During November I am raising funds via the Movember appeal, the idea being to grow facial hair for the month of November.

It’s been 9 years since I first Movember’d and this year I felt I’d support them again – especially for men’s mental health. I have direct experience of mental health challenges in people around me, and appreciate that sometimes we all need help.

I will be allowing my face to grow an unruly mess of whiskers which this time want to be like Lemmy from Motorhead. Last time I became a David Brent lookalike which was disturbing for all. This may not be the toughest challenge but the itching on my face is already a bother, and no less for my wife who has to avoid my hedgehog like face.

Money raised by Movember will support projects in the UK to provide education and support for mental health, and also towards research into prostate cancer, testicular cancer and suicide prevention – 75% of suicides are by men.

If you can support me the money I raise goes to fund to projects in the UK and around the world – find out more on the Movember website under About -> Impact.

If you feel able to support me in this fund raising event then you can do so via my Movember page here. I’ve raised £500 so far from friends and colleagues who have been generous in their support.

The goal

The Reality

This coming Saturday 20th is the Somerset HPS AGM:

Doors open at 10.00am

AGM at 10.30am, followed at 11.15am by

Derry Watkins – ‘Pushing the Boundaries: Borderline Hardy Plants You Can’t Live Without’

Derry is the proprietor of Special Plants, near Bath, an enticing nursery full of covetable and unusual plants.  As Derry has introduced many of them from her plant collecting trips to South Africa and elsewhere, a lot of them are borderline hardy (tender perennials).  Before you say ‘that’s not for me’, bear in mind that the majority of these plants flower consistently all summer, more than earning their keep in the border, and many are easy to propagate from cuttings.   

Derry is a lively and enthusiastic speaker, with a wealth of experience in cultivating tender perennials in the UK.  In this talk, she will be demonstrating the value of these plants, explaining how to grow them successfully and inspiring us to give them a go ourselves.  

https://www.specialplants.net

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Star Raffle Prize

An exciting raffle prize at this Saturday’s AGM, a signed copy of Jimi Blake’s book.

Caroline

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Membership Fees

Membership Fees for 2022 are due on the 1^st January, and a big thank you to everyone who pays by Standing Order or Bank Transfer. If you do prefer to pay by cash or cheque, I will be at the AGM meeting and would be pleased to collect the payments then. Membership fees remain at £5 for single membership and £8 for joint, and it would be helpful if you could have cheques payable to Hardy Plant Society (Somerset Group) prepared in advance or the correct amount in cash. 

However you pay our group subscriptions, please remember to also renew your National HPS Membership as National HPS Membership is a pre-condition of HPS Somerset Group Membership.

Jenny Barr

Membership Secretary

HPS Somerset Group

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Covid Precautions

In view of the increased number of Covid infections locally and likely high attendance, please could we remind everyone coming to Saturday’s meeting to please wear a mask (if able) when entering the hall and whilst standing or moving about in the hall. Masks may be removed, if you wish to, whilst seated.

Many thanks,

Jane

Advance booking invite: Zoom – Troy Scott Smith with ‘A tale of three gardens’ – Wed 27th Oct, 7.30pm, Monmouthshire Hardy Plant Society

Hello everyone

We are now opening bookings for our first Zoom talk of the season on Wednesday 27th October at 7.30pm. We are delighted to welcome Troy Scott Smith, the very accomplished head gardener, garden writer and speaker with ‘A tale of three gardens’. As usual, HPS members and non-members are all welcome for what should be an enjoyable and informative session. We really appreciate your support and hope you can join us. Please feel free to forward this invite to your family, friends or your other societies/groups too if you think it could be of interest.

Troy has recently returned to Sissinghurst Castle in Kent as Head Gardener and has previously worked as head gardener at the privately owned Iford Manor Gardens in Wiltshire and, for the National Trust, at Sissinghurst, Bodnant Garden near Conwy and The Courts Garden in Wiltshire. He has also worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney; designed the floral colour spectrum at the Royal Botanic Garden Kew; and became interested in photography and was the RHS professional photographer of the year. He continues to enjoy writing and talking about plants and gardens.

However, for Troy it’s having a deep, basic and enduring connection with a garden that is most rewarding. There should be much of interest when he tells us about three wonderful gardens (Sissinghurst, Bodnant and The Courts) and discusses his experience of each and the gardening challenges ahead. There’ll also be time for your questions at the end of the talk, before the raffle is drawn.

