August is here – let’s hope the weather makes it mind up this month instead of being too cold and wet one minute and too hot the next. The poor gardens have suffered from drowning, slugs and snails and then excess heat and so have we (apart from the slugs and snails).
Take the opportunity to go garden visiting and see how others have coped and perhaps get a few ideas to weather-proof your own garden. Open locally with the NGS this month are Yew Trees near Eccleshall and also Colourmill near Leek on August 10th, Yew Trees is also open on Sunday the 11th. The Wickets at Wheaton Aston is open on August 25th. Those of you who enjoyed last year’s talk from Samantha and Nigel Hopes may like to venture a little further afield on Sunday 18th when their garden in Halesowen is open for NGS. Full details are on the NGS website (along with plenty of other gardens to visit if you are on holiday).
There are few ideas on our Photo Gallery page as well as a couple more photos from our visit to Powis Castle last month. National Trust have plenty of other gardens to visit so its worth having a look on their webite too. Another place for gardens to visit is the Great British Gardens website and, of course, we have RHS Bridgwater (almost) on our doorstep as well as Trentham Gardens and the Dorothy Clive Garden.
Our next meeting will be on September 12th when Simon Gulliver talks about Gardens of a Golden Afternoon – gardens inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Our next meeting will be on Thursday July 11th when Ruth Plant will give a talk entitled Dieramas – the Harebells of Africa. Ruth will tell us about Dierama (commonly known as Angels Fishing Rods): where they come from, the different types, heights and colours, their history and how to successfully grow this elegant plant in the UK. She has been collecting and growing Dierama in her cottage garden in Staffordshire for the last 15 years. She now has 31 species and 23 cultivars growing in her garden and on her allotment, and was awarded Plant Heritage National Collection status in 2016, one of only 3 UK National Collections of Dierama. Her garden at Haughton near Stafford is open under the NGS ‘Yellow Book’ Scheme (including this month – see below) and in July 2018 her collection in the garden was featured on BBC Gardeners’ World.
Before the end of June there is just time to squeeze in a Flower Power Fair:-
Sandon Plant Fair – Sunday 28 June 2024 at The Dog & Doublet. The Dog & Doublet, Sandon Road, Sandon, Staffs ST18 0DJ, is literally opposite the main gates to Sandon Hall and will be offering food and refreshments all day. ADMISSION IS FREE to all. As always there will be a wonderful selection of quality plants on sale for you to buy, as well as accessary stands and a warm welcome back to Staffordshire Wildlife.
During July and August several local Staffordshire gardens are open under the NGS Scheme including Ruth Plant’s garden – Yew Tree Cottage on July 4th, 11th, 18th and 21st. Check in your yellow book, on the website or the app for full details of all open gardens.
There are also three Shropshire gardens open for the Shropshire Historic Churches Trust – details on their website but the one in August is not too far away, near Newport.
Have a look on our Useful Links page for websites listing gardens to visit over the summer break and send us your photos for the Gallery – it might prompt a few more visits. There are already some there.
As many of you will know Kathryn, our Treasurer, has been seriously ill. We recently sent her a bouquet of flowers, beautifully arranged by Peggy Leslie, to wish her well.
We hope you have a lovely summer – maybe the weather will improve (!) – and manage to get out and about. Our next meeting in September features Simon Gulliver who will look at gardens inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. Full details on the Programme page.
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 JuneSaturday 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.
Our May talk is Awareness of Bees and will be given by Alison Wakeman at the Christ Church Centre in Stone at 7.30pm on Thursday May 9th. Having been a beekeeper for a couple of years, Alison realised there was a lack of education in primary schools why bees are so important. So she created Alison’s Bee Class in 2014. She will discuss our awareness of bees and their importance in the environment.
On Sunday May 12th you can join the annual Bluebell Walk at Sandon Church – there is a fee to help with church funds and full details on booking a place and joining in are on their website. The church itself is open on Tuesday mornings if you would like to explore – again details are on the website.
Bank Holiday weekend Sunday-Monday 5-6 May 2024 is the date for the next Plant Hunters Fair at Weston Park, Weston-Under-Lizard, TF11 8LE Times: 10am – 4pm. Admission: Special early bird advance-purchase ticket £4.00 (plus 20p booking fee) per person. Admission on this day includes access to the entire estate including the Park, Temple Wood, Formal Gardens and the Woodland Adventure Playground plus our wonderful plant fair. Tickets are on sale online until 9am on the day of the event. (Full venue entry price of £8.00 applies if you arrive without having purchased a ticket).
