Is it our imagination or has this year disappeared even more quickly than last year? The Committee have been busy trying to plan a programme for 2022 (next year in case you have lost track of time too) so please keep an eye out for an email arriving in the next week outlining those ideas and plans. Given the ever-changing effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic these plans may be subject to change so keep following us here too.

In the meantime we are continuing to support and be a member of The Tender Shoots Garden Club Network which has done so much to provide us with a gardening related talk every month over the last year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The next activity that you are invited to join in with will a Christmas Quiz – join in as an individual or form a team with friends and family to enter. There are prizes!

Christmas Quiz night – December 8th at 7.30 pm – via Zoom. Contact TSGCN for details on how to join in.

There is only one talk scheduled for November through the Tender Shoots Garden Club Network and this is one that we are sponsoring.

Thursday 11th November at 7-30pm the talk from Doug Stewart  is titled Winter Thrillers.

On his website Doug says of this talk “Scent, stems and stunning colour, a winter garden can have it all…Winter gardens, filled with colour and scent really lift the spirits on even the coldest winters day, in this talk Doug reveals the secrets of creating a stunning winter garden.”

We hope to ‘see’ you there. Don’t forget that we have our own ‘Breakout Room’ at the beginning and end of each meeting so each participating club can chat with their own members.

Some twenty members and friends joined Helen for a guided tour of the Dorothy Clive Garden earlier this month. It was lovely to see people again and to be visiting the gardens together.

Don’t forget we have two talks for you to ‘attend’ this month –

Wednesday Oct 13th  – Vic Aspland – A Brighter side of Winter – Sponsored by Wolverhampton Horticultural Society 

Wednesday Oct 20th  – 3pm Talk from Joe Tierney – Life and Gardens of Capability Brown – Sponsored by Evesham G&C   NB This is an afternoon talk.

Full details for joining in with these talks are on the Programme page.

We are definitely moving into Autumn now and to help us look forward to Winter we have a talk coming up later this month from Vic Aspland, courtesy of our membership of the Tender Shoots Garden Club Network. They are also hosting an afternoon talk from Joe Tierney of the National Trust on the Life and Gardens of Capability Brown. Full details are on our Programme page and the TSGCN Facebook page.

Wed Oct 13th – Talk from Vic Aspland – A Brighter side of Winter – Sponsored by Wolverhampton Horticultural Society

Wed Oct 20th – 3pm Afternoon Talk from Joe Tierney National Trust – Life and Gardens of Capability Brown Sponsored by Evesham G&C.

It is starting to feel very autumnal now and the autumn/winter talks season is starting today (1st September). Thanks to our membership of the Tender Shoots Garden Club Network (TSGCN) we have the opportunity to attend four talks this month alone.

These Zoom talks are currently open to anyone to attend free anytime and guests are very welcome.  However if you would like to make a donation towards supporting the costs of the talks, that would be very much appreciated and will enable TSGCN to continue running these events. if you don’t use Zoom you can also go to their YouTube page when the talk is about to start (at 7.30pm) as they simultaneously stream the meeting Live on YouTube.  To join just click this link  www.youtube.com/c/TenderShootsGardenClubNetwork  or search YouTube for the ‘Tender Shoots Garden Club Network’ and then click on the yellow logo.  The advantage of YouTube Live is you can start the talk from the beginning if you arrive late, you can pause, rewind & skip any bits & still ask questions to the speaker via YouTube chat box.  You can also watch it in comfort if you have a large smart TV via the YouTube TV app.

Our first talk is tonight – Wednesday 1st Sep from Peter Moore on Buddleja.  He’s a Plant Heritage National Collection Holder & Plant Breeder having developed many famous varieties, including Buddleja Berries & Cream, Sarcococca Winter Gem, Philadelphus Fragrant Falls, Choisya Aztec Pearl & Choisya White Dazzler, to name but a few.  

Next week on September 8th we have a chance to find out about Heavenly Hostas from John Baker owner of The Hanging Hosta Garden, Hampshire.  Sponsored by Barrow upon Soar Garden Club.

Thur Sep 16th – John & Gail of West Shores Nursery – Grasses – Sponsored by Winterton Garden Club.

Wed Sep 22nd – Glenn Duggan – The Fantastic Flora of Australia – Sponsored by Catisfield & District Gardening Club.

Further details are on our Programme page.

Also happening this month is another event you may wish to visit – Ashwood Nursery’s Orchid Extravaganza which is on from 28th August to 18th September.

Further news has come from TSGCN:- “Fantastic news.  We’ve been approached by BBC Radio Devon’s Toby Buckland to do an interview feature on Tender Shoots, so please listen out for us on Sunday 5th Sep on the radio or via the BBC Sounds app.  Toby’s show starts at 10am, but we’ll be featured after 12pm.”

Now is the ideal time to go garden visiting – whether its just wandering around the neighbourhood and admiring the front garden and parks as you walk past or booking a visit to one of our many local (or not so local) gardens open to the public.

Have a look at the NGS website for gardens open as part of the National Gardens Scheme, or – if you have a smart phone – download their app so you can find out about gardens open wherever you happen to be. Moreton Hall Gardens are open on Saturday 28th August for NGS – details here. There is also a Plant Fair at the Dorothy Clive Gardens on August 29th and 30th. Both of these events require that you book tickets in advance.

Another event you may wish to visit is Ashwood Nursery’s Orchid Extravaganza which is on from 28th August to 18th September.

On our ‘Links’ page you can find websites listing all sorts of gardens to visit locally and nationally and their websites will give you information on booking your visit.

