Go wild in the city! – Exeter’s colourful displays

Published: 17 June 2020

A riot of colour is starting to break out across the city, with wild flowers coming into bloom as part of the Wild City Project.

We captured these shots of wild flowers in Prince Charles Road today.

The initiative – a collaboration between the City Council and Devon Wildlife Trust – is now in its fifth year and still pleasing locals and visitors alike.

Wild flower seed has been sown alongside roadsides, in parks, on roundabout and in key gateways to the city. Many of the sites now self-generate, meaning they don’t need to be sown every year.

Not only do the impressive displays of colour look beautiful to the eye, they attract a wide variety of insects and pollinators.

The Council chose 32 sites initially, preparing the ground and planting the seeds. Community groups and schools were involved in the planting.

At the end of the year when workers go to cut the grass they collect in the seeds and these can be used again at other sites, saving money.

The initiative means that not so much grass across the city has to be cut, saving money and allowing a better standard of grass cutting elsewhere where it needs to be cut.