If only! However there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel now. First – places to go – the NGS are releasing their Yellow Book soon and you can pre-order from their website where you will also find details of gardens you can visit now for exercise if you pre-book, and as its snowdrop time you will find there are still snowdrop walks to go on; you will just have to go alone rather than in a group and stay local, remember. The NGS are also holding talks about some of their gardens and have virtual tours too. But as we need to keep local for now the National Garden Scheme, Staffordshire & West Midlands Booklet 2021 is now available and if you would like a copy you can send for one by post. You will need to send a self addressed STAMPED envelope size 22cm x 11cm to:- Peter Longstaff, 18 Newport Road, Great Bridgeford, Staffordshire, ST18 9PR. Please note all visits will be subject to national restrictions so do check before you travel.
As for people to see ? Well, we have virtual talks and meetings still so, yes, you can meet people but only via video. It is better than nothing though. Our upcoming talks are all listed on our Programmes page but the next few are –
Mon Feb 22nd – 2.30pm (rooms open 2.15pm) Talk from John Chambers (Knaresborough) “Wildflowers – Establishing & maintaining a wildflower area” – sponsored by Barlaston Village Garden Club
Wed Mar 3rd 7.30 (rooms open at 7.15) – Talk from Kevin Reynolds – “Love & War, How we created our garden birds” – sponsored by Great Bridgeford & District Garden Guild
Wed Mar 10th 7.30 (rooms open at 7.15) – Talk from Marcus Chiltern Jones – “The Making of Bridgewater Garden: Plans & Progress” – Sponsored by Wolverhampton Horticultural Society
Thu Mar 11th 7.30 (rooms open at 7.15) – Talk from Dr. Andrew Ward, Norwell Nurseries – “Brilliant Borages” – Sponsored by Stone, Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society.
Links to fact sheets and plant lists that come with these talks are put on the Programmes page as soon as they are received. You will also find details there of the YouTube channel where any talks that have been recorded are available for you to watch for about a month after the talk. Also on YouTube are some ‘how to use Zoom’ tutorials that Indy (Barlaston Village Garden Club) has done. Each participating club now has its own ‘Breakout’ room so you can ‘meet’ with fellow members before and after the main event of the day for a chat. We hope to see some of you soon.
Stone Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society 