Coming up Smelling of Roses
CATHERINE MACK gets up early on a Sunday morning to join her local community gardening group, to find that it surpasses all expectations
It’s hard to get the nursery rhyme Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? out of my head on a Sunday morning in the rose garden of Warrior Square. That’s because there are two Marys at the Friends of Warrior Square Gardens community group who welcome volunteers, hand out secateurs and trowels and guide us to specific tasks to keep these historic gardens in good condition. However, there is nothing contrary about them. Quite the opposite in fact. They are modest and grateful for anyone who chooses to bring their flask of Sunday morning coffee to the park to help.
The Friends of Warrior Square Gardens is one of many community groups in Hastings and St Leonards, but this one has kept its light under a (rose) bushel since a few of them decided just over a year ago to have a weekly green fingers get-together. One of the Marys, known to the group as ‘Fair Mary’, is clearly the one everyone turns to when they want to make sure they are pulling out a weed, rather than a precious shrub. “I’m a qualified gardener,” she says, “so it was easy for me to take my tools over and get started. But anyone can join us for deadheading roses, weeding, or just sitting on a bench keeping us company on a Sunday morning.”
The deadheading is clearly doing the trick because, as volunteer Tim points out: “The roses used to just come out in May, look lovely for a few weeks and then get swamped by weeds. But now we get several blooms, and last year we had roses as late as December.” It’s working so well, in fact, that one of the country’s leading rose suppliers, David Austin Roses, is considering a substantial donation after being impressed by the fruits of the group’s labour.
‘Tall Mary’ has taken on the role of group chair, although there’s not a lot of sitting going on as she digs merrily – while also welcoming newbies with an ease that’s clearly infectious.There’s no doubt that this gathering of community members brings a smile to their faces, and that the gardens aren’t just a place for growing roses, but a place for people to grow too.
The diversity of the group is striking too, ranging from a menswear designer to an Adele video producer, a youth worker to a nurse. Lauren, a 34-year-old mental health specialist, sums up perfectly what the group means to her: “After downsizing and moving to St. Leonards, I didn’t have a garden anymore. I use the gardens daily to walk my dog, and one day I saw people gardening. I asked what was happening and was so excited to find out that anyone could join. The rose gardens community is wonderful. There’s never any pressure and we always have a good time. I like that it’s flexible and you can just come when it works for you. But just being part of a community that is doing something lovely in a place where I spend time every day has been a joy. Not just for me, but for my pup as well.”
If you’d like to know more about joining the group, follow Friends of Warrior Square Gardens on Facebook. Or just turn up between 8am and midday on a Sunday and now, with the longer days, there is a new session between 5pm and 7pm on Wednesday evening. Just ask for one of the Marys.
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