The Christmas wreath making weekend held on the 1st December was a success with a great turnout and Edinburgh Brass Band providing a very festive soundtrack. We’ve shared some photos of the event below, and wish all our Friends, volunteers, followers, and all those that enjoy the park, a very Merry Christmas.
A cause for celebration! Friends of Starbank Park wins It’s Your Neighbourhood award 2024.
It’s Your Neighbourhood is an award managed by Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Royal Horticultural Society. The award is is designed for volunteer-led community groups which are cleaning and beautifying their neighbourhoods, whether through community allotments, after school wildlife clubs, school eco-groups, Friends of Park groups, or adopting pieces of derelict land.
Friends of Starbank Park won the award with a Level 5 – Outstanding and with a Certificate of Distinction.
Well done to all those involved for keeping the Park beautiful!
We’re delighted that some of the Edinburgh Brass Band will be coming to provide music in Starbank Park on Sunday 1st December from 11.00am-12.30pm. Hot chocolate, teas, coffees and mince pies will be on offer. There will also be a Christmas table with cards and calendars, and a children’s activity of decorating glass jars.
A new perennial bed was designed and planted earlier this year by one of our fantastic volunteers. The redesign of Perennial Bed 31 (now called the blue and white bed) is part of the continuous development of the park where we are planning to give each of the perennial beds a refresh.
The overall brief was to create an elegant, perennial display based around a colour palette of blue/purple and white. Being attractive to pollinators and people is a must. Whilst the main flowering season is in the summer, it was key to create interest from early spring right through to autumn and winter.
The bed can be viewed from all sides so the design uses drifts of planting to draw your eye into and through the bed from different angles. These drifts sweep through to the centre where vertical height is achieved with layered planting using taller plants such as white Digitalis (foxgloves) and Campanula pyramidalis ‘Albus’ which can grow to 2.5m in height.
Going into winter/early spring, the display will start with Helleborus niger. These will be accompanied and succeeded by a spring display of blue and white bulbous flowers such as Laucojum, Muscari, Scilla sibrica, white Narcissus, and white Tulipa. At the same time, Dicentra alba will put on its spring show while the Hakonechloa macra forms into fresh cushions of grass as the other perennials emerge.
Next it’s time for the blue Iris to stand tall, with the white spikes of the Veronica longifolia ‘Schneeriesin’ hot on it’s heels, leading us in to the summer display of the blue Centaurea montana, Echinops, Eryngium and Agapanthus which contrast with the white Achillea millefolium ‘White Beauty’, Digitalis purpurea ‘Alba’ and the towering Campanula pyramidalis ‘Alba.
And if the bees and insects weren’t happy enough, you’ll find them all over the Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ which takes us into late summer/autumn alongside the Aster frikartii ‘Monch’.
We hope you enjoy seeing this bed mature and grow over the years. See how many bees you can count on the Agastache come summer time.
Perennial list:
Achillea millefolium ‘White Beauty’
Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’
Agapanthus ‘Giant Blue’
Aster frikartii ‘Mönch’
Campanula pyramidalis ‘ Alba’
Centaurea montana
Dicentra spectabilis ‘Alba’
Digitalis purpurea ‘Alba’
Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’
Eryngium planum
Hakonechloa macra
Helleborus niger
Iris
Veronica longifolia ‘Schneeriesin’
Autumn comes to Starbank Park with wonderful colours in red, orange, green and brown. The volunteers keep hard at work, sweeping up fallen leaves and planting out daffodil bulbs for next spring. If you are interested in volunteering, do come along. There’s always lots to do and elevenses to finish. Volunteering takes place every Wednesday and Saturday morning, 10.00-11.30am.
Macmillan Coffee Morning at Starbank Park Saturday 28 September 10am-12pm
Join us on Sunday 29 September 12pm – 4pm as part of Doors Open Day 2024.
This year’s theme is Heritage of Routes, Networks and Connections.
Activities include:
No booking required.
Additional information:
For further information please visit: https://www.doorsopendays.org.uk/regions/edinburgh/starbank-park-friends-of-starbank-park
Bring your own picnic. Teas, coffees and traybakes available.
Friends of Starbank Park are holding a coffee morning on Saturday 30th March from 10am-12 noon. There will be tea/coffee and refreshments, book and plant stalls, an Easter quiz for older children to explore the Park, face painting and lots of glorious spring flowers to enjoy. Donations will be welcome.
Friends of Starbank Park 