Meetings 2018-19

14th Sep '18 ‘Shade and Semi-shade Plants’ Colin Ward

Making a welcome return to open the 2018-2019 talk season is Colin Ward of Swines Meadow Farm Nursery, Market Deeping near Peterborough.

Colin has delighted us before by the quality of both his lectures and of the interesting and often unusual plants he brings to sell. His nursery is rapidly becoming the go-to place for exciting new plant introductions as well as tried and tested favourites.

He and his staff hosted a Nottingham HPS outing last year and gained many new friends with both the calibre of his stock and of his hospitality.

12th Oct ‘Pin me to the wall - and do what you want with me’ Andrew Mikolajski

Andrew is a horticultural consultant, writer and speaker who lives in Long Buckby, Northamptonshire and has been recommended to us by the Newtown Linford Gardening Club, Leicestershire.

He has had a long career as a garden author, notably in the new edition of the RHS A-Z Encyclopaedia of Garden Plants. He gives talks at RHS shows, the Cottage Garden Society and many gardening groups and has taught garden design, RHS certificate courses and garden history at the English Gardening School.

9th Nov 'The Therapeutic Effects of Gardening' Cleve West

We are delighted to host Cleve, a leading Landscape Designer, Best in Show winner at Chelsea and generally sound man. His talk arises from his own personal beliefs and passions around the activity and ethics of gardening. He limits his public speaking and T.V engagements to concentrate on his core task of making beautiful gardens and we are grateful that he has agreed to be included in our programme this year. Not to be missed!

Cleve West Landscape Design, M&G Garden, RHS, RHS Gold Medal, Exmoor, woodland garden, Award winning garden designer, garden design, award winning, contemporary garden, oak, Steve Swatton, Cleve West, Chelsea Flower Show, birdbath, stone birdbath

14th Dec Christmas Party

A quick heads up about our Christmas party, which will be attended by Jan Vaughan, National HPS Conservation Scheme co-ordinator and National Chair.

She will give a short presentation on the Conservation scheme and be available for Question and Answers.

No doubt there will also be a Fun Quiz and a fantastic spread with mulled wine!

We have a supper where members bring a savoury dish (finger food) and the Committee provide desserts.

11th Jan '19 'Scented plants and The Scented Garden' Geoff Hodge

Geoff is an experienced garden author, writer, radio and television presenter and web and magazine editor who lives in Peterborough.

He claims that his aim is to help gardeners get the best out of their plants and judging by the favourable comments on his web page does so with humour and wit. He is a regular on garden question time panels at flower shows and is the garden correspondent for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

As his last visit to us was ten years ago it is about time we welcomed him back.

8th Feb 'Wollerton Old Hall Garden' Phil Smith

Phil, an enthusiastic horticulturalist, is head gardener at what Chris Beardshaw has described as a “world-class example of an English Garden”, Wollerton Old Hall.

He has previously worked at Winterbourne House and Garden as well as Ragley Hall. Because most people visit Wollerton during the summer months, when the controlled exuberance of hardy perennials are at their peak, Phil is keen to talk about the garden in the other seasons as well.

8th Mar AGM and 'The Wonderful World of Salvias' Janet Buist

Before she retired, Janet was the owner of Pennycross Nursery which specialised in salvias.

There are more than 1000 forms of salvia and Janet will introduce us to some of the choicest ones and probably to some recent cultivars of these long-flowering plants. We will learn something of their history as well as how to care for and propagate them.

Photo - Salvia 'Amistad' in our Botanic Garden at Wollaton

Simon Dodsworth will be visiting us later this year.

12th Apr 'The Historic Gardener - Death in the Garden' Michael Brown

Michael has been interested in history and gardening for as long as he can remember, especially fascinated by the strange names and folk tales around common plants.

He has an MA in Garden History and was the creator of the Medieval Gardens at Prebendal Manor at Nassington in Northamptonshire.

He says of his talk about poisonous plants, myths, magic, passion and murder; ‘Be warned, many of these plants may well be growing in your garden’.