As usual there is no meeting in August, we will be back in September with a talk from Nick Martin about the wildlife in his garden.

August is our month for holidays and garden visits – and hoping we have some rain soon to revive our poor parched flower beds and wilting plants.

Starting at the weekend Aug 1st and 2nd RHS Bridgewater has a Summer Bulb Weekend with plenty of talks, activities and stalls.

Also on Saturday 1st BBC 4 has an evening of programmes examining the legacy of Geoff Hamilton at Barnsdale – I’m sure many of us remember Gardeners World from back then.

There are few Plant Hunters Fairs not too far away at the beginning of the month and our local one over the Bank Holiday weekend –

Sun 9^th Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield

Sun 16^th Middleton Hall, Tamworth

Sun 30 – Mon 31^st August at Dorothy Clive gardens 10 – 5 £5.

For garden visits the Shropshire Historic Churches Trust Gardens has the Sambrook & Ellerton Garden Trail, Sambrook, Newport, on Aug 30^th.

There are also a few gardens open for the NGS –

Sat & Sun 8^th & 9^th Yew Trees, Eccleshall

Sun 9^th Moat Hall, near Shrewsbury

Weds 12^th Goldstone Hall, Market Drayton

If you are spending your holiday at home and fancy doing a little bit of citizen science in your garden you could sign up for the Big British Garden Survey being run by the NGS. Our gardens can be wonderful slices of habitats and a lifeline for species in the face of biodiversity loss. Take part in the Big British Garden Survey now, a citizen science project by the National Garden Scheme, to discover what’s in your garden and help contribute to valuable national data. Anyone across the UK can take part by sharing information about their garden and recording the wildlife that visits it.

The Big British Garden Survey is run by the National Garden Scheme in collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH). This project brings together information about gardens with wildlife observations to celebrate and better understand the role that gardens play in providing space and resources for wildlife.

To strengthen the scientific value of this work, the questions used within the registration survey are informed by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) State of Gardening Report 2025 and have been used and adapted with permission from the RHS.