Quick Edit – Tonight (Wednesday May 22nd) at 7.30pm with TSGCN – Chelsea Chat via Zoom with Sophie Parmenter, one of the designers of the National Autistic Society garden. Members should check their emails for details otherwise see the Tendershoots website where you will find the garden plant list and links to many other details.
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday 13th June at the Christ Church Centre, Stone at 7.30pm. The Centre is open from 7pm for refreshments which are included in your £2 admission. Our speaker will be Pip Smith with a talk called The Drought Resilient Garden. Our climate is changing and our gardens must change with it. How can we adapt our gardening ways and planting style to cope with prolonged dry weather?
Pip Smith, formerly Head Gardener at several private and public gardens (most recently at Wollerton Old Hall, Shropshire), is now a garden designer using his previous knowledge and experience to create imaginative, sympathetic and long-lasting designs for private clients.
Before our meeting there are a couple of plant fairs being held locally –
On Bank Holiday Monday (27 May) there is a Flower Power Fair at Rode Hall, Scholar Green, ST7 3QP. 11am-4pm with home made refreshments served in the old coach house. Pre-Book Tickets online via the Rode Hall website.
And on June Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 at Hodnet Hall Gardens Market Drayton Shropshire TF9 3NN 10am – 5pm is a Plant Hunters Fair. Admission: Garden and Plant Fair: £5.00 – special reduced price for this event. Children go free! Season Ticket Holders get free admission. Tickets are on sale now and pre-booking is essential see the website for details. Parking: Free.
After our meeting there are a further three plant fairs organised by Plant Hunters Fairs –
First on Saturday 15 June at Sugnall Walled Garden Near Eccleshall, Staffordshire ST21 6NF 10am – 4pm. Admission: Garden and Plant Fair: £1.00. Parking: Free parking in the business centre opposite and field overflow. Details on the website.
The next is Sunday 23 June at Middleton Hall Near Tamworth, B78 2AE. Times: 10am – 4pm. Admission: Garden and Plant Fair: £4.00 Tickets now on sale are available by morning or afternoon arrival, you may stay as long as you like up to the 4pm close This is a special offer for these special events only. Parking: Free. Details for booking tickets are on the website.
Finally on Sunday 30 June 2024 at Whittington Castle Near Oswestry SY11 4DF Times: 10am – 4pm Admission: Plant Fair and Castle Grounds: Free Entry, no booking required. Parking: Normal on-site parking charges (currently £2.00) applies. This will be collected on entry. For further details see the website.
June is the time to start garden visits and there are some Open Garden weekends this month – although the two most local to us are both on the same dates (its going to be a very busy weekend). Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June 2024 choose between Eccleshall Open Gardens Eccleshall, near Stafford, Staffordshire 10.00am to 4.00pm and Cheddleton Open Gardens Cheddleton, near Leek, Staffordshire 2.00pm to 6.00pm.
And finally as it’s summer there are a lot of gardens open locally this month for the NGS so don’t forget to look in your Yellow Book, on the website, or download the app.
Stone Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society 