A banana plant has flowered at RHS Garden Harlow Carr in Harrogate for the first time.
Known as a Musa basjoo, the flower was planted at the gardens in 2019.
It started to flower this summer and stands at 15 feet with green, paddle-like leaves that can each grow up to three metres long.
Its creamy yellow flowers are often followed by yellowish-green fruit.
Russ Watkins, floral team leader at RHS Garden Harlow Carr said:
“The plant originally came from the garden of one our horticulturists and was later brought to Harlow Carr where it has really thrived.
“The banana plants play a key role in the design of the sub tropicana garden at Harlow Carr, really adding to the jungle feel, transporting our visitors from Yorkshire to the tropics. We can’t wait to see how it develops over the coming weeks.”
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The flower is expected to open out more over the coming weeks.
The plant will then be carefully wrapped again in November, to ensure it stays cosy and protected throughout the winter.
Harrogate man’s colourful garden is ‘biggest display yet’Harrogate man Paul Ivison is once again opening his garden to the public with the aim of raising money for charity and getting a visa for his fiancé.
Paul has lived on the corner of Mayfield Grove and Mayfield Terrace for more than 15 years. He has changed his garden’s design many times and become something of a local celebrity.
Previous displays have raised money for North Yorkshire Horizons, the Disasters Emergency Committee and many more charitable causes.
This year’s garden will feature a number of themes: mental health, LGBT Pride and the danger of plastic to our oceans.
He said:
“This year’s display… is the biggest I have done in three years”
At the garden’s opening there will be information available on where to get help for those suffering with poor mental health.
As well as this there will be a colourful LGBT section. Gnomes have been painted in the six colours of the pride flag and there will be a number of other rainbow painted items on display.
On the topic of plastic in our oceans, Paul has installed a fully working bathroom suite which will be filled with plastic waste. Red water will be flowing out of it to symbolise the danger of discarded plastic.
This is all with the aim of raising money for the Samaritans.
He also wants to raise money for his partner, who lives in the Philippines, to get a UK visa and move to Harrogate.
The garden is opening Sunday 25 June at 3pm and Paul has invited neighbours and friends round to enjoy it.
Entrance is free but there will be a box by the gate for any charitable donations. Paul also has a GoFundMe page for his partner’s visa, which you can find here.
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Harrogate’s most eye-catching cricketers set for another season
As another cricket season gets underway, a team from Harrogate is set to begin its 24th consecutive season with a virtually unchanged line-up.
The players are only about a foot tall and have been in a few scrapes but they remain undefeated.
Thousands of people see them each year in the garden of Kenneth and Lesley Simpson on Knaresborough Road, opposite the One Stop shop.
The statues of eight players, two batsmen, an umpire, a sight screen and a pavilion are often admired by passers-by and have become such a landmark some bus passengers ask for tickets to ‘the cricket pitch garden’ as it’s more memorable than the name of the bus stops.
Kenneth, however, has a confession to make — he’s not a big cricket fan. He’s more of a football man, who supports Leeds United and is a former referee.
He is, however, a canny Yorkshireman who created the design as an easy way to maintain his garden. He said:
“We were going to put a football pitch in but because all the statues of players we could find had balls underneath their arms, it wouldn’t have looked right.”
The view from behind the bowler’s arm
Lesley noticed some statues of cricketers at the Harrogate Flower Show and when she spotted some more on holiday in Skegness they had enough for a display.
Over the years two have been vandalised — one was repaired but the other was too badly damaged and had to be replaced. Kenneth, who has lived in the house for 54 years, said:
“Someone took them down Knaresborough Road and didn’t realise how heavy they are.”
All the statues are now fixed into the concrete. Kenneth paints them every other year but the hardest job is cleaning the green grass that passes as the pitch.
One day a member of Marylebone Cricket Club passed by and was so taken by what he saw that he returned days later with the sight screen, which he made. Many have stopped to take photos and compliment the couple.
Lesley said:
“It’s surprising how many people stop and say ‘what a lovely garden you have’.”
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