‘We want to create a flower island’
SUMMER flower baskets around St Peter Port have been replaced ready for the winter, keeping Town green over Christmas and into the New Year.
Queux Plant Centre has planned it so that St Peter Port is in bloom all year round, not just in the summer months.
‘We wanted to create a flower island,’ said owner Nigel Clarke.
‘It draws you up through the streets and there are psychological and health benefits.’
He said putting up the baskets had been a team effort, from the work in the early hours of the morning from the men at Queux, to his wife Ros’s involvement in making the baskets.
‘Lots of people in the parish have worked hard for this.
‘You can’t be successful without a team of people working with you – no business can carry on if not,’ he added.
‘There were also lots of people there in the beginning who are not with us today but were exemplary – they wanted a flower island and we couldn’t have done it without them.’
The team was out at 3am or 4am to take away the old window boxes and put the new ones up.
‘We did it in the early morning so we didn’t inconvenience the public – people would go home on Friday and come back to Town and see a total changeover,’ Mr Clarke said.
‘If what you do is meaningful it’s not work, especially if you’re doing something which brings so much joy to other people.’
He explained the importance of having flowers in the parish all year round.
‘It’s really important and proven the more greenery and flowers in a shopping centre or high street, the longer people stay. People are attracted to plants,’ he said.
‘They clean the air and take away the harshness of the street.’
He encouraged people to plant new flowers over winter.
‘There will be colour in gardens now right through to May,’ he said.
‘The truth is, people who work around flowers seem to be much happier.
‘We’ve been doing this for 34 years – if it wasn’t right we wouldn’t still be in business, and we’re still growing.’
