The City of London’s Mayoress got a pot of relish made from tomatoes grown in West Ham Park when she turned up to plant a cherry tree.
Clare Gifford arrived in east London as part of the City Mayoralty’s annual visit and toured the rock garden, bandstand, wall-garden, tennis courts, rose garden and ‘Prunus avenue’ where she planted the tree.
The Mayoress also stopped at the Jubilee community food-growing garden project where she was given the relish from tomatoes grown by Friends of West Ham Park’s Ron Innell.
The cherry tree, or Prunus serrulata ‘Sunset Boulevard’, puts on a show in leaf colour and blossom through the seasons.
The branches in spring are spotted with big white single flowers edged in pink, while the leaves display copper tones. The foliage in summer turns a rich green before changing again to classic golden autumnal yellow.
West Ham Park is common ground which has been looked after by the City Corporation since 1874 at no cost to the taxpayer, like Epping Forest and Hampstead Heath. It attracts a-million visitors a year and has won the annual ‘Green Flag’ award since 1998 and the ‘Green Heritage Site’ award for the last five years.
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