MAIZE, herbs, flowers and chard will all feature in Bournemouth’s first completely edible flower bed, which has been created to support the town’s Britain in Bloom bid.

One bed in the Lower Gardens has been devoted to ornamental but edible plants and flowers, including pansies, marigolds, nasturtium and more unusual flowers and shrubs such as Agastache, Amaranthus Illumination and Beet Orange Fantasia.

The flower bed will be part of the town’s ‘Bournemouth’s Growing’ campaign for the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom 2013 contest. Bournemouth is one of six finalists in the coastal category for towns with a population over 12,000 and will be marked on its commitment to environmental responsibility, horticultural achievement and community participation.

Chris Evans, the council’s nursery manager, said: “Britain in Bloom isn’t all about flowers, it’s about improving our environment and enhancing community spirit by bringing people together through gardening.

“I’ve been looking to plant a completely edible flower bed in Bournemouth Gardens for a while and when the RHS announced the theme for this year's Britain in Bloom is ‘Edible Britain’ it was perfect timing.

“It will feature a beautiful, colourful array of flowers, the majority of which have been chosen because they are pollinating plants, and will attract butterflies, moths, hoverflies and bees.

“This is important because over the past 50 years many groups of British insects, including those that visit flowers have been declining and they are vital to agriculture.”

Judges will be visiting Bournemouth on Thursday, July 18, for this year’s competition.