Monday 22 June to Friday 3 July 2026
Will you be preparing your garden ready for Shirley in Bloom?
We want to add colour to our fantastic local green environment during our festival.
We’ll be running a “Front Gardens” competition and if you or one of your neighbours’ gardens will be in bloom during our festival dates, you can nominate your own property or someone else’s.
To enter, just email ShirleyinBloom2026@springparkra.co.uk no later than Friday 11 June with your full name and contact details, the garden owner’s name and full address and confirmation you have their permission to enter their garden. Entering the competition means that the resident is giving permission for garden photographs and the winner’s name to appear in SPAN magazine and on Facebook.
The front garden judged best will win a £50 voucher to use at The Crown Pub on Wickham Road in Shirley. Second prize is a £25 voucher for Eden Park Garden Centre.
Spring Park Residents’ Association will be around during the Spring identifying good locations to add colour to our neighbourhood to celebrate Shirley In Bloom.
You too can do your bit to ensure we have plenty of colour this summer in Shirley. We are encouraging everyone to sow seeds for the Shirley Poppy – a hybrid flower produced by famous horticulturist, Reverend William Wilks, one time vicar of St John’s Church in Shirley. You can buy packets of Shirley Poppy seeds and sow them in your garden and around the bases of trees on the pavements in Shirley. They are available from Eden Park Garden Centre.
Let’s get our gardens in shape. It’s going to be bloomin’ marvellous!
Contact ShirleyinBloom2026@springparkra.co.uk for further information.