57 Flowers and a Field of Dreams
In a small Somerset field is an array of wonderful colours, sounds and smells. The creators, Brian and Denise Herrick, call it a Field of Dreams and it was all created by planting 57 types of flowers.
It is a grand flower meadow, made up of 57 different species of annual flowering plants. When the field was completed it was opened to the public and the response was huge. Many people cried and the children shouted with excitement.
One of the creators Brian had this to say, “It seems impossible to look at flowers and retain feelings of anger. People look at this and are overcome by feelings of peace”.
The Herricks bought the small estate 10 years ago and have since renovated the house and transformed the 85-acre farm into a combination of orchards, wildlife areas, woodland, formal gardens and sustainable farmland. They then decided to change the rubbish strewn field on the vast edge of their estate into the biggest displays of wild flowers in the United Kingdom.
Once the rubbish was cleaned they had the field drained and ploughed to make it suitable soil for the flowers to flourish. The seeding was carefully planned to prevent rival flowers from trying to outdo each other for food and water and the Herricks had help from Clive Farrell who is one of the West Country’s leading wildflower experts. The seeds mixture has also been devised to keep the colours going through July and August.
Brian finished off by saying, “In today’s climate, with such strains on families and especially the elderly, everyone needs a place like this to promote harmony. At the same time, few of us can be truly happy unless we understand the natural environment — and that means being able to see it, smell it and touch it”.