March is (almost) here and signs of Spring are appearing in the garden as the first daffodils start to bloom in time for St David’s Day, not only that but we have two talks for you attend and the Plant Fairs start this month.

Our next meeting at the Christ Church Centre will be on Thursday March 10th starting at 7.30pm prompt (note the change of time from previous years!) when Steve Hickman from the Hoyland Plant Centre will be talking about Agapanthus. This will be a practical evening with lots of advice and plants for sale. Do look at Hoyland web site as plants are available to order for collection on the night.

On Wednesday March 23rd at 7.30pm you can join a TSGCN talk via Zoom (or You Tube) given by Margaret Easter on Using Herbs over the Centuries.

There are two Plant Hunters Fairs within relatively easy reach of us this month –

Sunday March 20th at Ness Botanic Gardens, Wirral, Cheshire CH4 4AY from 10 – 4pm

Sunday March 27th at Arley Hall, Northwich, CW9 6NA 10 – 4pm.

Looking forward to the beginning of April they came much closer to home –

Saturday April 2nd at Sugnall Walled Garden, Eccleshall ST21 6NF 10 – 4pm.

Full details of these and forthcoming fairs on their website.

Flower Power Fairs will also be near us this month but also on Sunday March 27th at Holme Pierrreppont Hall, Nottingham, NG12 2LD 11 – 4pm. Details of this and all forthcoming fairs on the website.

We’ve been really pleased with all the photos we’ve received of your gardens and plants over the last two years and even quietly pleased with some of our own efforts. Thank you all and please keep them coming. You can see some of our photos in the Photo Gallery.

But . . . if you want to see really stunning photos, can I suggest you look at the winners in various categories from the latest International Garden Photographer of the Year – they are mind-blowing. You can find these photos on the winners page of the website – scroll down and click on the various categories to see more, and more, and more . .

If you are planning a holiday or a day out this year, selected photos are being exhibited at various venues in the UK and one in Germany – at Kew until March 6th; Cambridge University Botanic Gardens March 15 – May 6; The Dock Museum, Barrow in Furness March 19 –June 15; Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham April 30 – June 30 and Herrenhausen Gardens Hanover until April 30^th.

At this point I would usually put a photo. However . . . !

At our next meeting at the Christ Church Centre we have Steve Hickman from Hoyland Plants talking about Agapanthus on Thursday March 10th and then from TSGCN via Zoom on Wednesday March 23rd Margaret Easter will talk about using herbs over the centuries. (alright – a photo, but not plants or garden!) –

We are now holding meetings in the Christ Church Centre again and a full list of all talks for this year is on the Programme page. Members should by now have received their membership forms and other information. We are continuing to support the Tender Shoots Garden Club Network (TSGCN) and those talks are available for members to join in with via Zoom or You Tube as part of your membership fee.

Our AGM will be held on Thursday February 10th at 7pm for members only. Coffee will be served from 6.15, giving time for collection of membership cards and a quick chat. Following the AGM Indy, founder of TSGCN, will talk about the Network and how to access the talks. Please note that the room will be well-ventilated – in other words the windows and doors will be open so make sure you wrap up well! We also ask that you wear your mask and use the hand sanitiser provided by the Centre.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, February 9th at 3pm Jeff Bates will give a talk on Water Gardens and Water Features for TSGCN via Zoom.

What is flowering (or providing some colour) in your garden at the moment? Becky has sent a few photos of the “scruffy flowers” in her garden –

Send us your photos too and have them featured here and in our Photo Gallery.

Our next Zoom talk via TSGCN is on Tuesday January 25th at 7.30 pm when Andrew and Amy Skea from Potato House will tell us all about potatoes and varieties.

Quick update – the afternoon talk from TSGCN via Zoom today,Wednesday the 12th January, at 3pm arranged by Evesham G&C has a change of speaker and topic.

The talk will now be given by Richard Barnes, who’s worked as a Landscape Architect and Garden Designer for more than 30 years.   A published writer and photographer, he is a member of the Professional Garden Photographers Association and of the Garden Media Guild.
Richards talk is entitled ’50 Favourites’  illustrating 50 different plants, ranging from alpines to large trees, the usual and unusual, looking at what makes them a favourite of his, their uses in the garden, requirements for good growth and, hopefully, providing inspiration to try a plant that you might not have considered before.

There are some plants that provide colour all year round – the ‘evergreens’. These really stand out at this time of year when everything else can seem a little drab. Some are just ‘green’ like the fern, or the laurel acting as a backdrop to the grass.

Others are variegated and can add a real splash of colour to dark corners.

A few have new shoots waiting to emerge that are a slightly different colour – the yellow of new growth on the yew or the violet tips of the Hebe.

Some change colour in the winter, becoming red like the Leucotho or the Star Jasmine while others have colour that intensifies over the winter like the Nandina.

Others like the almost black Ophiopogon take a blue-ish hue in the low winter sun.

Have a good look around your garden this month – you might be surprised by how much colour there is.

In the meantime don’t forget there is a TSGCN talk (via Zoom) at 3pm on Wednesday Jan 12th on the Gardens of Capability Brown – details on our Programme page or the Programme page of the TSGCN website.

Berries in the gardens today – those that the birds haven’t yet got around to eating.

Today we have some of the plants flowering in the gardens – some of them looking past their best but still clinging on.

We start with flowering shrubs – from heather, through Mahonia, Viburnum, Daphne and winter flowering honeysuckle; not to mention a Skimmia and a very early rosemary and azalea

What shrub was flowering in your garden on New Year’s Day? Come back tomorrow for more colour in the gardens.

As we welcome 2022 with the hope that things will improve after the last two years (!) and as it is a warm dry day today we trust you have gone out into your gardens to take some New Year’s Day photos of those plants giving colour and interest at this time of year. Send them to us and we can have a virtual show here over the next few days / weeks.

So whether you have a Hellebore

or a yellow jasmine

or a primula

or even a rose (however tatty)

take a snap and send it in.