AMIDST all the condemnation heaped upon the sad soul who put weedkiller in the water supply for Saltburn's floral glory, one lone voice could be heard this week.

Sir Roy Strong, the eminent art critic, suggested that instead of being buried in the foullest-smelling manure, the culprit should be given a medal.

His startlingly contrary opinion was the preamble to a piece in a national newspaper saying the nation has gone hanging basket bonkers.

Sir Roy believes the vogue for ever-bigger floral displays in our towns and cities has got out of control. As municipal parks departments across the nation vie for various In Bloom awards, the plantings of begonias and Busy Lizzies become ever-more profuse and gaudy.

He claims thousands of pounds of public money is wasted on crude displays lasting a few weeks in the summer when the money could be better spent on trees and shrubs which provide a permanent horticultural legacy and more appropriately complement the streetscape.

Perhaps his view is not surprising given that Sir Roy, a former director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, is a true Victorian. Victorians would have no truck with such fripperies. What the Victorians did, however, was spend lavishly on public parks and perhaps more of this horticultural effort should be directed towards those places, many of whom today look past their best.

Sir Roy's comments may seem a mite insensitive in Saltburn this week where a Herculean effort has been made to restore the town's floral challenge. But he has a valid point which many towns, including Darlington perhaps, and the Britain In Bloom judges could benefit from digesting. More and more blooms in ever-brighter and vibrant colours don't always add up to floral glory. A little subtlety and colour co-ordination wouldn't go amiss.