The cost will be £5 per person for national HPS members (of any Local Group or none) and £7 per person for non-members, plus (optional) £1 for each raffle ticket. The funds raised go towards the cost of our speakers and improving our future programme as well as towards our raffle prizes which are mostly garden vouchers, redeemable nationwide.

To book your place/s and/or to join our mailing list for monthly updates, please send an email to monmouthshirehps@gmail.com including – if you are an HPS member and haven’t told us already – your group name and membership number where known.
Please do not pay until we have confirmed your reservation. Places are sometimes limited, even on Zoom, so entrance to this online event and the associated raffle will be for those with confirmed and paid bookings only.

We expect to have enough capacity but if oversubscribed, priority in booking will be given to HPS members as usual. In the unlikely event that the talk is cancelled, all those who have paid will be notified by email and, as they prefer, either be refunded or have their payment carried forward to a future meeting.

Our talks are not recorded so will not be available if you are unable to attend. Wishing you all well and we hope to see a good number of you online to hear Troy’s ‘A tale of three gardens’ on 27th Oct.

Jacqui
Secretary – Monmouthshire Group, HPS

Home

http://www.hardy-plant.org.uk/monmouth

TUESDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 10.30AM – 2PM

A walk and talk around the nursery and gardens at Lower Severalls

COST £55 OR £44 FOR RHS MEMBERS

A look at plants and habitats that encourage and support pollinators led by Catherine Bond with homemade lunch provided by Lower Severalls Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast Booking contact Mary Pring 01460 73234 or email lowerseveralls2010@gmail.com

I have been asked to let you know about a Zoom lecture for South Pennine HPS Group on 1 September which other HPS members are welcome to attend. It’s on “Shade and Semi Shade Plants” and the speaker is Colin Ward of Swinesmeadow Farm Nursery near Peterborough. There’s no charge to join the lecture.

If you are interested, please contact Tricia Fraser on triciaf2808@gmail.com to book a place.

Jane Hunt

Somerset Wildlife Trust’s ‘Wildlife Gardens’ season is much curtailed this year because of corona virus but on the 8th August the garden at Elworthy Cottage, Elworthy will be open. 

This is a 1 acre wildlife friendly garden in a tranquil setting with island beds, unusual perennials and ornamental trees and shrubs. It has been planted to encourage bees and butterflies with lots of birdsong and wildflower and meadow areas that should be full of butterflies on a sunny day. Several different bumblebees have been spotted in the garden visiting the many nectar rich plants.

Slow worms are often seen sunbathing in sheltered spots and the occasional grass snake in one of the compost heaps . Hedgehogs regularly visit and last winter one collected a huge pile of leaves to hibernate under in a secluded corner. There is a decorative and productive vegetable garden and the plantsman’s nursery attached to the garden will be open at the same time which is stocked with lots of bee friendly plants

Somerset Wildlife Trust has been protecting vulnerable wildlife and preserving wild places in Somerset for over 50 years. The Trust’s ‘Wildlife Gardens’ programme is aimed at inspiring gardeners to use their own gardens to help wildlife on their own doorstep and raise funds for the work of the Trust.

Elworthy Cottage is on the B3188 half-way between Wiveliscombe and Watchet and is open from 11am to 4pm entrance £4, children free. There will not be any refreshments available but you are welcome to bring a picnic and there are plenty of seats around the garden.
Many Thanks

Mike Spiller
Elworthy Cottage
Elworthy
01984 656427

As some members know my Daylily (Hemerocallis) stock has survived and indeed increased since Beggars Roost Plants closed. This summer I am getting the names straight for plants in pots, rather than the huge planted clumps which members helped me dig up last year.

The list above gives plants correctly labelled to date, and more are still coming out. There are brief descriptions and I can send photos of anything which might be of interest. They are mostly in 2l pots though some are in bigger, and the figure in red shows how many are available to date.

Prices would be token at around £3.50 as I need to reduce stock! My cottage is being rebuilt and I’m without reliable phone use, so please uses this email address (ro@lilstock.eclipse.co.uk) to get to me, but give your number so I can ring you back as soon as I have a chance.

Ro FitzGerald

Despite what it says in our Group Newsletter, the Lower Severalls Plant Fair is still on Sunday July 4th.

More details and a link to book tickets can be found here.