Wild Flowers for the London Olympics

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Wild Flowers for the London Olympics
 
There will be a colourful display in the 3ha wild flower meadows at the London Olympics, the chosen species providing yellow-gold as the predominant colour. It is difficult to get all species and plants flowering at the same time over an extended period from the summer through to late autumn Dr. Nigel Dunnett has had the responsibility of creating this large wild flower meadow. The seed mixtures used by the supporting Company Green Estate Ltd, are the result of several years of research and experimentation at Sheffield University by Prof. James Hitchmough and Dr. Nigel Dunnett. E-mail: j.d.hitchmough@sheffield.ac.uk n.dunnett@sheffield.ac.uk They created unique mixtures of indigenous and non-indigenous hardy wild flower annuals under the name Pictorial Meadows www.pictorialmeadows.co.uk The aim was to create mixtures from seed that had a reliable germination and plants that flowered for a long period creating a strong yet harmonious display of colour to replace areas down to grass and formal beds and other plantings typical of urban gardens, parks, roadside margins and similar. These mixtures are not designed to create semi-natural vegetation but to create a ‘wild flower look’ while serving to increase biodiversity. They have met with considerable success also in Spain, France and Scandinavia. It is hoped that the wild flower displays at the Olympics will stimulate local authorities in other cities to follow the trend, creating wild flower meadows integrated into their urban landscaping.

Green Estate Ltd www.greenestate.org offers a range of commercial services for landscape consultancy, design, construction and management for urban areas. They sell another series of mixes called ‘Manor Oaks Wild flower mixes’ that will provide a more natural community of indigenous wild flower and grass species.  For further information from Green Estate Ltd, Fax: 0044 1142677636, Email: info@greenestate.org, or Sue France s.france@greenestate.org