| Midsummer hopes for Elstree Gardening boys. |
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RHS Campaign for School Gardening Scarecrow Competition. Last term was an exciting time for the gardening hobbies. The enthusiasm amongst the younger boys towards gardening and the outdoors has blossomed and with the weather only getting better, this term will be as busy as ever. The main project for the past couple of months has been to take part in the Shakespeare's Comedies Scarecrow Competition which will take place at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show on Tuesday 6 to Sunday 11 July 2010. The challenge, open to all pre schools and primary schools from the south-east counties of England, who are registered with the RHS Campaign for School Gardening was to create their own Shakespeare's Comedies Scarecrow. The competition rules specified that the scarecrow had to be in a Shakespeare’s Comedies theme so we chose Nick ‘Bottom’ from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the play Oberon and Titania are King and Queen of the Fairies, and are locked in a dispute over a boy whom Titania has adopted. Oberon instructs his servant Puck to bring him magic love drops containing Love-in-idleness juice, which Oberon will sprinkle in the Queen's eyes as she sleeps, whereupon Titania will fall in love with the first creature she sees upon awakening. Puck meanwhile also casts a spell on Bottom to give him the head of a donkey. Bottom, is then the first thing Titania sees when she awakens; Bottom the overconfident weaver is full of advice and self-confidence but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance. The scarecrow was designed which these characteristics in mind, holding a car hooter to symbolise his foolishness. The flowers used in the scarecrow reflect those in the play. The scarecrow is now complete and the entry sent off! Well does to all the boys involved, especially to Hugo Blackwell, Will Farrer-Brown and Philip Garnier; those invited to Hampton court will be pre-selected from photographic entries in May 2010. The selected scarecrows will then be on display for the duration of the show, and show visitors will vote for their favorite during the week of the show. So fingers crossed!  |