Residents of Yorkshire are being urged to “turn the white rose county yellow for one amazing weekend” to celebrate the Grand Départ of the Tour de France.
The first two stages of the 101st edition of the race, the full route of which will be unveiled in Paris on Wednesday, take place in Yorkshire.
Stage 1 runs from Leeds to Harrogate on Saturday 5 July, while the following day’s Stage 2 takes the peloton from York to Sheffield.
A leaflet put together by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) gives growing tips for gardeners as well as suggestions of which plants to use to ensure the maximum impact next summer.
Welcome to Yorkshire, the agency that is co-ordinate the Tour’s visit, says: “We are encouraging gardeners to paint the canvas of the county yellow by planting show-stopping displays of bedding plants and perennials along the routes and across Yorkshire to mark the historic occasion.”
In May this year, Team GB's success at London 2012 as well as Sir Bradley Wiggins' Tour de France win, plus the prospect of the race returning to Britain next year, meant that cycling themes were prominent at the RHS Malvern Spring Gardening Show.
You can find the RHS’s leaflet regarding 'Turning Yorkshire Yellow' on the Le Tour Yorkshire website.

5 thoughts on “Gardeners urged to turn Yorkshire yellow for the Tour de France”
Hopefully the UCI will
Hopefully the UCI will eventually grant the Tour an extra rest day like the Giro so that we can see an East Coast US start
I reckon they’ll be better
I reckon they’ll be better off planting money trees given the ever escalating costs of staging the Tour. So long as they don’t do sunflowers. Buttercups maybe!
I think Yorkshire is going to
I think Yorkshire is going to really impress the world of cycling having rode the Northern half of stage 1. The magnificent countryside and amazing roads are stunning. Some testing climbs considering its been classed as a flat stage 😕
I was surprised at how tight some of the lanes get through small villages, might well get interesting.
Buttertubs Pass:
Last year was The Year of the
Last year was The Year of the Buttercup; never seen Yorkshire looking so yellow. Stunning.
Can’t believe I live just 6 miles off Stage 1, and The ‘Tubs is a right on me local 45-miler…
My garden’s a bit shady for
My garden’s a bit shady for sunflowers so we’ll be horticulturally honouring the points jersey rather than the leader’s one