We opened our meeting with a tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth’s lifetime of service and devotion to duty, also her patronage of the Royal Horticultural Society since her accession to the throne in 1952. Our popular speaker Howard Drury of www.thedrurys.com had added some beautiful photographs of her to his excellent presentation on “The Men Who Inspired Me” which was much enjoyed by all our members and guests.
It started with his early years gardening alongside his father in Lincolnshire then working for Bert Jackson who built one of the first independent garden centres, before his own formal horticultural training at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. He shared with us his memories of all the inspiring people he has met, worked with and learnt from, both famous and less well known, too many to mention here but all fascinating, and he included practical gardening tips as he went along!
Howard gave the eulogy at Peter Seabrook’s funeral in February which he described as a great honour, and he had a lovely photograph of the Queen and Peter together at a flower show, then one of her at Chelsea this year in her buggy holding a bouquet of Sweet Pea ‘Peter Seabrook’. After his talk he drew our raffle and had brought a good choice of succulents for us to purchase whilst he chatted to members over a cup of tea. He is a fascinating speaker, always with excellent presentations, and he will definitely be welcomed back to our club in the future!
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