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Green Flag award

People enjoying Queens Gardens in happier times

For a third year running Queens Gardens has been awarded a prestigious Green Flag award. This reflects the continuing very high standard of this much valued public park, achieved as a result of the maintenance of this space by the parks contractor idVerde. This has been achieved despite the furloughing of many staff members during the height of the coronavirus lockdown. Seven other public green spaces across the borough also gained awards.

Queens Gardens is an important public green space located between The Glades shopping centre and Kentish Way. It therefore provides a welcome restful oasis from the much busier places adjacent. This is especially true in the current pandemic. You can find out more about this park HERE

The Green Flag Award® scheme recognises and rewards well managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

greenflagaward.org.uk/about-us/

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Queens Garden looking great

This flower bed in Queens Garden, previously the “Darwin Bed”, is looking very good at the moment. It includes various plants, including several attractive grasses, from around the world. This was replanted, by idVerde staff, a couple of years ago to replace the earlier flower scheme which had been part of Bromley council’s iff-fated application for World Heritage status for the Downe area associated with Charles Darwin.

With the other flower beds in the garden currently still awaiting the summer bedding to be planted, this is the main flower display in this park. We hope soon see their contributions to the beauty of this well loved space.

Perhaps with the gradual easing of coronavirus restrictions it will not be too long before the customers of Cafe Giardino will be able to gaze down upon this attractive scene. However in the meantime we can all enjoy this, and the rest of this garden’s attractions, from ground level.

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Trees……..

Horse Chestnuts, Martins Hill

It is great to see the trees back in full leaf, as nature carries on regardless. One of the earliest such trees is the Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). They are now in full blossom. It pays to look closely at its delicate colours.

Horse Chesnut in blossom

Most famous for their seeds, much used in the past by small boys to play the game of “conkers ”.

Other uses of the conkers include horse medicines, as additives in shampoos, and as a starch substitute. Chemicals extracted from conkers can be used to treat strains and bruises. There’s hearsay that if you place conkers around your house it will keep spiders away, but there’s no scientific proof that this is the case.

The Victorians wrote recipes for making conker flour. The seeds were shelled, ground and then leached to remove bitter flavours. It’s not a common practise these days and if consumed in excessive quantities conkers are mildly poisonous. (Woodland Trust)

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Feeding the Birds

Kari feeding the birds, Church House Gardens

Every morning, soon as the gates are opened, our committee member Kari visits Church House Gardens to feed the birds. She always gives them suitable healthy food such as grain and other seeds, rather than unhealthy bits of bread that many people unfortunately do. She has become very well known to these inhabitants, both large and small. In these difficult times it is great that people are still thinking about our non-human “park users”.