Blooming Milford

Set up in 2008, Blooming Milford is a volunteer group of residents who strive to make Milford a better place through gardening related activities.  Many of the flower displays that you see as you travel through the village were created and are maintained by them and they co-ordinate their efforts closely with Belper Town and Amber Valley Borough councils. Their funds are mainly obtained from plant sales from plants from their own gardens.

The first major project of the group, in 2009, was to plant 3500 daffodil bulbs  in the verge by the Strutt Arms on the A6, which now give a spectacular annual display as in the photo above. The group has since then planted daffodils, crocuses and anemones in the verges by the Strutt Arms bus stop, on Vicarage Road and on Wood Lane, daffodils and snowdrops in the Children’s Play Area on the A6, and daffodils, wild daffodils, snowdrops, and bluebells near the riverside path in Hopping Mill Meadow.

The next major project, and the largest to date, was renovation of The Triangle, the garden area owned by Belper Town Council on the junction of the A6 and Chevin Road, opposite The Strutt Arms. In 2013 Blooming Milford took over maintenance of the back portion. It was completely cleared and rotavated, then replanted with perennial plants, shrubs, fruit trees & herbs. Since then many daffodils have been planted and in 2019 the area pruned and the planting refreshed.

From 2013 the front strip of The Triangle continued to be planted up with summer & winter bedding by Belper Town Council, but in November 2023 Blooming Milford took over maintenance of that too, and 2200 bulbs were planted, which have already provided colour February – September 2024. See here for more detail.

Blooming Milford has been keen to provide the community with herbs and fruit that are free for them to take and use. In 2010 & 2011 herb planters were set up on The Triangle and at the south end of the Hopping Mill Meadow riverside path and these are completely refreshed with new plants annually. There are also larger herb plants in the ground in The Triangle. Herbs include parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, mint and fennel. There is also rhubarb available on The Triangle. In 2013 pear, eating and cooking apple trees were planted on The Triangle, and now produce masses of fruit and in 2020 a plum tree was planted in The Spring Garden (see below.) At the end of 2020 and in early 2021 Blooming Milford, with the help of Belper Town Council (BTC), expanded community fruit tree numbers in Milford considerably further. 6 cordon plum, pear and apple trees were bought with a grant from BTC for the Milford Community Greenspace above Holy Trinity Church on the A6, and planted by the primary school children in December 2020 (see here for a detailed article) and Blooming Milford received a grant for 30 fruit trees for Hopping Mill Meadow from BTC which were planted by volunteers in April 2021 (detailed article here) and since then the number of fruit trees in this orchard has been expanded to 32. These include apples, pears, plums, damsons, quince and mulberries. There are now 43 community fruit trees around the village thanks to Blooming Milford.

In 2018 the next large project undertaken by Blooming Milford was installation of the four benches situated along the riverside path in Hopping Mill Meadow. Following the success of these, a further two were installed in February 2022. The wildflowers in the meadow every summer are the result of a multi-year planting programme by Blooming Milford.

2020’s large project was the setting up of the Spring Garden at the south end of Hopping Mill Meadow (see here for article). In March, just before lockdown, a large area was planted up with shrubs, trees, plants and bulbs to produce a garden which looks its best February – April. More bulbs were added in autumn 2020 and January – February 2021 & 2022 and the garden has now matured nicely, as seen in the picture below.

In 2020 perennial planters were set up by the Strutt Arms bus stop and at the bottom of Little Fallows and in 2021 a planter full of shade loving perennials set up by the Children’s Play Area pelican crossing on the A6. In 2023 another was added in Fullers Close on Hopping Mill Meadow.

Following the success of the Spring Garden described above, Blooming Milford created an Autumn Garden in 2022, their main project this year (see here for article in detail). The aim was to create a bed of perennial flowers, shrubs and bulbs that look their best September – November. The bed is close to the weir on the riverside in Hopping Mill Meadow. In July 2023 & July 2024 the bed was refreshed, replacing plants that had died in the winter floods, ensuring that in August – November the bed was a blaze of colour.

Blooming Milford has entered Milford into the East Midlands in Bloom (EMIB) best kept village competition in 2011, 2013, and then every year 2021-4. In 2011 the village won a silver award, in 2013 and 2022 a silver gilt award, and in 2021, 2023 & 2024 the highest award given by the EMiB judges, gold. See here for an article on all the efforts made to tidy up the village ready for the 2021 judging and here, for 2023. The East Midlands in Bloom judges in 2023 were sufficiently impressed to enter Milford into the national Britain in Bloom competition in 2024, in which Milford also won gold – see here for article.

In 2024 Blooming Milford restarted the Milford & Makeney Flower & Produce show, after a gap of nearly 30 years. It was judged a success (article here) and so will be repeated in 2025, with expanded categories.

To read a Derbyshire Life article on East Midlands in Bloom 2011 – with a focus on Milford’s Silver medal, click here

If you are interested in helping out in Blooming Milford’s activities, please contact the chair of the group, David Moreton davidmoretonchevinbrae@gmail.com