A few people recently went to Bridgewater with the TSGCN group and came back full of praise. Perhaps its time to book yourself a visit there?

In the meantime your Committee held an actual face to face meeting for the first time for 18 months – details from Helen in the future – and found the flower beds full of colour; they couldn’t resist taking a few photos. You can always send your photos to us to be included here or in our photo gallery.

Don’t forget to look on our Programme page to see what is planned for the coming few months. It is updated regularly as changes are made and talks added. There are currently four talks scheduled for September with the first one on Sept 1st when Peter Moore will talk about his speciality – Buddlejas.

There’s a lot happening in August, starting with the SANDON PLANT FAIR this Sunday AUGUST 1st from Flower Power Fairs –

I know some of you enjoyed the Flower Power Plant Fair at Sandon Hall earlier in the year.  Next Sunday, 1st August, there is another fair at Sandon this time from 11.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.  Entrance is £4 (cards is possible please) which includes entrance to the gardens, grounds and plant fair.  This time the fair will be held on the lawns adjacent to the conservatory.  Restoration of the gardens at Sandon is an ongoing project but you can certainly enjoy a pleasant stroll in the gardens which are not normally open to the public.  Top plant nurseries will be in attendance together with stalls selling garden accessories and food will be available all day.

We also have more Zoom-based talks via the Tender Shoots Garden Club Network which anyone can join in with – details on their Facebook page – via Zoom or You Tube.

Aug 11th Wed – Talk from Philip Aubury – “Growing for Showing” – Sponsored by Wolverhampton Horticultural Society

Aug 17th Tue – Dr Ian Bedford, Research Entomologist – Garden Bugs: Cohabit, Control or Conserve? – Sponsored by Evesham G&C 

Details are on our Programme page.

May has been a bit of a washout so let’s hope June is an improvement! but we still have one more talk before then –

Wednesday May 26th (tomorrow) at 7.30pm is the talk from Adrian James on “Gardens of Paradise” (This talk covers the history, design and symbolism of Persian/Islamic/Moghul gardens). The plant list / handout for the talk is already available to download from our Programme page.

This is the last talk that has been arranged via the Tender Shoots Garden Club Network. If you missed any of these recent talks, they are available to see on their YouTube page here

Successful Fruit Growing

Dorothy Clive Gardens

National Memorial Arboretum Alrewas

The Plant Hunters

History of Herbs

Extending the Season in your Garden

and RHS Bridgewater talk from Curator Marcus Chilton Jones

Meanwhile The Tender Shoots inter club group trip to see the brand new RHS Bridgewater garden is on Wednesday 21st July.

“I hope you can all join us, it would be lovely to meet you all.   We so far have 70+ people going from various clubs by coach & car.”

Entry to gardens is £12.10, or free if you’re an RHS member.  Or if your garden club is RHS affiliated, then 55 of your members can go free.  It only costs your club £35 for this benefit.  

For those that are local to Stoke-on-Trent Barlaston Village Garden Club have an outdoor plant swap event on Saturday 29th May 12-2pm in the rear car park of the St.John the Baptist Church, Barlaston, ST12 9DA.  Bring along a folding chair and flask of tea for a socially distanced chit chat.  Details on the Facebook page This was postponed from last Saturday because of the weather.

We hope to have more news on Open Garden weekends soon. In the meantime have a look at our links page to find the NGS gardens open near you in the next few weeks, as well as links to RHS gardens, National Trust gardens and plenty of others to help plan your trips.

This photo of Wisteria was taken on May 5th last year! This year there are some buds . . maybe by June 5th it may look a little more like this, and so might the weather – we can but hope.

It should be the Chelsea Flower Show this coming week but it has had to be put back to the autumn. However Virtual Chelsea will be happening from Tuesday 18th – Friday 21st (Monday 17th if you are an RHS member). You can find out more and follow the links here.

We have two more talks for you this month through the Tender Shoots Garden Club Network – the last one sounds particularly fascinating, especially if you remember watching Monty Don’s programme a few years ago.

Wednesday May 19th at 7.30 pm – Talk from the National Arboretum Alrewas – Sponsored by Penkridge Garden Guild

Wednesday May 26th at 7.30pm   –  “Gardens of Paradise” (This talk covers the history, design and symbolism of Persian/Islamic/Moghul gardens). Talk from Adrian James. Sponsored by Evesham G&C.

Further details on how to join the talks (via Zoom or You Tube) along with lists of plants or gardens you can download can be found on the Programme page.

The Plant Swap in Barlaston for today (Saturday 15th) has been cancelled as the weather forecast is not promising.

We have two talks coming up next week and then at the weekend Barlaston Village Garden Club have organised a Plant Swap –

For those that are local to Stoke-on-Trent we have an outdoor plant swap event (weather permitting) on Saturday 15th May 12-2pm in the rear car park of the St.John the Baptist Church, Barlaston, S-o-T, ST12 9DA.  Bring along a folding chair and flask of tea for a socially distanced chit chat.  Whilst here, you could also visit Trentham Gardens, the Dorothy Clive Gardens, or Keele University for the National Collection of Cherry Blossom.
Details of the plant swap are on the Facebook page

Our talks next week are –

Tuesday May 11^th at 7.30pm – ‘Extending the Season in your Garden’. Talk from Victoria Logue.   Sponsored by Ellesmere Garden Club

Thursday May 13th at 7.30pm – “The History of Herbs”.  Talk from Margaret George. Sponsored by Stone, Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society

More details about the talks and further talks planned for the rest of the month, and into June, can be found on the Porgramme Page.

The Ecclian Society have just announced that they are planning to run their ever-popular Open Gardens weekend on June 19th and 20th. Further details later.