy to get back to you. Simply leave a comment at the end of this post with your contact details – your comment will not be published.

It is hoped that the garden can at long last be opened to the public next spring. Watch this space!

Even in autumn, a riot of colour

Hello again
Graham has done a sterling job in selecting robust flowers (bulbs, annuals, perennials) that even after a wet and chilly periods looks stunning on a grey autumn afternoon.
Would anyone like to sponsor a bench, or a fruit tree, or some more planting? Donations are always welcome!

A "wiggly"-shaped central eye-catcher alive with colour.
All photographs in this post: © by Margret Powell-Joss.

Interesting shapes, textures and colours as we look towards the retaining wall at the top of the "top end".

A striking feature is the circular motif of lovely cobblestones.

The "top end" seen from the footpath that connects it to the gate in Dalintart Lane.

Just magic! A riot of colours: yellow and orange calendula, blue cornflowers, pink rocks and gravel, green foliage.

View of the "woodland/wild area". Click on the photo to find the bright red rosehips.

Graham's Biochar® experiment: the raised bed on the left contains a mix of Biochar® and compost; the raised bed on the right contains compost only. Better photos to follow, hopefully.

The Top end of our Community Garden is taking shape

What a difference!
It's taken a while and may take a while yet until we can officially open. Still, there's no denying that a great deal of progress has been made:

Photograph by Margret Powell-Joss

Above: before (November 2008)
Below: after (June 2012)

© Photograph by Graham Scott

Amazing work!

© Photograph by Graham Scott.

After a very warm month of April

Spring has come as early to the Lynnside garden as elsewhere in the country.
Graham has worked hard, tidying raised beds. The first early potatoes are already showing above ground.

A spectacular clump of Mecanopsis Sheldonii or Blue Poppies brings a splash of colour to the green patch at the bottom. A wee strim will keep weeds in check.

Dry branches from trimmed trees may present a wee bit of an obstacle to not-so-welcome intruders. The place presents other hazards, such as shards of broken glass still coming out of the ground although massive amounts of rubbish have been cleared already. Not surprising, really, as for some forty years the plot served as an inofficial dumping ground for neighbours' waste.

Success!

Dear all

Great good news!

We've been successful in obtaining funding from two different sources:
The Scottish Public Health Network have granted us £2000 to use as per our bid – details available upon request.
Awards for All have granted us £9,980 to use as per our application – details available upon request.

What a fantastic Xmas present. Having this funding in the bank means that we should be able to proceed with work on the "top end" of the garden in the spring. Yay!!

Great good funding news

Dear All

We have reason to rejoice!

A funding request submitted to the Scottish Public Health Network has been successful.
This means that we will soon have another £2000 towards sorting out the "Top End" of our garden.
Well done everyone involved in submitting this bid and many, many thanks to SPHN!!

Cheerioh for now!


PS:
We're also hoping for some good news on a funding bid submitted to Awards for All. We'll keep you posted...

... and the Winner Is –

Dear All

Remember the Sunflower Competition that we kicked off at the Oban Charities Day in June 2010?
Well, the winner has now been officially identified based on photographic evidence and we can name him as

Conor McPhail

a young boy from the Oban-Glencruitten area.
His was sunflower no. 8, and he will be given a cash prize of £10 shortly. Well done, Conor, congratulations!

Here's the link to a clip showing the winning sunflower as it looked on sunny 8th October 2010 (apologies for your having to view it sideways – I wasn't thinking when I recorded this with my wee digital camera):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQNNyXZTGM&feature=&p=D155929C3AA2DE21&index=0&playnext=1

Competition was very stiff, with a few contenders doing well later on, which you can see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJZZtNByi6k&p=D155929C3AA2DE21&index=5&playnext=2
and here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQNNyXZTGM&p=D155929C3AA2DE21&index=6&playnext=3

Sadly, some people have no respect for plants and several of the participating flowers were decapitated. Also, the recent storms blew rather too strongly for the thin poles helping the sunflowers to stand. So things look a bit bedraggled just now. Some flowers are still in bloom, however.

More news soon, hopefully! Cheerioh for now – enjoy the gorgeous autumn colours.

Winner of the Sunflower Competition

Dear All


We take great pleasure in announcing the winner of the sunflower competition launched at Oban's Charities Day on 12th June 2010:

For his sunflower (no. 8) Connor McPhail will receive a cheque for £10 (in lieu of the promised ticket to Oban Cinema which is, sadly, closed for the duration).

Congratulations!