Lower Severalls Plant Fair – 7th July

On By Bill HodgsonLeave a comment

Our next plant fair is coming up in July – Sally Gregson needs volunteers to help at the fair – please get in touch and Sally will organise a rota with you.

Nurseries attending will include:

  • Mill Cottage Plants
  • Hardy Way Plants
  • In Clover
  • MAJ Allison Plants
  • Blooming Hill Plants
  • Shady Plants
  • Pickett Lane Nursery
  • Fox Plants
  • Phoenix Plants
  • Elworthy Plants
  • Barracott Plants
  • CB Plants

In addition we have two non-plant tables:

  • Andrew Tolman (Arthur & Strange)
  • Somerset Wild life Trust.

Sunday 7th July

HPS Somerset Summer Plant Fair

Lower Severalls Garden, Crewkerne, TA18 7NX

10am – 4pm

Admission: £3.50 for all HPS members  (£4 for non-members)

The garden at Lower Severalls is set in front of a beautiful hamstone 17th century farmhouse, with a formal front garden and borders full of colourful herbaceous perennials and herbs.  It has been owned by the Pring family for 90 years and has featured in Gardens Illustrated.

The stalls at the Summer Plant Fair will be arranged outside the grounds this year, leaving the garden unencumbered for everyone to enjoy.   Mary, who now runs a B&B in the farmhouse, will be providing us with her homemade cakes, tea, coffee and elderflower cordial.

The garden is home to CB Plants, a traditional nursery run by Catherine Bond, specialising in unusual hardy perennials, wild flowers and cottage garden favourites.  All the plants are grown in peat-free compost and many are of benefit to wildlife, being nectar-rich and great for attracting pollinating insects.

This promises to be a great day out, so come and pick up a treasure or two.  

Piet Oudolf Five Seasons Film via Hestercombe

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FIVE SEASONS

The Gardens of Piet Oudolf “For me, garden design isn’t just about plants, it is about emotion, atmosphere, a sense of contemplation. You try to move people with what you do. You look at this, and it goes deeper than what you see. It reminds you of something in the genes — nature, or the longing for nature.”

– Piet Oudolf

After completing a feature documentary on New York’s High Line, award-winning filmmaker Thomas Piper met the inspirational designer and plantsman, Piet Oudolf, and the idea for a new project was born. The documentary, FIVE SEASONS: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, immerses viewers in Oudolf’s work and takes us inside his creative process, from his beautifully abstract sketches, to theories on beauty, to the ecological implications of his ideas.

Intimate discussions take place through all fours seasons in Piet’s own gardens at Hummelo, and on visits to his signature public works in New York, Chicago, and the Netherlands, as well as to the far-flung locations that inspire his genius, including desert wildflowers in West Texas and post-industrial forests in Pennsylvania.

As a narrative thread, the film also follows Oudolf as he designs and installs a major new garden at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, a gallery and arts center in Southwest England, a garden he considers his best work yet.

Piet Oudolf has radically redefined what gardens can be. As Rick Darke, the famous botanist, says to Piet in the film, “your work teaches us to see what what we have been unable to see.” Through poetic cinematography and unique access, FIVE SEASONS will reveal all that Piet sees, and celebrate all that we as viewers have been unable to see.

There will be a short talk from Hestercombe’s Head Gardener Claire Greenslade and refreshments will be available.

Lost Property From the Coach Trip

On By Bill HodgsonLeave a comment

Despite the driver’s very clear request, I found a man’s jacket left on the rack.  It was about one third of the way from the front of the coach on the near side.  It is a light weight jacket cream(ish) in colour, size 42 chest and probably belongs to one of our elder men since the label is Canda i.e C&A so it is probably all of 30 years old!

Unfortunately it contained no wallet with loads of money in it.

Send us an email to reclaim your jacket!

Best wishes, Roy

Sudely Castle Coach Trip Reminder

On By Bill HodgsonLeave a comment

Our coach trip in June is approaching. If you would like to go there are plenty of places available on the coach, so just contact me the usual email address, please.

Janet Murley

Thursday 20th June

Coach Trip to Sudeley Castle and Gardens.

Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Katherine Parr, is buried at Sudeley, and the garden reflects the castle’s Tudor heritage.  Of nine individual garden areas, the centrepiece is The Queen’s Garden, famous for its abundant roses which are at their peak in June. There is a Knot Garden, designed according to a pattern on a dress worn by Elizabeth I, and also a Rare Breeds Pheasantry, conserving a variety of beautiful and gloriously-coloured birds. The Tudor Physic Garden originally provided the household with culinary and medicinal plants.

There is a restaurant and a cafe on site.

https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/gardens-exhibitions/

Website appearance

On By Bill HodgsonLeave a comment

Hello,

I discovered that the styling for our website (which uses a pre-made theme) had reached the end of it’s life according to WordPress. As a result this removed one feature regarding placing images into news items which we can’t do without.

As a result the site has undergone a small makeover and changed appearance.  This has also caused the image of Somerset to mismatch with the new home page.

If any member has a suitable wide and narrow image of something in Somerset we could use to make a new home page header, please send it over.

Hopefully the change of appearance won’t cause too may sleepless nights.

Best wishes, Bill.

Abigail Willis ~ The Remarkable Case of Dr. Ward and other Amazing Garden Innovations

On By Bill HodgsonLeave a comment

Secateurs and seed banks, ha-has and herbaceous borders, greenhouses and lawnmowers – these are the some of the inventions and ideas we take for granted now, but which were once radical new ideas. “The Remarkable Case of Dr Ward and Other Amazing Gardening Innovations” looks at the way we garden today through the prism of 50 innovations.

Abigail Willis is an arts and gardening writer whose previous book “The London Garden Book A-Z” has twice been shortlisted for the Garden Media Guild’s Inspirational Book of the Year award. She lives and gardens in Somerset.

“A rollicking potted history of horticulture from the Roman Empire to the inspired innovators of the 19th century.” Amateur Gardening

Abigail is appearing on May 30th at 14:00 at Ilminster Literary Festival, more details here.

Further Sylvagrow News

On By Bill HodgsonLeave a comment

Sylvagrow compost is also available at Cove Nursery (between Tiverton and Bampton) full details on our HPS nurseries list.

Regards, Kate Harris

Brimsmore Gardens in Yeovil stock Sylvagrow multipurpose and will deliver free within 25 miles, no minimum order and payment taken over the phone if you don’t want to visit the garden centre in person.

Steve Fry

Peat Free Compost

On By Bill Hodgson1 Comment

Being a determinedly peat-free gardener, I have been very keen to find a source for Melcourt’s ‘Sylvagrow’ composts in Somerset. They are acknowledged to be much the best in this category, in particular the ‘Sylvagrow with added John Innes’ (which handles just beautifully as well as being an excellent growing medium), but it’s hard to find a retailer locally as most places only sell the cheaper brands such as Westland. I’ve been thrilled to find that Sanders (the big garden centre at Brent Knoll) is stocking the range, and they have plenty. I hope some of you will try it – this firm really is leading the field to produce positively excellent peat alternatives, and I believe they deserve our support.

Ro Fitzgerald