Meetings
Meetings are held on the second Friday of the month from September until April in St Paul's Church Hall, Boundary Road, West Bridgford, NG2 7DB at 7.30 p.m. The AGM in March begins 15 mins earlier.
An interesting and varied programme of guest speakers is arranged.
Meetings are free for members of the Nottingham Group.
Visitors are very welcome. Non-members pay £5.00 admission.
Free refreshments are served at every meeting and we encourage members to stay to meet and talk gardening with fellow members.
We hope you will all enjoy the exciting and varied series of talks we are providing from September and offer some details with which we aim to have you reaching for your diaries.
Sep 7th 2023 - Dr Andrew Ward 'Success with Sand - How to grow tricky plants easily'
Are echinaceas expensive annuals for you? So many plants’ cultural instructions proclaim the virtues of a well drained soil but 25+ years of trying to improve our clay to enable us to grow plants like echinacea had proved disappointing. We now have over 20 beds filled with nothing but sharp sand and grow over 30 different echinaceas as perennials plus hundreds of North American, Mediterranean and alpine plants thriving and astounding us on an austere diet. Includes, amongst many others, salvias, nepeta.
Oct 13th 2023 - Michael Myers 'Pruning and Training'
An illustrated guide to the reasons for pruning plants (along with the reasons for not pruning them). The talk will look at how plants respond to pruning and how pruning should improve the health and productivity/ornamental qualities of a plant. One of the key principles to success is to know what you are pruning.
Nov 10th 2023 - Justin Harrison - A Selection of Plants from his Nursery
We were due to have Richard Rallings of Mynd Hardy Plants, but unfortunately he was ill, so Justin was able to step in with just a few hours notice. He brought 5 tables full of interesting plants and spoke enthusiastically about each plant to our group. Justin has a Plant Stall on Burton Market
Dec 8th 2023 - Christmas Party & Film Night 'Wildside - the story of a garden'
https://vimeo.com/839968511/b6a1d068d1 (film trailer)
Wildside is a garden in Devon which has been made over the last 19 years by Keith Wiley, and until she died in 2019, in collaboration with his wife Ros - who was also an accomplished artist. It is one of the most innovative and inspired gardens in Britain, genuinely (as well as very literally) ground-breaking - a unique coming together of artistic vision and an acute understanding of the ecology of garden plants. We wanted to document the garden and so we commissioned filmmaker John Campbell to work with us on making the film. https://wileyatwildside.com/
We also hope to have some fun and games and Festive Nibbles!
Jan 12th 2024 - Caroline Holmes 'Permission to Poison - the Poison Garden at Alnwick'
THIS MEETING WILL BE ON ZOOM - members will be sent a zoom link ahead of the meeting.
The Alnwick Garden was inspired by Jane Northumberland with Wirtz International as designers. Green leaves serve many potent functions, some sound perilous and harbingers of dangerous intoxication. At the base of the Great Cascade, fenced, walled and gated, lies The Poison Garden where Caroline was commissioned to devise a fatal attraction of plants.
Feb 9th 2024 - Diane Clement 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North - travels in Japan'
On this trip I visited a range of varying habitats from seashore to mountain top, woodland to marshland, all of which were very rich in species. It was interesting to see many plants familiar in UK gardens growing in their natural habitat: Hydrangea, Hosta, Weigela, Azaleas and others. And also very exciting to see some of the rarer woodland plants I particularly like to try and grow: epigaea, glaucidium, shortia, polygonatum, disporum, arisaema, trillium, paris etc.
Mar 8th 2024 - Richard Rallings from Mynd Hardy Plants 'A Passion For Penstemons' & AGM 7:15pm start
CHANGE OF SPEAKER Richard explores the history of Penstemons from the discovery of the earliest species in North America to the development of cultivars in Europe. He will give some practical advice and guidance on the propagation, planting and managing penstemons in your garden.
http://www.myndhardyplants.co.uk/
Apr 12th 2024 - Robert Barlow
'Hostas'
'Hostas'
The talk provides details of the history and development of hostas worldwide, the diversity of varieties now available, care of your plants, propagation techniques, pest and diseases and protection of your hosta plants.
