HPS NW GROUP SUMMER NEWSLETTER 2005
| Apologies. There were a couple of errors in the Summer
Newsletter recently sent to Members. Please note that the correct
dates for the Southport Show are Thursday 18 August to Sunday 21 August,
not 28 - 31 as in the Newsletter. The correct date for our next meeting
is Monday 19 September 2005, not 18th as suggested in the Newsletter. |
Welcome to our Summer Newsletter!
To learn more about recent and forthcoming events during
our break from monthly meetings, just read on.....
A few weeks ago our hardworking 'show team' again put
on a fine display at the Southport Spring Show, winning the Large Gold
Medal and prize money of £200. Well done and thank you to all involved!
Our Annual Plant Sale, at its new venue in Penwortham,
was both enjoyable and successful, earning the Group £400 and hopefully
some new friends in the area! One member has reported that a plant she
bought at the Sale isn't as it was labelled. Apologies to her and to any
others who have had this experience. We all do our best I'm sure to ensure
that plants are correctly labelled, but clearly occasionally mistakes
do happen!
And what do we do with all this money? Well we try
to use it for all our members' benefit. For instance our 'celebrity' speaker
- Bob Flowerdew - spoke to a packed hall at Myerscough, and we were able
to offer seats at £5 for members and their guests, using Group funds
to subsidise tickets. Expect a full account of this entertaining and informative
evening in the next edition of 'Northern Snippets'.
30 or so members enjoyed the delights of two Shropshire
gardens on the first of our coach trips on 22 May. Elaine Taylor gives
us this brief account, and photos from this and all other events will
soon appear on our web site. So pay a visit soon!
- On a sunny Sunday morning our group
assembled and made a leisurely journey to the picturesque Shropshire
countryside to visit two wonderful gardens. Hodnet
Hall, a sandstone mansion set in an ancient park, was given its
present surround in the 1920s and now stands amid towering native trees
and long, spacious paths bordered by wildflowers. The shrubberies display
many beautiful examples, hybrids and species, in a careful arrangement
of colours, and the rhododendrons are kept well away from the azaleas,
as Gertrude Jekyll would have wished.
- At the Dorothy
Clive Garden the atmosphere was a complete contrast. The quarry
was shady and secretive, the paths winding in and out of tall groups
of venerable foliage, their flowers high up to seek the sun. An explosion
of colours resembled a firework display as we looked down from the grassy
promenade around the quarry top. One nice detail: at the entrance to
the tea-room a poster read, ''Welcome to the Hardy Plant Society NW
Group!'
A second day trip is arranged for August 6th to Scampston
and Castle Howard - tickets
are still available: contact Elaine Taylor to reserve your seats. These
are 2 gardens well worth a visit, so book soon!
Our visit to the Old Zoo on 6 June is now fully booked - with 50 members
having bought tickets.
Following this evening
our series of Members' Open Gardens begins. And we are fortunate to
be able to visit so many splendid gardens from within our own membership.
As a reminder the dates are:
- 'Heaselands' Bolton, 20 June
Tickets from Elaine Taylor
- 'Wedgwood' Hesketh Bank, 4 July
Tickets from Eileen Peake
- 'Bridge House' Bolton, 25 July
Tickets from Mary Bishop
- Two Bretherton Gardens, 8 August
Tickets from Anne Hopkins
- 'Millbarn' Samlesbury, 26 September
Tickets from Pam Potter
It is possible to just 'turn up on the night' for
these open gardens, but it is very helpful in terms of catering
arrangements if as many as possible do buy tickets in advance.
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Our main 'flagship' event of the year is of course the
Summer Southport Show 18 -21 August. Once again the 'show team' are busy
designing our stand and will plant it up during the days prior to the opening.
As usual we shall need volunteers to help on the stand and Anne Hopkins
will be contacting members who have expressed an interest in being involved
in this soon. If you would like join us, do make sure Anne has your name.
Our first monthly meeting after the break will be on Monday 19 September
when John Foley will tell us about his passion for 'Crocosmias'. To whet
your appetites John and his plants will be featured in an article in 'The
Garden' this summer (probably the August issue).
Also at this meeting we shall be holding our Annual Plant Exchange. We start
at 6.30 - so come along with plants to swap! There have been some super
plants over the last few years so let's keep it up and enjoy an hour's 'plant
hunting'!
I and the other members of your Committee look forward to seeing you at
some of our summer events.
Ed - Maggie Towse
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