Gardening duo raise �148 for Sidmouth in Bloom in open garden week

A green-fingered couple have struck gold in their first attempt at entering Sidmouth in Bloom’s local contest.

Joan and Barry McCarthy have transformed their front and back gardens in the nine years they have lived in Broadway and this year decided to take part in Sidmouth in Bloom’s Secluded Gardens scheme as well as its annual garden competition.

That in itself was a great success with the couple raising �148 for the charity by opening for five of the six days in July and selling tea and cakes.

Joan said: “My mother Mary, who is 88, made 15 cakes and I sold plants. I did enjoy it, we met some lovely people.

“We just loved opening the garden and will probably do it next year, probably for three or four days.

“We were open from 11am to 3pm and still had people here at 5pm!”

The couple are thrilled to hear they have won gold and a cup for coming top in the local Bloom competition for medium-sized gardens.

Another gold winner in the medium garden section is Andrea Edwards, who was also accidentally omitted from last week’s list of winners, for which the Herald apologises.