A Flower Power plant fair is being held on the late May Bank Holiday Monday 27 May at Rode Hall, Scholar Green, ST7 3QP. 11am-4pm with home made refreshments served in the old coach house. Pre-Book Tickets online via Rode Hall website where you will also find details of their Bluebell Walks. Before then don’t forget their fair on Sunday April 28that Sandon Hall Sandon, Stafford ST18 0BZ open at 11am. Last entry to the fair will be 3.30pm. Admission £4.00 (card preferred, but cash welcome). You can also buy advance tickets online via Sandon Hall’s website. Don’t forget to take cash for the plant stands.
There are several Staffordshire gardens open under the NGS scheme this month – see your yellow book for details. Use the website, or app, to find gardens open in our nearby counties of Shropshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire as well as further afield.
Also open this month (and the next few months) are several Shropshire gardens for the Shropshire Historic Churches Trust – costs are between £5 and £6 for each garden to help preserve and maintain Shropshire’s historic churches. Full details are on their website.
Our next meeting at the Christ Church Centre is on Thursday 11th April at 7.30pm. Our speaker will be Duncan Coombs who will give a talk on Ponds, Marginals and Bog Gardens.
There are still a couple of plant fairs in March including two this weekend –
Sunday 24 March 2024Plant Hunter’s fair at Arley HallNorthwich, Cheshire CW9 6NA Times: 10am – 4pm Admission: NEW FOR 2024: Entry includes full access to the gardens and the plant fair for the special offer reduced price of just £5.00 (Normally £12.00). Children under 16 free.
NGS Gardens are now opening for visits – see the Yellow Book or the website for details, or download the app to your phone. 23 St John’s Road in Stafford is open tomorrow (Thursday March 21st) and also Thursday April 18th. If you haven’t yet been to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nurseries it is open on Sunday March 31st. If you can’t get there (or to any gardens) you can take virtual tours of many NGS gardens and while away several wet afternoons.
On Sunday April 28th there is a Flower Power Plant Fair at Sandon Hall Sandon, Stafford ST18 0BZ open at 11am. Last entry to the fair will be 3.30pm. Admission £4.00 (card preferred, but cash welcome). You can also buy advance tickets online via Sandon Hall’s website. Don’t forget to take cash for the plant stands.
Finally – those pesky slugs and snails have been enjoying the wet weather but is it time to learn to live with them? Have a look at the Wild About Gardens website and read what they have to say – some slugs can actually be good for our gardens, but which ones?
Our next meeting is on Thursday March 14th at the Christ Church Centre in Stone when Philip Aubrey will give a talk called Keep Them in Shape – pruning tips and demonstration. Meetings start at 7.30 prompt and admission is £2 including refreshments. Visitors are always welcome!
Having failed to find a photo of anything that had been properly and sensibly pruned a hunt through the books on the shelf produced this. Its from a little book with a long title – The Cottager’s Kitchen, Fruit and Flower Gardens: containing Directions for the Management of each Department. Its by J.H. Clark, no date but the cover looks to be about 1880-1890.
Spring is on its way and so are the plant fairs: –
Sunday 24 March 2024 Plant Hunter’s fair at Arley HallNorthwich, Cheshire CW9 6NA Times: 10am – 4pm Admission: NEW FOR 2024: Entry includes full access to the gardens and the plant fair for the special offer reduced price of just £5.00 (Normally £12.00). Children under 16 free.
The 2023 International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition winners in all the categories are now online. There are some stunning photos – it is well worth a browse, just remember to allow yourself a lot of time. If you are going to be in London in the next few weeks you can see the IGPOTY 17 Launch Exhibition at Kew. February 3 to March 10, 2024 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
But before all this there is one last February Zoom talk from Tender Shoots Garden Club Network (TSGCN) –
Tuesday February 27th at 7.30pm – Francesca Page-Smith will talk about Snowdrops. Full details on the TSGCN website.
Our next meeting on Thursday February 8th will be our AGM starting at 7.00pm. This will be followed at 7.45 by a talk from Jeff Bates on the Royal Gardens at Windsor.
February is snowdrop month and many places will have a ‘snowdrop walk’ between now and March. The National Trust Gardens often have these as do many of our local gardens – this photo was taken in Trentham Gardens back in December but there will be plenty more out by now.
