Our meeting is next Sunday 18th January at Wickham Bishops Village Hall. Doors open at 1.30pm. Our guest speaker is Lucy Chamberlain – subject ‘Growing Fruit, Vegetables and Herbs anywhere’. The meeting starts with annoucements at 2.00 followed by the lecture. After the lecture is the raffle, tea & cake and plant sales.

Lucy writes regularly for Amateur Gardening, and has also contributed to Gardeners’ World, and The Guardian online. Educated at Writtle and Wye Colleges, Lucy worked at RHS Wisley before becoming Gardening Editor at Amateur Gardening magazine, then Editor of Grow Your Own magazine. She was Head Gardener of an 85-acre private Essex estate for 9 years. She co-hosts the Talking Heads gardening podcast (450K downloads) and is the guest gardening expert on BBC Essex radio.

We look forward to seeing you there.

PS. A quick reminder that subs are due, these remain at £7 for one person or £9 for a couple (you should also be a member of the national group).

Our next meeting is this Sunday at 2.00pm. Starting with the AGM at 2.00pm and followed at 2.30 with a lecture by our own Chris Cheswright the subject is ‘Carnivorous Plants’. After the lecture is the raffle, tea & cake and plant sales.

We look forward to seeing you there.

• Please note that prior to this meeting will be a skills workshop starting at 12.45 – 13.15pm see below (open to members only). There is no need to sign up, this event is free.

Our meeting is next Sunday 12th October at Wickham Bishops Village Hall. Doors open at 1.30pm. Our guest speaker is Diane Clement – subject ‘Cyclamen from Seed Pod to show bench’. The meeting starts with annoucements at 2.00 followed by the lecture then the raffle, tea & cake and plant sales.

Diane has been visiting the Alps for over 40 years, and has specialised in growing alpine plants for over 20 years. She is a keen exhibitor and judge for the AGS. She has a wide range of plant interests, in particular hepaticas, cyclamen, bulbous plants and woodland plants which she grows in cold frames and in her shady garden in Wolverhampton.

Diane has given lectures for the Alpine Garden Society, Plant Heritage, Hardy Plant Society, Cottage Garden Society, The Plant School, Cyclamen Society and many local Gardening clubs and Natural History Societies.Diane was for many years Director of the Seed Exchange for the Alpine Garden Society, which is the largest seed exchange of its type in the world run entirely by volunteers.

• Our free practical skills workshop prior to the above meeting will be run by our Secretary Chris Cheswright. It will cover hardy perenial seed sowing and growing. Perfect for all skills of gardener. Chris will explain in brief successful tips for seed sowing success, seed stratification, scarification and using suitable seed compost mixes.

We look forward to welcoming members back after the summer break. Our meeting is next Sunday 14th September at Wickham Bishops Village Hall. Our guest speaker is multi award winning Photographer Roger Hance, the subject is ‘Life in the Undergrowth’. Doors open at 1.30pm. Our meeting starts with annoucements at 2.00 followed by the lecture then the raffle, tea & cake and plant sales.

Roger’s talk shows the wide range of butterflies, moths, dragonflies, damselflies, insects and invertebrates found in our woods, countryside, towns and gardens. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Our next meeting is this Sunday 13th April at Wickham Bishops Village Hall. For those who have booked a place we start with our seedling swap at midday. For anyone that has not booked a placed for the seedling swap you need to let us know as soon as possible so that we know numbers for lunch.

This is followed at 2.00pm by our guest speaker Fiona Rose subject ‘In the Garden with William Morris’

As well as Arts Society groups around the country, Fiona gives lectures for amongst others: The National Trust, The William Morris Society, the Arts & Crafts Movement in Surrey association, the David Parr House, Deal Music & Arts festival, Women’s Institute groups throughout Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, UK wide groups from The University of the Third Age (U3A), The Sick Children’s Trust and the Society of Cambridge Tourist Guides.

Fiona is a member of the Museum Collections & Display committee for The William Morris Society, and served as a Trustee for four years, as well as a regular contributor to the Society’s Magazine and a book reviewer for the Journal of William Morris Studies. In 2023 she assisted the Society with the planning, organisation and funding of a major exhibition about designer John Henry Dearle. Fiona is also a volunteer House Guide and Specialist Lecturer with the David Parr House in Cambridge, a gem of the Arts & Crafts Movement.

We look forward to seeing you all there, don’t forget to wear your name badges.

Our meeting is next Sunday 9th March at Wickham Bishops Village Hall.  Doors open at 1.30pm. Our meeting starts with announcements at 2.00pm followed by the lecture then the raffle, tea & cake and plant sales.

Our speaker is Annie Godfrey and the subject is ‘Good in Bed’.

Annie trained as a Garden Designer at Capel Manor Horticulture College in 1995 and started ‘Daisy Roots’ Nursery in 1999. Daisy Roots is small, independent nursery set in the outskirts of Hertford, run by garden designer Annie and her partner Steve Machin. The nursery features an eclectic collection of plants specialising in drought-tolerant, hardy perennials and ornamental grasses, Annie has won several Gold Medals including at Hampton Court Flower Show and for ‘Best Summer Flowering Display’ at Gardeners’ World Live in 2017. The icing on the cake was the Gold Medal won at the 2017 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. 

Also Steve Bustin the new Chairman of the National Hardy Plant Society will be joining us. He will say a few words and answer questions about the Society.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Our meeting is next Sunday 9th February at Wickham Bishops Village Hall. Our Speaker is Dr Chris Gibson and the subject is ‘The Wildside of Beth Chatto’s Garden’. Chris is a conservationist by profession, with 30+ years experience of statutory nature conservation in Britain; an ecologist by training; and a naturalist by inclination. His passion is communication, as a lecturer, tour leader, author and broadcaster, trying to convey some of his enthusiasm for the natural world. Soil and its Importance’. Doors open at 1.30pm. Our meeting starts with announcements at 2.00 followed by the lecture then the raffle, tea & cake and plant sales.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

A reminder, if you haven’t paid your subs these are now overdue.

Our meeting is next Sunday 19th January at Wickham Bishops Village Hall. There has been a last minute change to our guest speaker it is now Michael Lavelle from Writtle University College and the subject is ‘Soil and its Importance’. Doors open at 1.30pm. Our meeting starts with announcements at 2.00 followed by the lecture then the raffle, tea & cake and plant sales.

A quick reminder that subs are due, these remain at £7 for one person or £9 for a couple which is great value for money.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

Please note that the speaker has been changed for this Sunday’s meeting:

Our Speaker is now Michael Lavelle from Writtle University College, subject “Adapating our Gardening to Climate Change”.