The Garden at Bedrock Barn, Brompton Ralph TA4 2RT is open on Sunday 18th May from 2.00 to 5.00 in aid of St Margaret’s Hospice.
A 2 acre garden of trees, shrubs and herbaceous borders with 3 ponds and a lovely wildflower meadow. Plants for sale.
OPEN GARDEN
Ann and Graham Salmon will be opening their garden, Springdale in Smeatharpe EX14 9RF on the afternoons of the 17th and 18th of May in aid of Hospiscare from 2-5pm. Tea and coffee will be available and parking is at the Village Hall or an adjacent field.
A 2 acre damp acid garden planted with mature shrubs, trees and perennials. There are 4 main greenhouses with a mixture of bulbs and more tender plants including cacti and succulents. There is also a small lake with water lilies and a collection of auriculas alongside the barn, whilst areas of lawn are allowed to grow uncut to encourage wildlife.
May Update – looking forward to June
Our spring lecture programme has now come to a close and we are well and truly into the season of plant fairs and garden visits. Our April Plant Sale at West Monkton Village Hall once again proved to be very popular and made a total of £428.10 for group funds. I have already written to thank all of our wonderful volunteers for their help on the day but would like to record this again, more publicly. We cannot run these fundraising events without help from members. Please think about volunteering when the call goes out.
Members enjoyed a drive into Devon to visit the gardens of Regency House, Hemyock and Kia-Ora, Cullompton on 7 May. With perfect weather we all enjoyed a guided tour of the former, including a wonderful walled garden full of shrubs and herbaceous perennials, a lake and various interesting shrubs and trees in the wider garden, plus a superb wisteria growing on the rear wall of the house. This was followed by a stroll around the ten acres of Kia-Ora which featured several ponds, large and small, and some interesting mature shrubs and trees including a fine cercis. We also enjoyed meeting the owner’s friendly peacock but less so her not so friendly black swan!
We already have a virtually full rota of helpers on our plant stall at our next Plant Fair at Batcombe House near Shepton Mallet on 14 June which is great news, but if you would like to help on the gate for an hour or two please let me know. The gardens at Batcombe House should be looking superb at the time of the Fair and our volunteers get free entry to see them. We will also need lots of plant donations to sell on our plant stall so please think about potting up a few plants now. The Fair runs from 12 noon until 5.00pm and entry for anyone not volunteering to help is £8.00 (proceeds to NGS). Please would you print off one or two of the attached flyers or posters and display them locally.
A4 Version:
A5 version:
On Wednesday 25 June we have a coach trip to Veddw House, Devauden and Mounton House, near Chepstow. Places are limited to 30 and we have already reached that many bookings. However, we already have one cancellation and it is always possible that there may be others, so please get in touch with Penny (whose contact details are on the “Programme” page of our website www.somersethps.com ) if you are interested in going. “Reserves” will be contacted in order of application. It promises to be an excellent visit to two gardens that are not regularly open to the public. More details can be found on the website.
For our final June event, we have our annual member social event, the Plant Swap, on Sunday 29 June starting at 2.00pm. This popular members’ only event takes places this year in Street and our host will be Kay Savage. The format of the event is arrive, view the garden, have refreshments and cake and then swap plants with fellow members. There is a small charge of £5 for this event, but if you offer to bring a cake along this may be in lieu of payment. We shall only need four cakes as numbers will be limited to a maximum of 24 so please contact Penny to book your place (and cake!) as soon as possible. So that a variety of cakes is available, please state what type of cake you wish to offer. The booking fee may be paid on the day or by bank transfer in advance. As well as some plants to swap, you will need to bring a chair. More details regarding the venue will be provided on booking.
Finally, a reminder to book your places on our two other garden visits for 2025, the self drive to Honeyhurst Farm and Babbs Farm on Thursday 17 July and our final coach trip of the year to Knoll Gardens, Wimbourne and Compton Acres near Poole on Tuesday 9 September.
Reminder: Somerset Group Plant Sale
Saturday 26th April
HPS Somerset Group Plant Sale
West Monkton Village Hall, 10.00am – 12.30pm
Admission £1
Somerset HPS members and professional nursery sellers are welcome to sell at our popular plant sale. The hall will be filled with tables decked with tempting plants, so come along and enjoy a morning of selling, or buying, amid like-minded gardeners.
Self-Drive Trip Price Drop
Two bits of good news:
- The self drive to Regency House in Hemyock is now £20 instead of £25
- The trips are open to anyone, members or otherwise
All coach trips and garden visits must be pre-booked with Penny Berry via email: p.berry487@btinternet.com or phone: 01278 662720. The revised booking form for trips is available here. Details of each trip are shown on the Programme page. Location maps or directions will be supplied following booking a place on an event.
