At our monthly meeting on 10^th October we welcomed back Jeff Bates whose topic of “Vegetables for Small Gardens” shared useful well illustrated information on different ways of growing our own supplies as well as more quirky ones such as carrots grown at height in the frame of an old bunk bed to avoid the dreaded carrot fly, with onions in the ground below as a belt and braces! He also explored how commercial vegetable production and our expectations have changed over the years and answered our questions on specific problems.

After his talk he drew our raffle then had the challenge of judging our monthly competition of an arrangement of plant material depicting autumn, with Ivy winning and Rosalie a close second as you can see from the photos, although the colour of the background curtain doesn’t do them justice. We also presented our newly-engraved Produce Show trophies and started selling tickets for our Christmas social evening, something to look forward to as the weather finally changes to autumn and the evenings draw in.

At our September meeting we welcomed back Dr Peter Thomas, Emeritus Reader in Plant Ecology at Keele University, to provide a surprisingly wide range of answers! He started with common words in our language (such as bachelor, Poet Laureate & baccalaureate all from the bay tree) then fruit including unusual tropical varieties, not just those we know and love. Next came nuts (we have new respect for cashews!) before he moved onto medicines such as aspirin and our general wellbeing, with hospital studies showing improved recovery rates in patients who can see trees and other fascinating medical facts, not forgetting poisons such as strychnine.

Then we had the benefits of how trees help combat climate change when they are mature – but being aware that planting them is not an instant fix – and not forgetting timber, with how forests are (or should be) managed to keep them carbon neutral. Peter is a very engaging speaker who shared his knowledge and passion for trees with a well-illustrated talk, and we discussed the possibility of a spring trip to see the Keele University collection of flowering cherries.  

Afterwards Peter drew the raffle and answered individual questions over refreshments. Recent weather affected the number of entries in the monthly competition for a vase of asters but Pam was a worthy winner as you can see from the photo. We’re now looking forward to our Garden and Home Produce Show on Saturday 16th which will have a post of its own, and we’re hoping for plenty of support for this which is our first one since 2019, normally an annual event until a certain pandemic intervened….

An eye-catching title for our August meeting! This was a fascinating talk by Kevin Reynolds on how our relationship with garden birds has developed over the years, a very different perspective on something we all take for granted. We might remember singing “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie” as children but been unaware that many years ago our main relationship with birds was eating them and using their plumage for decoration.

Kevin took us on this changing journey through the ages, including the formation of what became the RSPB in the late 19th century by a little-known woman Emily Williamson, to our current understanding of how birds contribute to our ecosystem and bring delight to our gardens.

After his talk Kevin drew our raffle and judged our monthly competition “a display of sensory plants” with the winner Ros, 2nd place Anita and 3rd place Sarah, well done all. Members and guests enjoyed our usual refreshments, shared out free plant divisions donated by Sylvia and took home free magazines. We also gave out schedules for our Produce Show on Saturday 16^th September which is free and open to all amateur gardeners, bakers and flower arrangers, more details on our annual show page.

At our June meeting we had an unusual topic for our talk: “The History of Silk” from Clive Garner of The Mulberry Worm explaining how it was first made in China followed by the development of the famous Silk Road and and the industry eventually reaching Britain via Italy and France, with reminiscences of Cash’s silk ribbon factory in Coventry.

It wasn’t one of our normal gardening-related topics and there are ethical issues in the production but it was fascinating nonetheless. Clive was a captivating speaker and brought a wide selection of his own scarves, glassware, necklaces and other artefacts made using silk which members and guests could buy whilst enjoying their refreshments.

After drawing the raffle Clive judged our monthly competition “a single stem of any flowering plant from your garden” which was won by Rosalie’s Allium christophii, with Sue’s Cerinthe second and Joan’s yellow rose 3rd. The photo doesn’t do them justice sorry folks!

We sold the first programmes for our Village Open Gardens Weekend on 8^th/9^th July and they will also be for sale on our plant stall at the Village Fete 24th June then on the weekend itself at the village hall, 11am to 5pm both days, £5 adults for entry into 13 gardens with refreshments at several, a big thank you to all the generous garden owners and their helpers. 

