Railway stations are often dark and tricky places to nurture beautiful hanging baskets. Stations can be open to the elements; it can be very cold and draughty, or stiflingly hot and finding the right flowers and plants for the conditions can be a quite a challenge. This has been overcome at Lancashire’s Preston Station. Community Rail Lancashire has partnered with Millie, an Avanti Community Champion, and Michelle of So Plants in Longridge to develop beautiful hanging creations that will look stunning all year round.

Katie Musgrove and Caroline Holden from the CRL team have worked with Avanti West Coast Community Champion, Millie Woodhead on this jointly funded project, and the finished baskets were installed Friday 5 March.

Caroline said: “We have been delighted to work with Millie at Preston Station. This is the first time we have collaborated and have further plans to connect with local communities to make Preston Station even more pleasant for passengers and local people.”

All the flowers and foliage in the baskets are artificial, but amazingly life-like and for those of you who know your plants that won’t be a surprise, as they are mostly types that are only found as artificial or ones that you wouldn’t typically see as real plants in a hanging basket. Michelle, who designed and created them was at lengths to emphasise this. This was quite a departure from her horticultural roots, and we have been delighted Michelle got involved and developed creations that we can all enjoy.