YOU would have to be a truly wretched soul not to dig the life-affirming power of wild flowers, whether it's primroses dancing in their thousands on the verge of a holiday-bound motorway, or a straggling poppy defiantly breaking through the cracks of a dusty summer pavement.

They are the outsiders of the horticultural world and the feral fairest of them all. So why not wear them?

Here Everton-born and Manchester-born models Dani and Ailyce are pictured in full floral dress as they somewhat perilously launch a plot to cast wild flowers all over their dirty old towns. It's a project called Tale of Two Cities and last autumn it topped a UK poll of 65,000 voters as the idea most deserving of £120,000 seed funding.

The annual competition was organised by the Grow Wild project, bankrolled by the Big Lottery Fund and led by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Grow Wild aims to inspire communities and individuals across the UK to come together to transform local spaces, by sowing, growing and enjoying native wild flowers.

Tale of Two Cities, led by the  Landlife charity at Knowsley's National Wildflower Centre, will see teams in Liverpool and Manchester using the six figure lottery windfall to transform spaces in Everton, Hulme and Moss Side into wild flower joy. 

 

Wearing fantastic dresses made from stunning native wild flowers, the central reservation on Princess Parkway in Manchester was transformed into a catwalk by Dani and Ailyce, giving a taste of what is to come this summer. Come July, the Grow Wild initiative will see the Parkway and surrounding green areas transformed into a beautiful wild flower landscape, to be seen and enjoyed by everyone travelling into the city. 

Not to be outshone, the wild flower trail continues in Liverpool where derelict and paved areas of Everton Park will be similarly transformed with inspiring displays of flowers. 

The Tale of Two Cities campaign will also support various events this summer, including Out of the Blue Music Festival on Everton Park, Lost Tribes of Everton community events and Dig the City Manchester which will feature a  Grow Wild Urban Meadow.

Landlife's Richard Scott, who is spearheading the Liverpool-Manchester project, said, “We are really excited to be getting started. The events we have coming up over the summer to support the Tale of Two Cities are a great way to get the communities involved and to spread awareness of the importance of wild flowers in the UK.”

The Tale of Two Cities campaign will also support various events around Manchester and Liverpool this summer, including Out of the Blue Music Festival on Everton Park, the Lost Tribes of Everton community events and Dig the City Manchester which will feature a Grow Wild urban meadow.

Friends of Everton Park, Liverpool City Council, Atlantic Gateway, Manchester City Council and The National Trust’s gardener in residence for Manchester, Sean Harkin all pitched in for the pitch which then attracted support from organisations across the North West.

Grow Wild has teamed up with BBC Countryfile to give away thousands of free packets of seeds so you can create your very own wild flower haven. The packs contain a wide variety of flowers including cornflower ox-eye daisy and common poppy. So pucker up for your free buttercups here.