Collings Park Trust

26/07/2026

Key found in Collings Park Garden near notice board. Contact 07748 754636

18/07/2026

All welcome to the Picnic in the Park!

15/06/2026

What a fantastic 10 year celebration of the garden's success last weekend - It was a joy to see the garden enjoyed by so many at once, as children were entertained, flowers were sniffed, and cake was eaten.

Thank you to this wonderful local community for celebrating with the trust and for the very generous donations that go towards the upkeep of the community garden for all to enjoy.

And most importantly, the weather held - just! 😅

07/06/2026

Preparations are well under way for this afternoon's 10-year anniversary event, hoping to see you all there 😀

05/06/2026

🎉Some of the amazing volunteer gardening team at Collings Park Community Garden got together after a hot morning's work to have a quieter celebration of their 10 years of care, community and courgettes, ahead of this weekend's anniversary event Sunday 7th June from 2pm.

Check out our poster for details: https://fb.me/e/4yvr30PSz

02/06/2026

11/05/2026

The garden is absolutely alive with colour right now, from perfect whites through vibrant purples to lush greens of the ferns.

All this colour isn’t just for show. Flowers use pigments the way we use signs and signals: to attract the right pollinators at the right time.

🐝 Bees see in the ultraviolet range, so many flowers have hidden UV patterns - like landing strips guiding them straight to the nectar.

🦋 Butterflies are drawn to bright reds, pinks and purples.

🦟 Hoverflies love yellows and whites.

The more variety we have, the more species can find exactly what they need.

Those bold colours come from natural pigments like anthocyanins (reds, purples, blues) and carotenoids (yellows and oranges). Together they create the rainbow effect we’re seeing across the garden - a sign of a healthy, thriving ecosystem 🙏

08/05/2026

The irises are putting on their annual show, and there’s no ignoring them in the garden right now 🌸💜

Thank you to Maureen and Malcolm for the great photos.

Fun facts:
🌈 The iris gets its name from the Greek word for rainbow, inspired by the incredible range of colours these flowers can display.

🏰 There are over 300 species of iris, and many of them have been grown for thousands of years, appearing in ancient Egyptian art and a favourite in medieval gardens.

🐝 Irises aren’t just pretty faces - their distinctive drooping and upright petals act like runway lights for pollinators, guiding bees straight to the nectar.

If you spot the irises blooming in the garden this week, take a moment to look closely as these detailed flowers while they’re at their peak.

🌱💜

20/04/2026

🐝 Great news from the apiary – here's a seasonal update from apiarist Paul Hitchens who cares for the hives in the community garden and their VIBee residents.

"Welcome to the 2026 season in the apiary. I would like to say that since our final post of 2025 it has been an uneventful winter, but that is far from the truth. The wet weather through January, February and March has made it really difficult to maintain bee health. Despite feeding and tending the colonies through these months one collapsed and could not be saved, so died away. This left us with one hive to pin our hopes on.

"Up to last week I was unsure if these would pull through but the warmer weather and a lot of feed added to the hive gives a stronger picture this week. It appears the bees are flying and that may indicate the queen has started laying again after winter.

"It’s hard to predict the future when there are so many variables at play, but as of today I am a bit more hopeful that we will have this colony to start the new season and hopefully, by early May, we can spit the hive to create a new colony.

"In the apiary I cut the grass but left an area of dandelion for the bees to forage on. This is a good practice in early spring to help the insects.

"Anyway bee fans, stay tuned.”

🌸🐝🌼As key pollinators, these bees are a precious and important part of the community garden:

• Vital to global food supply by pollinating 1/3 of plants that produce the food we eat.

• Support countless other species by pollinating wild plants that provide them with food and shelter.

• Keep plant communities balanced and resilient.

11/04/2026

🌼 Cowslips are back in bloom in the community garden 🌼

Their presence is reminder that every space can play a part in ecological restoration.

Once so common that fields glowed gold throughout April with them, cowslips suffered an intense decline from the 1950s to 1980s, but are fortunately showing some recovery in some areas.

Cowslips are a sign of healthy soil and vital sources of food for pollinators like the bees in our hives, and especially important for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly, a rare species whose caterpillars feed exclusively on cowslip and primrose.