Must-Do London: Superbloom at the Tower of London

Background

I have been to the Tower of London a few times. Some as a tourist, some as a teacher. It’s sort of a requisite field trip for London schoolchildren. I missed going into the moat during the Lest We Forget poppy installation in 2014, so I wanted to be sure I made it to Superbloom.

Designer

My professional title is Professor of History. Not nearly as cool as “Professor of Planting Design and Urban Horticulture” like Nigel Dunnett of The University of Sheffield, who conceived the design for the Superbloom.

Planting and Blooming for the Jubilee

Roughly 20 million seeds were planted in March 2022 with the aim of full bloom by Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in early June. At the time of my visit at the end of June 2022, not quite everything had bloomed due to colder than usual conditions in the spring. However, most of it was in glorious bloom!

Slides

If you’re struggling to convince a child that this is a worthwhile endeavor, tell them about the slides. I actually got a little air whilst zooming down in the just mat.

Music for Superbloom

Does music help plants grow? I am not sure, but I did enjoy the soundtrack created for this installation. It’s meant to drown out the urban noise.

Pollinators

According to a volunteer I chatted with, the City of London has done a lot to bring bees into the area, including rooftop gardens and beehives in local hotels. The Superbloom has curated flowers to attract pollinators and we did spot quite a few.

Pollinator sculptures

Stop and Smell the Flowers

I loved this experience. You’re able to view it from a platform for free or do an add-on to a Tower of London ticket. We chose the standalone Superbloom ticket and it was well worth the entry in my opinion. The waves of flowers and nod to natural English gardening are quite extraordinary.