Petal paradise

Green fingers . . . TV gardener Joe Swift talks to shoppers about his plants

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SHOPPERS turned gardeners on Saturday as Oldham blossomed into a petal-filled paradise for the fourth annual Oldham Flower Festival.

The sun shone on stalls offering children the chance to plant spearmint and lemon balm shoots, as well as take home packets of wild flower seeds.

Mum Vicky Morris, from Fitton Hill, brought one-year-old daughter Lilly and her two nieces to the festival.

She said: “It’s a great way to get the children involved in gardening and planting.

“The girls help me plant in my garden and Lilly digs it up, whether I want her to or not!”

Euey Madden, principal green spaces manager for Oldham Council said: “I can’t keep up with demand today, we’ve had so many visitors.”

Keen horticulturists met celebrity gardener Joe Swift, from BBC’s “Gardeners World”.

He Swift spoke on a range of topics from garden design to advice on slugs and snails before taking part in a question and answer session during two open-air talks.

He said: “I was meant to be talking for 30 minutes but ran over to an hour because there were so many questions!

“I hope I’ve helped people think differently about garden design, that it doesn’t have to be about spending lots of money.”

Mr Swift was also full of praise for this year’s Bloom and Grow design.

He said: “Oldham’s entries in previous years have been great but this is the best ever.”