Dorset Art Weeks taster event

Our taster event was a huge success and our customers certainly seemed to enjoy the beautiful art displayed and in particular chatting to the artists themselves.   There was one piece of work in particular that caused quite a stir – the model of Her Majesty the Queen, complete with accompanying Corgi!! It was very funny to see people do a double take when they passed her!  Totally made from paper mache the full size model was a big hit!!

On Saturday 12 May we held a series of in-house demonstrations which were really enjoyable and informative and each of the 5 artists drew a big crowd of admiring onlookers as you can see from these photos.    On Sunday 13th local artist Sue Hardy took on the task of designing a cow collage with the help of visiting children which was great fun.  There is still a little work to be done on the collage but hopefully once it is finished it will be displayed here at the Garden Centre….. watch this space for more details!

Dorset Arts Weeks starts on 26th May and runs until 10th June.  Brochures are still available here but please contact Anne Hitchcock at info@sladecentre.co.uk for more information.

Orchard Park would like to thank all the artists who displayed their work and gave their time to us and our customers.

Dorset Art Weeks

We held our own version of Gardeners Question time here on 28th March in association with Shaftesbury & Gillingham Tangent Group and in aid of Marie Curie.

Our illustrious panel included Sara Cross of Gold Hill Organic Farm at Child Okeford, garden designer Diana Guy who was BBC Gardener of the Year in 2004, Gavin Cooper of Cranborne Manor and our own Richard Cumming.  The Chairman was Sara Jacson of Melbury Abbas who has spent many years creating a beautiful garden.

The panel were informative, enthusiastic and really interesting, their knowledge and passion for gardening clear.  The audience of nearly 100 thoroughly enjoyed themselves and topics covered included problems with chalky soil, what to do with a clay bank, ideal trees against a south facing wall as well as the inevitable concerns about weeds and wildlife!    There was a long discussion about good gardening techniques in what is expected to be a dry spring and summer.  (If you would like tips about water wise gardening please visit our plant page.)

Chairman of the Tangent Group, Mrs Alison Highnam was clearly delighted with the response to the evening and will confirm how much was raised for Marie Curie at the event in the next few days.

If you would like more information about Shaftesbury & Gillingham Tangent please contact Alison on 01747 838133.

Mother’s Day is one of our busiest days of the year here at Orchard Park but for our Floristry team it’s HUGE!!

Our regular florists are joined by Claire and Anita and this year the girl’s will be working through the night to meet the demand for their stunning bouquets.    In 2011 our florists made up over 170 bouquets, baskets and hand tied wraps of every description and already the signs are that this year we will beat that total!

Nikki and Charlotte have worked really hard to source the most beautiful, scented flowers from local producer’s and from Europe.

The flowers begin to arrive mid-week and they are carefully chilled to ensure that they are absolutely in peak condition for the big day! Both Friday and Saturday the girls will work through the night (yes literally through the night!! – so its double espresso’s all round!) and for Nikki in particular the most challenging aspect of the entire period is that she and her team meet the exact requirements of every individual customer (yes – just do the sums!).

Nikki says “ For everyone, their Mum is the best Mum in the world and they want their bouquet to express that, often the sender has sent a lot of time and effort choosing  specific flowers that will have a special meaning within their family.   It is vital to make sure that we get it right every single time.   I make it my personal responsibility to check every order, after all I am a Mum myself so I know how important it is to be shown how much your family care about you!

There is a team of 4 van drivers who will be delivering flowers all over the county (and dip into Somerset and Wiltshire!) for more information visit the floristry page but feel free to drop in and have a chat with Nikki about Mother’s Day or any other celebration you may be planning!

Orchard Park Garden Centre are once again delighted to be supporting  Msaada, a local charity that assists the people of Rwanda to restore dignity and livelihoods that were destroyed during the horrific genocide in 1994.

Following the success of the inaugural Rwanda Challenge marathon in 2011, a group of local runners this week flew to Rwamagana, Rwanda to prepare for this year’s marathon which takes place on Sunday 19th February.  They took with them t.shirts sponsored by Orchard Park which all runners will receive after they have crossed he finishing line, last year over 100 runners from this Country as well as Rwandan nationals took part in the marathon.

Msaada hopes to significantly add to the staggering £500,000 already raised since starting the charity in Gillingham in 2005 and Richard Cumming, Managing Director of Orchard Park said “we are thrilled not only to be able to provide some sponsorship for this event for the second time but also to be associated with a charity that enables projects to be established which are then run by the Rwandans themselves.

All our staff and customers wish the runners good luck and in fact next year I may even take part myself, although it may have to be in the half marathon and probably walking at that!!”

You can win one of the Orchard Park Msaada t.shirts in a raffle in aid of Msaada at Orchard Park now or alternatively to make a donation please visit www.msaada.org