The new Gardening Club Programme 25/26

​Here we go again… October is an exciting time for the gardening club as it is the first meeting of the new programme.
The format for the year remains the same, but we have some new and exciting speakers to look forward to.

Our first speakers on October 9th are Jill and Alun Whitehead, who live and work on Aulden Farm which is in a very small hamlet in Herefordshire. The property dates back to the mid-17th Century, Jill and Alun purchased the property in 1996 with a plan to develop a garden on the 3 acres surrounding the farmhouse. After much hard work the house was refurbished and a plan for the garden was drawn up. They now have a beautiful garden that is home to a wide variety of plants, wild and cultivated, and an abundance of wildlife, together with a thriving business.

Self confessed plantaholics Jill and Alun, have over the years developed a depth of knowledge especially of irises. In 2007 they acquired a collection of Siberian Irises and they now own a National Collection. Jill and Alun offer a wide range of talks including how they developed their garden and business, Irises and on a selection of gardens including in Shropshire, Herefordshire and Cornwall. So it was difficult deciding which talk to choose but I went for: Coast to Coast via Gardens . . . . . by Car! which is Jill and Alun’s leisurely alternative to Wainwright's idea. We are looking forward to seeing and hearing about the amazing gardens that they have experienced and noting some destinations for future trips away.

In November Katie Briggs Thomas, who has a small flower farm based in Monkhopton near Bridgnorth, will be telling us about her mission to help reduce the carbon footprint of cut flowers by offering beautiful blooms locally. Katie is going to tell us about her journey from bush perfectionism to cut flowers at her sustainable farm in her talk; ‘From Lady Gardener to Flower Farmer’.

February’s speaker is Nancy Lowe, an RHS qualified organic gardener, ecological garden designer, permaculturalist and writer with a passion for sustainable and eco-friendly gardening. Nancy grows food, makes beautiful wildlife gardens and writes with an infectious joy for all things plant related. Nancy talk; The secret Life of the Soil, will give us an insight into what goes on beneath our feet.

Our final speaker in March is Samantha Hopes, initially a Geologist who became more interested in plants than rocks and so became a student at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and Pershore College and then moved to RHS Garden Wisley, specialising in Rock and Alpine plants. She has worked at Kew, Great Dixter and alongside John Massey at Ashwood Nursery in Stourbridge. Samantha’s talk ‘Plants with a story’ promises to be fascinating.

If you are interested in joining our small and 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.
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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