We are looking forward to our next meeting this Sunday 10th November at Wickham Bishops Village Hall. The meeting starts at 2.00pm with our AGM which we expect to last approximately 1/2 an hour. There has been a change to our programme and our speaker is Chris Cheswright and the subject is ‘Japan and it’s Gardens’. Doors open at 1.30pm. Our meeting starts with announcements at 2.00. Following the AGM and Lecture will be the raffle, tea & cake and plant sales.
Chris opens his garden, 2 Cedar Avenue, Wickford, for the National Garden Scheme. He is also Secretary for the Essex Hardy Plant Society.
We are looking forward to our next meeting in a weeks time on Sunday 13th October at Wickham Bishops Village Hall. Our guest speaker is Fergus Garrett and the subject is ‘Designing with Plants’. 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.
Fergus Garrett VMH, Head Gardener at Great Dixter
“One of the most influential living garden designers”
Fergus studied horticulture at Wye College, University of London and was appointed as Head Gardener of Great Dixter in 1993. He is now CEO of The Great Dixter Charitable Trust. Among other honours, Fergus was given the Royal Horticultural Society Associate of Honour in 2008, in 2015, the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to the practise of horticulture, and in 2019 The Victoria Medal of Honour – the highest accolade given to British Gardeners by the Royal Horticultural Society.
Fergus has received many national and international awards for his work in education, horticulture and biodiversity. His interest lies in plant associations and communities in the wild, biodiversity, meadow gardening, layered planting, as well as peasant and artisan life, and the training of the young.
The heir, in more senses than one, to Christopher Lloyd, Fergus Garrett will talk about layering and succession planting in the herbaceous border.
This will be a very popular meeting. Please arrive in good time to get a seat. If you know anyone who might be interested in joining our Group, please encourage them to come. The charge for visitors is £2.
We look forward to welcoming members back after the summer break. Our meeting is this Sunday 15th September at Wickham Bishops Village Hall. Our guest speaker is Andy Thomas and the subject is ‘The Crop Circle Mystery’. 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.
Andy explores the extraordinary phenomenon of crop circles. He reveals the fascinating history and intriguing arguments around these controversial but stunning patterns which appear in fields every year.
This year the Autumn Plant Fair hosted by Essex Plant Heritage is being held at Markshall in Coggeshall, Essex. This event is perfect for both experienced and novice gardeners looking to expand their plant collections and gardening knowledge.
Date: 14 Sep – 15 Sep from 10am – 4pm
Address: Markshall, Marks Hall Road, Coggeshall, Essex, CO6 1TG
Free entry as part of heritage open days.
Highlights Include:
Rare and unusual plants for sale
Meet National Plant Collection Holders
Connect with various plant societies
Gain insights from guest speakers and receive gardening advice
Take advantage of the plant creche
Explore specialist nurseries
Network with fellow gardening enthusiasts in the local community
While you’re there, enjoy the beauty of Markshall’s Walled Gardens, Lakes, and Arboretum, and don’t forget to visit the Honywood Tearoom for a delightful refreshment.
Come and be part of this vibrant gardening community event! We look forward to seeing you there.
Our group recently went on a fantastic 3 day holiday to Manchester and then a day trip to Norfolk. Here are some of the wonderful pictures taken by our members.
Three Day Holiday to RHS Bridgewater, Cholmondoley Castle Gardens, Stretton Old Hall, Ashwood Nursery and John’s Garden (John Massey).
Day Trip to Bressingham Gardens, Peter Beales Roses and Nursery and The Plantman’s Preference nursery.
The Essex Conservation Group met up for our May meeting at ‘Dragons’, the lovely garden developed by Margot Grice. We were lucky that it didn’t rain, but all managed to enjoy talking about the plants while sitting around a table on the patio. Last year’s successes and failures were discussed, along with plans for the coming year.
Slugs and snails seem to be the major pest this spring, not surprising considering all the rain we have had, and the mild winter. In spite of this, many members brought plants they had propagated either by division or cuttings to pass around to other growers.
The meeting finished with tea and coffee, along with some nice cakes. Beryl Davis deserves special mention for her delicious marmalade cake – yum yum!
The final treat of the day was Margot’s stunning plant of Rodgersia podophylla ‘Instow’, growing next to her pond. This plant has been in the scheme since 2008, but is not often offered in the annual exchange. This is the first year it had flowered for Margot, no doubt due to all the rain. It was particularly lovely surrounded by her red tulips ‘Sprengeri’.
