Brilliant Flower Show

Hi readers, it’s Kerry and Emily here. This week, it’s Emily, sharing about my visit to the Badminton Flower Show, a couple of weekends ago, with my mum. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but I didn’t need to worry, as we had a wonderful day.

Like most days now, it was extremely hot and sunny, but that didn’t stop us enjoying every minute. The organisers had thought of everything to help manage the heat. There were covered tents we could shelter from the sun and eat our picnic. They also had lots of water stations, so we could keep our flasks topped up all day. As we’d brought our own food, we treated ourselves to a delicious ice cream – also perfect for cooling down!

As for the gardens, they were absolutely beautiful. They also felt really different to other shows I’ve seen. Instead of perfect, neat, formal flower beds, they’d designed them to look like natural wild gardens. It gave us lots of ideas to try at home. What I liked most is that they designed everything to encourage bees, butterflies and all kinds of wonderful wildlife into them.

One of the absolute best bits was the greenhouse, full of the most amazing pelargoniums. You could gently rub their leaves, which gave off the most unusual, surprising and extraordinary scents. There was one that smelled just like chocolate, another of fizzy cola, and one which smelled just like sherbet lemon – incredible!

Even though it was so warm, it was such a lovely day out. We came home feeling happy and inspired, and I’d love to go back again next year. Both Kerry and I hope you are all keeping cool and not too sad we only came third in the Football World Cup!

The writers of the Our View column are supported in their editing by People First Dorset - a charity led and run by people with learning disabilities with support from staff