It’s that time of year again...

In October we hold the first meeting of the gardening club and introduce the new programme of events for the year. The format remains the same as previous years, but we have some new and exciting speakers once again this year.

On October 8th, Sue Mabberley who gardens at Nant y Bedd near Abergavenny is visiting to talk about ‘Rewilding your garden’. In her talk she will look at nine top tips to bring more life into your own garden, showing us how she has been wild gardening for more than 40 years and hoping to inspire us to adopt some of her ideas.

In November, Mark Duffell’s talk on ‘Darwin the Botanist' will be something a little
different. Mark is a passionate and skilled Botanist and Horticulturist. His talk is an exploration of the many botanical discoveries Darwin and his contemporaries made. Marks explains some of Darwin’s lesser-known discoveries and compares them to our current understanding.

February’s speaker is the one I think I am most excited about. Gavin Stoneystreet is a cultural botanist and writer. He works most often in garden heritage, in advising, curation, and conservation. In his talk, Gavin explores the unique landscapes of William Morris’ gardens to reveal how nature and vegetal life shaped Morris’s famous prints.

Our final speaker in March is again this year Samantha Hopes. Last year, Samantha delighted us with her talk ‘Plants with a story’. This year she will be talking about ‘Ashwood Specialities’ where she and her husband work. Ashwood Nurseries is in Stourbridge in the West Midlands and is renowned for many wonderful plants including; Hellebores, Hepaticas, Cyclamen, Salvia, Hydrangea, Snowdrops and more! We are hoping she might bring along a few with which to tempt us.
In addition to our four speakers, we will be holding our usual events; Members’ talks, Christmas afternoon tea, a quiz and a Christmas decoration competition in December.
In April we will hold our Spring Show and photograph competition and in May our AGM and plant sale. There will also be an annual luncheon in January, a garden visit in June and a garden picnic in July or August. 

If you are interested in joining our small, friendly gardening club or just visiting for one of our talks, then come along to Stoke St Milborough Village Hall. We meet on the second Thursday of the month at 2.00pm.

Details can be found on our website;
www.stokestmilborough.info/burwarton-gardening-club or by contacting me at
[email protected]. Everyone is welcome regardless of gardening
knowledge or ability.
Bev Harris
Secretary