Work on tribute to grower begins

Work has begun on a new £2,000 memorial garden to a renowned Black Country horticulturalist.

It is hoped geraniums will be planted by the end of the month in tribute to acclaimed botanist Monica Bennett, in her home town of Blackheath.

Parks staff from Sandwell Council have now rebuilt a planter and put coping stones in place, for the memorial garden at the top of the High Street.

They are now waiting for the delivery of a memorial bench, which will be put in place along with a plaque within the next few weeks.

Monica won acclaim for her work with geraniums before she passed away in 2000, at the age of 89.

A grant of more than £2,000 has been made available for the project, which will see a garden filled with geraniums in bloom for the summer.

Monica was a horticultural consultant, journalist, author, lecturer and national judge, with many of her geraniums being named after worldwide celebrities.

She earned her reputation for hybridising geraniums at her garden centre Cypress Nursery, just off Powke Lane. She developed almost 30 of her own plants, naming them after friends and family as well as famous people from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, including Abba and Virginia Wade.

Son Bruce Screen, 62, who now runs the nursery, said the family were very proud that the idea to pay tribute to his mother's work was being carried out.

He said: "I think they want to get it completed by the end of the month."