Hertfordshire
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2024 - 2025 Programme
Indoor meetings are held on first Saturday of the month from October-April starting at 2pm and are held at the
Wheathampstead Memorial Hall
Marford Road, Wheathampstead. AL4 8AY
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Visitors are welcome and are asked to contribute £5 per visit
October 5th
Timothy Walker
'Blaze of Glory' - making your garden colourful in the autumn
Entertaining and ever popular lecturer in plant sciences for various colleges in the south east, Timothy is a botanist and author having worked for many years at the University of Oxford Botanical Garden.
This talk covers all things Autumn and how to have colour in your garden flower, foliage and fruit right through until the end of November
November 2nd
AGM
Jon Mason
'Creating a Biodiverse Garden - the story of Little Orchard
Naturalist and geographer Jon Mason will be talking to us about the creation of his own garden with an emphasis on attracting and accommodating wildlife.
You can follow Jon's wildlife adventures and excellent photography on Instagram @theearlybirder
December 7th
Graham Spencer - Plants for Europe
'I've Got a New Plant; What do I do Now!'
Graham is an independent agent at Plants for Europe, where he helps breeders/growers of new varieties throughout Europe.
Have you ever wondered how new plant varieties are created? What goes into developing and breeding a new plant? And what do you do if you discover or create something new in your own garden?
This talk looks in depth at the new plant development process, including an introduction to Plant Variety Rights and the commercial aspects of new variety development, as well as a discussion of the qualities required to make a new plant a success. It also looks at the role of the breeders’ agent and will either give you an insight into the origin of new plants – or perhaps even inspire you to try a little plant breeding of your own!
January 4th​
Helen Picton
'Why wait for Spring? - Winter in the garden'​
Helen trained as a botanist at Reading and has been working full time in the family business, Old Court Nurseries, since finishing University. She is the third generation of Pictons to be working with the Michaelmas Daisies at Old Court Nurseries, where the Plant Heritage Collection of Autumn Flowering Asters is held.
She and partner, Ross have created a magical winter garden at Old Court so she is very well placed to inspire us to do the same!
Plants for sale
February 1st
Razvan Chisu
'Confessions of a Plantaholic'​​
Razvan grew up in Transylvania surrounded by woodlands and species-rich meadows. Now based in the UK, he is working as the Social Media Manager for the Alpine Garden Society and writes for various gardening magazines. . He has worked in garden design and regularly leads garden tours abroad
In this talk, Rasvan will not only make light fun of himself and the things he does for plants, he will also talk about some of his favourites and must haves.
March 1st
Rachael Castle
'Shining A Light On Bulbs'​​
Rachael and her husband Martin run Swallowfield Nursery near Ashford in Kent and specialise in a lovely range of perennials, particularly Salvias and Auricula. They have exhibited at Chelsea Flower Show along with other small nurseries as part of the Plant Fair Road Show in 2023 & 2024
They will be bringing plants for sale
April 5th
Geoff Hodge
'Bugs & Garden Plagues'​​
Geoff is a freelance gardening and horticultural writer, journalist, author, editor and radio and TV broadcaster living in the UK.
After 2024 being 'the year of the slug', Geoff will be talking all things pest and disease and their control.
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Thursday April 24th Coach Trip to Pashley Manor Tulip Festival and Great Dixter
We have two wonderful gardens to visit for our Spring coach trip. Our first stop is Pashley Manor in East Sussex for the annual Tulip Festival. Bloms Bulbs have planted over 50,000 tulips for this year’s spectacular display throughout the gardens. It’s a wonderful garden to explore, particularly in the springtime. You can purchase lunch and drinks there, or take a picnic.
After lunch, there’s a short drive to Great Dixter where we will spend the afternoon. We so enjoyed Fergus Garrett’s talk and this is an opportunity to see his work at the famous gardens. There is a shop, plant nursery and tea-room at Great Dixter.
The coach will leave Wheathampstead at 9.00 am, returning about 7.00 pm depending on traffic.
Costs: £57.00 for HHPS members. £60.00 for non-members.
To book, please complete the attached booking form and return to Julie asap. Jloughlin11@gmail.com Payment is by bank transfer or cheques.
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Sunday 20th July Bledlow Manor Rare Plant Fair, nr Aylesbury own cars
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Sunday 31st August Gardeners World Autumn Fair in own cars