Begonia boost for bedraggled Fred the peacock display in Sidmouth’s Blackmore Gardens

FRED the floral peacock, left bedraggled after a fungal disease killed his busy lizzie blooms, has been re-planted.

With help from Mark Pollard’s team at East Devon District Council’s StreetScene, Sidmouth in Bloom has filled in the gaps with begonias to keep his tail feathers looking colourful for the rest of the summer.

Sidmouth in Bloom president, Joy Seward, said: “It looks much better and perhaps they will grow and fill in a few spaces. At least its better than empty spaces.”

After the Sidmouth Herald launched a campaign to keep the 3-D peacock display in Blackmore Gardens to raise the �2,335 needed to plant out the body and tail feathers.

Soon Joy was receiving donations by post from both residents and visitors and raised enough money to have the peacock planted.

But Fred’s problems were not over for 2011. The fungal disease, threatening flowers across the UK, left him looking patchy and rumours of vandalism soon spread.

Mr Pollard warned there was nothing to prevent the disease from returning year after year.