Dear Members

Anne Kaile and Jenny Hawksley, two members of the Hardy Plant Society, are currently researching Nurseries Past and Present for the Somerset Gardens Trust. They would be very grateful for any help you can give with information, catalogues or other publications regarding any Somerset Nursery. I know some of our members are owners of nurseries, or used to be. Any Nursery, however small, will be included.

The kind of information they require would be the date the nursery opened, the date it closed (where applicable), the type of plants grown, the location of the clientele (whether local, national or international), any famous clients etc.

Anne and Jenny can be contacted as below:

• Anne Kaile Email: annekaile0@gmail.com Telephone: 01460 240667
• Jenny Hawksley Email: su4039@eclipse.co.uk Telephone: 01460 259733

Anne and Jenny would like to thank those who have already responded and look forward to hearing from those who have not yet done so.

Thank you very much for your support for this worthwhile source of information for future generations.

Caroline

Happy Feet Garden Tours was established some eight years ago, as a ‘spin off’ from the garden club in Holford. We have visited many areas around the country over those years, from Sussex, Kent, the Midlands, Shropshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire and Norfolk, North Wales and more…!

A few photographs can be found on the following link: https://www.holfordvillage.com/happy%20feet%202019.htm

Our group is a self-financing, non-profit project, so in essence – ‘you get what you pay for!’

Please click here for a booking form and see below for the proposed itinerary for your perusal.

You will see from the itinerary that there is an optional guided tour of Hereford Cathedral Gardens, followed by an afternoon cream tea and a visit to the Cathedral and the Mappi Mundi / Chained Library. Those not wishing to participate have free time during the afternoon in Hereford.

We will be based in a hotel just outside Chepstow, with leisure facilities, on a four night bed, breakfast & evening meal basis. Guided tours, gratuities, travel, entry fees, lunch and light refreshments where applicable, plus my usual fee of £1 from each person, is included in the total price of the trip. We will as usual be travelling with Ridlers Coaches of Dulverton and there will be pick-up points along the A39 from Minehead to Bridgwater and at the M5 Sedgemoor Service Area (Northbound) and at the services at Eastern Gordano.

Currently we have a few twin bedded rooms and a couple of double bed rooms available.

Should you consider joining this trip, a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person is required as shown on the enclosed booking form, to be received by myself no later than Saturday 21st December 2019, the balance will be required March 2020 (date to be advised.) Nearer to our holiday departure, I will be forwarding details of the pick-up points/times and further information of the itinerary.

The prices quoted for this trip is for a minimum of thirty passengers, if we do not reach that number, there could be an increase, so do please pass on details of our trip to anyone you know who may like to join us, they are very welcome!

I hope I may hear from you soon, With my warmest wishes

Mo (Maureen) Plomgren

‘Happy Feet Garden Tours’
c/o Lady Charles House
Holford
Somerset TA5 1RZ
Tel: 01278 741152
Email: plomdove4145@googlemail.com

‘Proposed’ Itinerary : Herefordshire & South Wales, 21st – 25th June 2020

Sunday 21st Jun

• Leave Somerset for National Trust Dyffryn Gardens, near Cardiff
• Arrive Hotel late afternoon (St Pierre Marriott, Chepstow) porterage should be included!
• Dinner at 7.30pm each evening

Monday 22nd June

• Dewstow Gardens, Monmouthshire with tour (am)
• NGS Garden ‘The Cornhill’ Herefordshire with refreshments (pm)

Tuesday 23rd June

• Kentchurch Court Herefordshire (am)
• Afternoon: Free time in Hereford
  or
• Optional Tour of Hereford Cathedral Gardens, with a visit to Cathedral & Mappi Mundi/Chained Library. (Cream tea included)

Wednesday 24th June

• Aberglasney Gardens, Carmarthenshire with tour by Head Gardener.
• Travel back to hotel via Scenic Route & National Park Visitor Centre, Libanus, Brecon Beacons

Thursday 25th June

• Short visit to Taurus Crafts, Lydney (am)
• Wyndcliffe Court, Nr Chepstow for lunch and guided tour.
• Leave Wales for homeward journey.

Please note the following events that have been arranged as we will need bookings to be made soon after the January 2020 Newsletter goes out:

12th February 2020 – Winter Social & the Snowdrops of East Lambrook Manor Gardens

We will gather in the Rose & Crown pub opposite East Lambrook Manor Gardens for lunch – a snack or a slap up dinner (you choose!) and then head over to East Lambrook Manor Gardens at 2.00pm for an introductory talk and to see their growing snowdrop collection.

At the time of writing, the pub is closed, but I am assured that it is reopening in December so I will book some tables nearer the time when I have an idea of numbers and obtain a menu. You can then contact the pub to book the meal of your choice.

East Lambrook Manor Garden entrance and talk – £5.25pp

4th March 2020 – Coach trip to Kew Gardens (for Orchid Festival)

Immerse yourself in the tropics this winter by exploring the wonders of Indonesia through Kew’s iconic 25th annual orchid festival. Rainforests and volcanoes will be brought to life inside the Princess of Wales Conservatory through an exotic array of vibrant orchid displays. Over 5,000 species of orchids can be found in Indonesia, alongside the staggering wildlife found nowhere else on earth.

This year’s festival is a celebration of the cultural and natural diversity that is scattered across the country’s archipelago of 17,504 islands, and the scientific discovery being made by Kew’s intrepid scientists.

After visiting the orchids there will be plenty of time to enjoy the rest that Kew has to offer.

Combined coach and entry price is £36.00 for those aged 60 and over and £37.70 for everyone else. There will also be a pick up at Great Western Rd car park (free) in Clevedon.

To book please use the contact form or reply to this email.

Peter Cantrill – ‘Unusual Herbaceous Plants’
Peter runs the wholesale nursery Dayspring Plants near Exeter, which supplies plants to National Trust gardens, amongst others.  With a lifetime’s experience in the business, his horticultural knowledge is second to none, and the plants he brings to sell have been known to cause a rush to buy at the end of his lectures.

Plants for Sale

Hello,

If you know of specialist nurseries in the Somerset area that we could approach for inclusion in the 2020 booklet, please would you reply and let us know. We need to keep adding to the list and your help would be very welcome.

Thanks, Jenny Deubert