RHS Community Outreach East of England have been running planting workshops with staff at Colchester Hospital to promote the new wellbeing garden that is being designed and built at Hospital.

The Cancer Wellbeing Centre continues to provide their garden as a venue for these staff workshops, which are run at the end of the working day and also online for those that can’t make the face to face workshops.

Day time planting workshops run with patients of the Cancer wellbeing centre.

With Coronation fever gripping the UK we themed our “pollinator pockets” workshop around the Coronation choosing plants that are both colourful (red white and blue!) and that support pollinators to create colourful coronation containers. Using the mantra of thriller, filler and spiller to plant up a container (that is tall plants that create impact, rounded plants that fill the centre and then trailing plants that soften the edges).

We planted up the containers with Tall Snap Dragons that are good for bumble bees, as the flower opens as the bumble bee sits on the lower lip.

Scented Fillers such as Sweet Alyssum, with its honey scented small white flowers, and fluffy blue flowers of Ageratum that are great for bees, then trailing white Bacoba and red Calibrachoa.

We also offered wildflower plants, such as red campion, birds foot trefoil for a wildflower planter theme.

RHS Staff Wellbeing Workshops