At our AGM on May 9th the usual reports were received then all the committee who were standing for one more year were re-elected and members endorsed a proposed annual membership fee of £20 for the 2023/24 year. The official business was followed by a raffle then an amusing multiple-choice gardening quiz with some very close scores and the winning table received their prizes. Members brought their own drinks and nibbles to enjoy whilst participating and collected their free plug plants to grow on for the members’ only class at our Produce Show in September.

Anita had also mounted all the photos from the SAGG competition on a board for everybody to look at and these were displayed alongside the trophy that our club won for gaining the the most points in the show – see previous post below – members were very impressed, and hopefully inspired!

We were pleased to welcome Malcolm Dickson of Hooksgreen Herbs to our April meeting on a very wet and windy evening. He gave an interesting presentation about their herb nursery and how they prepare for plant fairs and flower shows, where they have won several prestigious gold and silver-gilt medals with their displays. He talked about many different types of herbs with both culinary and medicinal uses, including some that we might not have considered as herbs, giving us tips on growing them and their general dislike of wet winters! Their website also gives advice on uses and preferred conditions for every plant they sell.

After his talk, Malcolm drew our raffle then we all enjoyed refreshments whilst browsing the plants that he had brought along, some are pictured here, as well as our usual free magazines. There weren’t any tulip entries in this month’s competition due to the weather we’ve been experiencing recently.

We are all looking forward to our visit to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nurseries on 19th April with a full coach including guests from other clubs. Then at the end of that week it’s the Staffordshire Association of Garden Guilds AGM at Walton near Stone and we’re hoping that our entries into the photographic competition will be successful!

After day of snow, sunshine and hailstorms, at our March meeting a good number of members and guests were enthralled by a beautifully illustrated talk from Ron Rock, an enthusiastic volunteer for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, on some of the many different species of solitary bees, which number over 200 in total. These very effective pollinators vary in their appearance, nesting habits and methods of pollination which Ron shared with us in a really understandable way, and finished his talk with a quote from a sign at his favourite football club Forest Green Rovers “when nature wins, we all win”. The two photos here, given to us by Ron, are a snippet from this fascinating evening.

After his presentation Ron answered more questions from members, drew our raffle and judged our monthly competition which was won this time by Ivy, with Sue W 2nd and Joan 3rd. Members also took home several different varieties of spare plants kindly donated by Sylvia to grow on ready for our stall at the Village Fete, and for their own gardens too. Our coach bookings for next month’s visit to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nurseries have gone so well that we’ve been able to hire a larger coach and invite other clubs to come along with us.

   

In February we welcomed Ruth Williams with her fascinating whistlestop tour of the many interesting locations in our county, some well known and others much less so, even for those who’ve lived here all their lives. A real mixture of gardens, nature reserves and buildings, many with extra snippets of information that you won’t find in guide books! And of course all the best tea rooms if you’re out for the day…

After drawing the raffle, Ruth judged our monthly competition which was a posy of snowdrops. Well done to Pam who was first, Joan second and Rosalie third; all the entries were excellent as you can see from the photos. The most points earnt in these competitions over the year will win our Trudi Brearley Challenge Trophy.

Then we enjoyed refreshments with an opportunity to ask Ruth more questions, and bookings for our first coach trip since 2019 are going very well! And the last two photos on this blog are of the amazing aeonium that Anita bought from Howard Drury (our September speaker) at another garden club meeting about 2 years ago, its height and flowerhead are amazing.

We started our 2023 programme on a wet and windy evening with an amusing and informative talk on Primulas and Auriculas from Ingrid and John Millington of Hillview Hardy Plants. Ingrid showed us all the different types and colour ranges available, how they were bred and the various growing conditions they all prefer. She also had some fascinating historical information on their medicinal uses – apparently the wonder cure for almost every ill known to mankind! John then followed with what Ingrid called his “doom and gloom” section on pests and diseases, plus propagation, to complete a very good presentation.

After the raffle, our members were able to browse a selection of plants from the Hillview nursery to purchase before they enjoyed their refreshments. Ingrid also judged our monthly competition of a “vase of winter flowering stems from your garden” which was very well supported with colourful and fragrant entries despite the rather inclement weather! The Points awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places are totalled at the end of the year for the award of our Trudi Brearley Challenge Trophy. Joan was the winner, with Rosalie second and Ivy third, well done to them and everybody who entered.