On Sunday Feb 18th between 2 and 4pm you can visit the grounds of Eccleshall Castle to enjoy the snowdrops (by kind permission of the Carter-Motley family). Buy your ticket on Feb 3rd from Eccleshall Library – £2 available from 10am – 12noon. Unsold tickets will be available at the gate on the day. Refreshments available and proceeds to local charities.
Don’t forget that the Tender Shoots Garden Club Network (TSGCN) has a variety of talks via Zoom organised by other garden clubs which you can join in with. Sign up on their website to be notified of these and the log-in details. Coming up this month are three talks, although the date of one has yet to be confirmed –
Feb 2nd Fri – Alec White – Primrose Hall Peonies (8pm start time) Feb 14th Wed – Dr Ian Bedford – Companion Planting for a Balanced Garden Feb TBC – Francesca Page-Smith – Snowdrops
Next month, at our meeting on March 14th, Philip Aubrey will be giving us some pruning tips with practical demonstrations.
Happy New Year! Our new 2024 programme of talks and trips is slowly appearing on the website pages so do go and look to see what we have in store for you in the coming twelve months. You will be receiving your membership renewal forms soon as well and we look forward to seeing you all throughout 2024.
Our January meeting is on Thursday January 11th and will be held via Zoom with TSGCN – see their website for log-in details. The speaker is Sally Gregson from Somerset who will be talking about Hydrangeas. Sally Gregson ran Mill Cottage Plants nursery for over thirty years, having trained professionally at Hadlow College, Kent, and exhibited at the major flower shows, including Hampton Court Palace. Mill Cottage Plants specialised in Hydrangea and sold the more unusual, and more interesting, species and cultivars of hydrangea and their shade-loving companions. With her husband, Peter, she opens the garden by appointment under the NGS Yellow Book scheme. She has written several gardening books and continues to lecture throughout the UK and abroad, as well as writing for national gardening magazines.
We will be holding our AGM on February 8th at the Christ Church Centre as usual. The AGM starts at 7.00pm and will be followed at 7.30 by a talk from Jeff Bates on The Royal Windsor Gardens.
Quick edit – the weather was against us, the sun didn’t stay long and the rain soon reappeared so we are extending the challenge for the rest of December. Venture out in between the showers/downpours and snap a photo or two for our photo gallery. You can see some are there already.
The sun has appeared and it isn’t raining (briefly?) so grab your phone/camera and venture outside to take part in the photo challenge – a photo taken today (December 28th) of something in flower. it doesn’t have to be in your garden, or indeed a garden flower. Send them to us (email address in the sidebar) and we will add them to our photo gallery.
Here’s a couple taken earlier from the dry – leaning out of the patio door and using the zoom feature on the phone
You too could stay dry and snap a quick shot of your violas or primulas in patio or balcony pots. We’re not looking for fabulous photos (though that would be nice) – quick snapshots like these are fine! There are more starting to appear on the Photo Gallery page.
A quick reminder that the January meeting is via Zoom on Thursday Jan 11th at 7.15 for a 7.30 start when Sally Gregson will talk about Hydrangeas.
Our December meeting is in the afternoon (don’t forget!) at 2pm on Thursday 14th – tea/coffee and mince pies with entertainment provided by a choir from Oulton Primary School. You will need a ticket for this (free) event so Helen knows how many mince pies to order. If you didn’t collect a ticket at the November meeting then give Dawn a ring to order one – her number is on the front of your membership card/programme. NB – while our meeting is free don’t forget you will need to pay for parking at the daytime rate.
We try to have a little bit of a photo competition at this time of year – just for fun, no prizes – and this year we are asking that you take a photo of something flowering on December 28th. It needn’t be in your garden; it could be a garden you are visiting or a neighbour’s garden, or wherever you happen to be, it might even be a ‘weed’ at the motorway service station on the way somewhere! Send your photos to Chris at our email address with perhaps a brief note of what and where and we will have a montage of a photos here on January 1st.
We’re hoping we see these
and not this!
Our January meeting will be via Zoom so we don’t have to be out and about on a chilly January evening, you can sit in warmth and comfort to listen to Sally Gregson talking about Hydrangeas. This will be held in conjunction with TSGCN. There is no Christmas quiz this year but if you missed George Hargreaves talk on UK Botanic Gardens you can find a link to it on the private members page on the TSGCN website.
In the meantime the Committee would like to send you all our very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. We hope you will continue to support us and look forward to meeting up again in person from February onwards.
Stone Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society 