York is looking blooming lovely this summer – thanks to a major new floral display designed to boost the city’s bees.
The York BID (Business Improvement District) has filled the city centre with over 200 planters filled exclusively with bee-friendly plants.
It’s part of the ‘Buzz About York’ campaign this summer, aiming to help pollinators. It includes temporary city centre meadows and bug hotels fashioned like York landmarks.
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The BID has delivered annual floral displays to add vibrancy to York since 2018. This year they wanted to go one step further and help the wildlife too.
Bees are pollinators and therefore crucial to our ecosystem but are sadly in decline. Now more than 200 planters filled exclusively with bee-friendly plants will offer insects ‘rest stops’ so they can travel safely from green space to green space.
The project runs from 10 June to 30 September and covers the city centre.
There is also a focus on existing bee-friendly initiatives in the city as well as new ones that businesses have created to support the project.
As part of the project you will see
- bug hotels shaped like iconic York buildings
- a wild flower meadow in Exhibition Square
- a giant bee deckchair
- bee umbrellas at the Coppergate Centre
- an educational shop wrap
- a dedicated summer York Quest phone app
There’s even a giant cut-out of the #BuzzAboutYork mascot Buzz – get a selfie with her at Exhibition Square!
An interactive map on the York BID website will show the location of Buzz About York sites of interest in the city centre.
Supporting the wildlife trust
During summer 2021, 1% of the upload value of every York Gift Card will be donated to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust who support bee conservation. The York Gift card is accepted at over 300 city centre businesses and can be bought online here.
A secondary aim of the project is to teach the public, particularly younger people, about the importance of pollinators and give them easy-to-achieve micro actions that they can do at home to help the declining bee population.
Carl Alsop of the York Bid said: “It’s great to extend our floral display in a way that also supports the environment.
“Floral displays in city centres typically use inexpensive flowers that are engineered to last and often do very little to support pollinators.
“This campaign will change that in York. It also nicely enhances the additional seating areas the BID have installed around the city for the summer months, so it’s a real win-win.”
As part of the project the BID are highlighting businesses in the city who also support bees and beekeepers through their products or services. People can learn more about these businesses, the project, and how to support pollinators by following #buzzaboutyork on Facebook or Instagram.