Saturday 10th February – 11.00am

Claire Greenslade – ‘Hestercombe: The Restoration of the Edwardian and Victorian Garden’

Claire is the Head Gardener at Hestercombe, which combines the landscape garden originally created in 1750 by Coplestone Warre Bampfylde with the early 20th century formal gardens designed by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll.  Claire will be talking about the challenges of restoring a heritage garden, including the difficulties in maintaining colour in a garden that was originally only designed for summer, as well as tracking down the original plants outlined in Jekyll’s design.

Some of you may have spotted Claire with Monty in his Paradise Gardens series recently.

http://www.hestercombe.com

Here are three more Snowdrop related information bursts:

Snowdrop Open Days – Higher Yarde Farm

Higher Yarde Farm, Staplegrove,  TA2 6SW (https://www.higheryardefarm.co.uk/about)

• Friday 2nd February and Saturday 3rd February with profits to  NSPCC
• Friday 9th February and Saturday 10th February with profits to Somerset Wildlife Trust.

Both from 10.30 to 3.30. Donation of £5 includes hot drinks and homemade cakes or biscuits. Raffle and stalls as well. 3 acre garden to walk round with masses of snowdrops.

Contact Anita or Tom on 01823 451553.

Snowdrop Sales – Snape Cottage Plants

Our member Angela also has a list of snowdrops for sale on her website here: http://www.snapecottagegarden.co.uk/snowdrops_for_sale.htm (look for the PDF at the bottom of the page.)

And Finally

The NGS snowdrop weekend is coming up, featuring our members Mike and Jenny Spiller at Elworthy Cottage, and also East Lambrook Manor with Mike & Gail Werkmeister. Check out the NGS events for the weekend on the NGS website here: https://www.ngs.org.uk/find-a-garden/snowdrop-gardens/

But Not Quite

Vivienne Wood would like to help to find a supplier for Melianthus major ‘Purple Haze’ – if anyone knows, reply to this email and I’ll pass it on.

 

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Two of our members have snowdrops for sale, East Lambrook Manor (Margery Fish Nursery) and Elworthy Cottage Plants.  Attached are their latest catalogues. For more information visit their websites:

• Elworthy Cottage
• East Lambrook Manor

Stock lists below.

2018 Elworthy Snowdrops

2018 ELM Snowdrops

Hello,

Jane Hunt has kindly sent in the Plant of the Month contributions for the past year, and would like to pass on the horticultural baton for 2018. Jane believes someone at the AGM already suggested they’d like to be the PotM chief so if that person was you, please let us know.

The role is quite simple, pick a plant, provide a good photo which will work when small and write a few words as background on your pick, then send it to Bill for loading onto the website. Repeat this process once a month and Bob is indeed your uncle.

For anyone unfamiliar with the Plant of the Month, this is displayed on the right hand side of the home page, and an archive of previous PotMs is saved here: https://somersethps.com/previous-plants-of-the-month/

From myself and the Committee – have a very good Christmas and see you all in 2018.

Bill.

Photos from the AGM below – click to enlarge.

If anyone has any Polystichum that are currently producing fernlets on their leaves could they let me/us know, as we might need some for a possible video project.

Thanks, Bill on behalf of Sally Gregson

On behalf of Ro Fitzgerald:

At the Plant Swap in August, I got a small pelargonium of the scented-leaf kind. It’s turned out possibly the nicest I’ve ever had, and at the (splendid) Helen Dillon event today I asked various possible people if it had been their offering. No luck though.

Who brought Pelargonium ‘Blandfordianum’ to the Plant Swap, and do they have any background information on it ? This form has nearly white flowers, and is outstandingly pretty.

Please reply via email or use the Contact form on the website.

This coming Saturday we have our AGM, after which Helen Dillon will give a presentation entitled ‘Moving Gardens?  Only the Best Come Too’. The AGM commences at 10:30am, with the lecture starting at 11:30am. Non-members should arrive around 11:15am, ready for the lecture.

Over the course of 44 years, Helen Dillon and her husband Val created an astonishing garden at 45 Sandford Crescent, Dublin.  Robin Lane-Fox of the Financial Times described it as ‘the best walled town garden one can hope to see’.  Having made the decision to downsize, the Dillons held their final garden opening at the end of September 2016 and say they are looking forward to the challenge of a new plot.  Don’t miss out on this world-renowned plantswoman’s visit to our Group – Helen is a mine of information and a lively speaker with years of experience.
http://www.dillongarden.com

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Hardy Plant Society, Helen’s lecture will be followed by a light buffet which is free for members and included in the £5 entry fee for guests.

Booking is required for the event, if you need a ticket please contact Janet Murley (janet.murley@btinternet.com 01884 820840) as soon as possible.

The AGM draws near, so here’s a quick reminder to all HPS Somerset Group members that you need to book seats for yourselves for Helen Dillon’s presentation following the AGM and also tickets for any guests you are inviting. This is for catering purposes (so we know how much to buy) and because there is limited room in the hall. So far there has been a great demand for tickets so please contact Janet Murley (janet.murley@btinternet.com 01884 820840) as soon as possible if you intend to come along.

Please note that non-members of the Somerset Group cannot attend the AGM portion of the meeting so are advised to come along to the hall at 11.15am when they will be able to book in and pay for their seat for the lecture from Helen Dillon which will commence at 11.30am.

In view of the limited space in the hall, the Committee has decided not to have the usual book and plant stalls on this occasion so we will not be able to accept any donations of plants and books at this meeting.

Our guest speaker on 18 November is Helen Dillon, whose talk will follow our AGM.  Details are set out in the programme already posted on the website, but this will be a special occasion open to visitors. There will be a finger buffer and drinks to follow her talk and give people a chance to chat with her afterwards.  Helen’s garden in Dublin has been a horticultural mecca for many years and she has recently moved and is creating a new one with her usual robust approach to its design and the best plants to put in it – “only the best come too!”

Prior booking will be important for this popular event so that we know how many people we will be catering for.  Booking should be made through Janet Murley in the usual way (janet.murley@btinternet.com 01884 820840) If you have already signed up (at our meeting last Saturday) to say that you are coming you need do nothing more apart from turning up!   If you have not yet told us you are coming, please contact Janet as indicated above. Visitors will be very welcome.   Janet will confirm by email wherever possible.   There is no need for visitors to pay in advance, but we will ask them to pay £5.00 when they arrive.  There is no charge for paid up members of Somerset Group.

Members and visitors who have dietary requirements should tell Janet at the time of booking.

Roy

Saturday 21st October – 11.00am 

Mary Benger – ‘The Development of Burrow Farm Gardens’

Mary Benger moved to Burrow Farm, near Axminster, almost 60 years ago and has since transformed the accompanying ten acres of fields into the stunning garden it is today.  Encompassing a variety of different garden styles, Mary’s creation is a feast for the eyes, both within the garden itself and in the views which surround it.  In this talk, Mary will be bringing the development of the gardens to life and guiding us around some of the highlights.

Plants for sale
http://www.burrowfarmgardens.co.uk