Floral chairs by Stamford in Bloom have become part of town’s furniture

Floral chairs created by green-fingered volunteers are being unveiled for summer.

Stamford in Bloom’s chair project has become a seasonal staple since it began eight years ago.

Soon the volunteer gardeners will be revealing 24 flower-adorned seats, which will be placed outside businesses in High Street, Ironmonger Street and St Mary’s Street.

Yvonne Wagstaff, project leader, said: “It is uplifting for people visiting and for residents here to see something pretty.

“It also encourages people to come into town and I have friends who will visit just to see the chairs.

“It’s making Stamford a nicer environment and compliments the work Stamford in Bloom does all year round.”

The planting chairs project began in 2018, initially for the Britain in Bloom competition - they won a bronze - and has continued to grow each year.

Leader of Stamford in Bloom, Duncan Lingard, drums up support from businesses, which make a donation in exchange for a piece of personalised chair art.

Yvonne said: “This all started because Anne Ellis, the founder, thought Stamford looked in need of brightening up, because it’s just stones.

“With the High Street a conservation area, you can’t attach any planters to the buildings, so she came up with the idea of chairs.”

Patriotic celebrations such as the queen’s platinum jubilee, the king’s coronation and the Olympics resulted in red, white and blue colour schemes dominating the displays in the past few years.

This year’s theme ‘wildlife corridors’ gives much greater scope to be creative with colours and accessories. Each of the chairs also has a subtle nod towards the business it belongs to.

The Cutting Company’s in Ironmonger Street will wear hair rollers and the chair for St Mary’s Books in High Street St Martin’s is covered with old book pages. Mint Velvet’s wears a woman’s scarf and Scrivens features a pair of glasses. Others have colour schemes which reflect branding.

Volunteer Josephine Grumbly said: “It’s not just digging a plant and putting it in a chair - this is floral art. They are creative and all so different.”

The chairs will be delivered on Tuesday (June 10) with the help of Neil McIvor and Nina Van Dyck of Team Stamford.