Self Drive Trip Booking Deadline
On Wednesday the 7th of May we have the first of the season’s garden visits to Regency House, Hemyock and Kia Ora, Cullompton. This is a perfect time of year to visit both gardens, and below are details for the gardens. These trips are for Members, with the annual membership fee being an affordable £5, non-members could join the group in advance, and attend the trips.
The deadline for booking is Sunday 20th of April.
All coach trips and garden visits must be pre-booked with Penny Berry via email: p.berry487@btinternet.com or phone: 01278 662720. The booking form for trips is available here. Details of each trip are shown below. Location maps or directions will be supplied following booking a place on an event.
Wednesday 7th May
Self-drive visit to Regency House, Hemyock and Kia Ora, Cullompton.
Regency House
We will meet at 11:00 at Regency House owned by Jenny Parsons, who recommends we allow 2 hours for our visit. The garden is 5 acres, with many interesting and unusual trees and shrubs, together with a walled garden with both fruit and vegetables.
Regency House has a lake with ponds and lots of bog planting. Jenny has confirmed tea/coffee and a cake will be available at the end of our visit.
Kia-Ora Farm & Gardens
Our afternoon visit at 14:00 will be Kia-Ora Farm & Gardens owned by Mary Disney. The garden is a charming, peaceful 10 acre garden with lawns, lakes and ponds. The garden will be particularly interesting in May with rhododendrons, azaleas, herbaceous borders and rockeries in bloom.
At the end of our visit Mary will be offering a wide selection of cakes & tea at the end of our visit.
Many thanks for your support, Katie.
Group Plant Sale Flyer – 2025
Should you feel inclined to support our group plant sale, this attractive flyer is yours to keep, print and display wherever you think plants-people will see it. This sale is a key part of fund raising for our group, so all support is welcome.
Many thanks, Jane
Meeting Reminder: Sat 12th, ‘Irises for the Natural Garden’
Saturday 12th April
Alun and Jill Whitehead- ‘Irises for the Natural Garden’
Jill & Alun hail from Aulden Farm, near Leominster in Herefordshire. In 2007, they heard about an old collection of Siberian iris which had fallen into neglect, so they acquired the remaining plants and re-established them – with many additions – as a new National Collection. They now grow approximately 150 cultivars, many of which will feature in this talk. Siberian irises lend themselves to naturalistic planting schemes, with their grassy foliage and numerous, relatively small flowers. They are also very adaptable, happy in wetter conditions and normal soils alike.
Meetings and lectures are held at West Monkton Village Hall unless otherwise specified. All meetings at West Monkton Village Hall are free to members (except for the Group Plant Sale in April), and there is a modest charge of £5 for non-members (when space is available). The Group has a plant stall and a book stall at most of the lectures listed, and holds a Flower & Pot Plant of the Month competition.
Meeting Reminder: Rob Schmidt, Greencombe Gardens
Our next meeting of the 2025 season is coming up on Saturday 15th of March (arrive at 10:30 for 11am).
Rob Schmidt ‘Greencombe Gardens’
Greencombe Gardens, near Porlock, is a spectacular sight in the spring. The garden extends along a hillside below tree-covered slopes, offering outstanding views over ancient fields to Porlock Bay and the sea beyond. The sheltered site provides a microclimate in which plants thrive, growing taller than they would in a more open site.
Created by the redoubtable Joan Loraine, Greencombe boasts a collection of exceptional plants, grown using organic methods that she termed “intrinsic gardening”. Highlights include the National Collection of Erythroniums, which form carpets of dainty elfin hats during April, and the rich colours of rhododendrons and azaleas.
The garden also holds National Collections of Gaultheria, Polystichum and Vaccinium. Mature pieris and camellias tower overhead, and the garden boasts a champion English Holly tree, one of the largest and oldest in the British Isles.
Rob will be talking about how his aunt, Joan Loraine, created the garden as it is today. She had very definite ideas about how Greencombe should be laid out and managed, which Rob and his partner, Kim-Norah, have continued to follow since her death in 2016. Plus, of course, there will be plenty of sumptuous photos of the garden in its full glory!
Meetings and lectures are held at West Monkton Village Hall unless otherwise specified. All meetings at West Monkton Village Hall are free to members (except for the Group Plant Sale in April), and there is a modest charge of £5 for non-members (when space is available).
The Group has a plant stall and a book stall at most of the lectures listed, and holds a Flower & Pot Plant of the Month competition.
The Hardy Plant Society Somerset Group 