Huge congratulations go to Moore and Moore plants, based in Billericay, who have won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show. Lynne and Steve Moore are members of Essex Hardy Plant Society, Lynne and her team work extremely hard specialising in shade tolerant and woodland plants. After months of planning, prepping, planting and growing their largest ever display their work has been rewarded. https://www.mooreandmooreplants.co.uk
It was lovely to see everyone at Mayfield Farm today – thank you for joining me.
We were so lucky with the weather and what a beautiful garden to enjoy. Ed Fairey entertained us with funny stories about the creation of the garden and interesting facts about the plants (particularly the trees that he has collected). And all rounded off with a smashing cup of tea/coffee and a slice of cake. A perfect afternoon!
I look forward to seeing some of you again shortly on the Norfolk coach trip (full details will be sent to those participating nearer the time) and hope to see many of you on the next self-drive trips (Furzelea in August and Feeringbury Manor in September).
What persuaded 80 keen gardeners to spend a whole day indoors, happily, on the hottest, most beautiful spring day of the year so far? It had to be the Hardy Plant Society Essex Group’s Lecture Day and what a privilege it was to be part of it.
You realised from the very beginning the quality we could expect, when former HPS Chair, Cathy Rollinson, now chair of the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee, started the day by presenting the Alan Bloom Award for a lifetime’s achievement in horticulture to David Ward who recently retired after 40 years at Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens.
Colin Moat recently closed Pineview Plants, but shows little intention of retiring. His advocacy of the taller plants (ie those over one metre in height) for the herbaceous or mixed border demonstrated his intimate knowledge of these plants and the conditions in which they thrive. For me, a relative newcomer, it was thrilling to be introduced to white sanguisorbas. As Joanne Philip said in her vote of thanks, Colin showed those of us who think we have run out of space in our gardens that we can still increase vertically.
Luci Skinner was a returning speaker, and I soon learnt why. She covered the entire Iris genus, comprehensively and clearly, in one hour, and its place within the Iridaceae. Perhaps it was the bearded irises that interested most of us, because they are suited to neutral to alkaline soil, which is typical of so much of East Anglia. In covering the whole genus, Luci showed us how it was possible to have irises flowering throughout the year. For a grower of Iris danfordiae and the reticulatas it was useful to learn that these need a lot of phosphorus through the winter, as do the winter irises, Iris lazica which prefers a moister soil, and Iris Iguicularis which wants a hot dry sunny spot. the. For those who like Iris pseudacorus it was good to know that it is better behaved in the border than in the wet.
I shall not try to cover Toby Buckland’s virtuoso performance in any detail. Speaking without notes for well over an hour, he managed to engage with the audience, finding out and addressing our peculiar garden delights, frustrations, triumphs, or sheer selfishness (“What do you do with your slugs – over the neighbours wall?” Murmurs of assent.) He used his slides, an eclectic selection of plants, as prompts for an outpouring of enthusiasm, experience and advice. I am sure everyone took away their own nugget. For me it was, trim the taproot of your Erysimum to get a bushy plant.
The HPS Essex Group plant sales table offered plants of an unusual, even for us, quality and we were lucky to have Daisy Roots, Woottens Nursery and Pineview Plants as well. Such was the enthusiasm of the audience to buy plants, it was hard to say who went away more satisfied, the nursery people or their customers.
The volunteers who staffed reception, the raffle, plant sales, the sound system, setting up, and catering were a well-oiled machine, and thanks to their professionalism everyone could relax, enjoy the day, learn and be entertained.It all proves the value of experience.
The success of the day owed most to our longest serving committee members to whom I express profound thanks. If Linda Crowther meant to end her chairmanship by giving us all something to remember, she couldn’t have done it with a bigger bang!
Our next meeting is this Sunday 14th 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 Simon Gulliver – ‘Around the World in 80 Plants’.
Drawing on 20 years experience in horticultural landscape and plant collection management and over 35 years of wider business experience. Specialising in the management of plant collections in historic landscapes. Able to identify the spirit of place and significance of a designed landscapes and give clear advice and recommendations for its ongoing management. Development of Conservation and Landscape Development plans. Recording and interpretation of plant collections.
Experienced educationalist with over 10 years experience of the selection development and mentoring of horticultural students. Able to bring practical experience and scientific fundamentals together, ensuring the best possible understanding and delivering successful outcomes. Expertise in Amenity horticulture, Plant identification, Botany and Taxonomy, delivered at Higher & Further Education levels to horticulturists. Also lectures on Biodiversity. Industry Adviser at Pershore (Warwickshire) College.
Particularly interested in woody plant collections and in the development of urban treescapes. Committee Member of Birmingham Trees for Life. Also a keen advocate for the growing of food in urban environments.
We look forward to seeing you there, don’t forget to wear your name badges.
Essex HPS 