Garden trail and sweet pea day will be blooming lovely events

Hopton in Bloom’s garden trail and Mirfield Sweet Pea Festival will both be held on Saturday. There will 18 gardens in this year’s trail, which runs from 10am-4pm.

Programmes are available from Croft House in Jackroyd Lane or any participating garden displaying balloons. There will also be a flower festival at St John’s Church on the day and an art exhibition by Northorpe Watercolour Society at the Upper Hopton Club.

Organisers said the cold spring had proved a challenge for growers, but are determined that both events will be a success.

Yorkshire Sweet Pea Society secretary Darren Myers said: “We’ve had a difficult season with the cold spring but we’re about to hit the ten day period of peak flowering.”

There will be craft stalls, a sweet pea advice stand selling seeds, plus classes for the best sweet pea themed shop window and for local schools included in a total of 41 classes.

Mr Myers added: “Last year we had 10 shops that decorated their windows and hope we can get more to enter this time, and help to bring some scent and colour to Mirfield.”

The festival is at St Paul’s Church, 10.30am-4pm with presentation of prizes at noon. All exhibits in the church will be for sale after the event.