GARDENING GROUP PROGRAMME

October 2011 TO August 2012

The Gardening Group meet in the Scout Hall at the corner of Jubilee Way & Sandy Lane, Caldicot.

Every 2nd Thursday Commencing
2.15pm to 3.30pm

 

 

Thursday 13th October 2011:                

Rob of Pheasant Acre Plants RHS Chelsea Gold Medal Winners 2010 and 2011
talking about Gladiolus and Tulips. 

Rob will give a video presentation and will have Bulbs for sale.

www.pheasantacreplants.co.uk

 

Thursday 10th November 2011:            

Ron, with photos of our gardening visits in 2011

 

Thursday 8th December 2011:            

No meeting, U3A Christmas lunch at Dewstow

 

Thursday 12th January 2012:                 

Return visit of Sheena Crossley

(of Bat Book fame) talking of her visit to Floriade.

 

Thursday 9th February 2012:                  

Julie Ritchie of Hoo House Nursery

Easy Alpines and Low Growing Perennials

 

Thursday 8th March 2012:                      

Bill Howe, market gardener from Tutshill

Growing flowers for cutting.

 

27th/29th April 2012              

Holiday to Harrogate Spring Flower Show and RHS Harlow Carr

£169.00 twin sharing £38.00 single sup

Arranged by Edwards Coach

Holidays Balance required by 9th February 2012

Harrogate Spring Flower Show: The North of England Horticultural Society was inaugurated in the Lord Mayor's Rooms, in Leeds on the 6th January 1911. The purpose of the Society was to organize horticulture in the North of England and to arrange first class shows where northern exhibits could be judged by standards suitable for the colder climates in the northern areas of the country. Today the Society is going strong, organising the now nationally reknown Harrogate Flower Shows and promoting horticulture in the north.

website link: www.flowershow.org.uk

 

	RHS Harlow Carr is a garden dominated by water, stone and woodland and is very much part of the surrounding Yorkshire landscape. We seek to push the boundaries of design and planting styles, creating displays that are beautiful but sometimes provocative. Careful gardening techniques, reflecting our respect for the environment, ensures that wildlife will flourish in the garden.

website link: www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Harlow-Carr

 

Thursday 24th May 2012:                       

Visit to The Savill Garden and Valley Gardens Coach departs Mill Lane 9.00am prompt

The Savill Garden is one of Britain’s greatest ornamental gardens. Neither a botanical garden, nor a kitchen garden attached to a great house, it is a garden for the garden’s sake, enjoyed by horticulturalists and enthusiasts alike. It never fails to charm visitors who come to explore its 35 acres of contemporary and classically designed gardens and exotic woodland.

Developed under the patronage of Kings and Queens, The Savill Garden was created in the 1930s by Sir Eric Savill. It began as a woodland garden, with native oak, beech and sweet chestnut trees, but has since evolved by incorporating many new plants over the years.

photo: The Rose Garden

The Savill Garden is a place of constant discovery, and of hidden, interlocking gardens, containing distinctive planting groups including areas such as Spring Wood, The Summer Wood, The Hidden Gardens, The Summer Gardens, The Glades, Autumn Wood, The Azalea Walks and The New Zealand Garden. The Savill Garden mixes native and exotic species and has bred many important garden hybrids. Each ‘garden within a garden’ has its own attractions, and the gardens are ever-changing with every season bringing new colour and interest to delight the visitor.

The striking new Rose Garden, designed by Andrew Wilson, is now open. 28 different cultivars have been brought together to provide a stunning display. Click here for details of the new Rose Garden

website link: www.theroyallandscape.co.uk

 

The Valley Gardens located on the northern shores of Virginia Water, with meandering pathways and plunging views, The Valley Gardens cover 250 acres of landscaped garden and woodland. This flowering forest, interspersed by grassy meadows and expansive plantings of exotic shrubs, has been continuously planted since the middle of the eighteenth century.

photo: A view across The Two Valleys at Sunset

Visitors can see native trees, such as sweet chestnut and Scots Pine flourish alongside flowering cherries, azaleas, magnolias, exotic oaks, sweet gums, tupelos, Asiatic rowans and countless maples.

There are a variety of trails and pathways marked to explore The Valley Gardens, with further interpretation materials now available at The Savill Building. It is a memorable day out for those wishing to discover new areas of The Great Park, and to enjoy some of the most spectacular garden views in the British Isles

website link: www.theroyallandscape.co.uk

 

Thursday 14th June 2012:                        

Visit to Waterperry Gardens Coach departs Mill Lane 9.00 am prompt

A day out at Waterperry Gardens near Oxford is guaranteed to delight and inspire garden-lovers from across the country and the world. Founded by Beatrix Havergal more than seventy years ago as a School of Horticulture for Ladies, the gardens at Waterperry have evolved into an oasis of calm and beauty in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside within easy driving distance of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire.

photo: The Mary Rose Garden

As well as meeting all your gardening needs as a garden centre, Waterperry Gardens also offers visitors the chance to savour a bygone age in the Country Life Museum and Saxon Church; events take place throughout the year, from garden-themed weekends to open air theatre; you'll find hundreds of beautiful, affordable gift ideas to suit all tastes and budgets in our Art Gallery and Long Barn, and no visit is complete without a sumptuous, home-baked lunch or tea at the Pear Tree Teashop, all freshly made from locally-sourced produce. We offer Gardening Courses, Arts & Craft Courses and if you can't make it here in person you can Buy Plants Online, Gift Vouchers and our own Apple Juice.

website link: www.waterperrygardens.co.uk

 

15th/20th July 2012:                

Holiday to Valkenburg visiting Floriade £329.00 twin sharing £45.00 single sup (B & B only)

Arranged by Edwards Coach Holidays

Holidays Balance required by 19th April 2012

* please click the photo below to see a photo slide show of our visit to Valkenburg
in December 2009

 

photo: Valkenburg Arch in Town Walls

 

Thursday 9th August 2012:                     

Visit to The Walled Gardens of Cannington and Saunders Garden World
Coach departs Mill Lane 9.00am prompt

Located in the village of Cannington, Somerset, the Walled Gardens lie within the grounds of a mediaeval priory and many of its fine buildings, including the walls of the garden, remain. Having undergone extensive redevelopment, the gardens were officially opened by HRH the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward in 2009 and have also been accredited as a ‘quality assured visitor attraction' by VisitEngland. The gardens are also a Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) recommended garden.

The gardens have classic and contemporary features such as; the 'hot' herbaceous border; the blue garden; a sub-tropical walk; and a Victorian style fernery, amongst others. There is also a botanical glasshouse where arid, sub-tropical and tropical plants can be seen and two smaller gardens within the walls (The Bishop's and Australasian Gardens) are areas of real tranquility.

website link: www.canningtonwalledgardens.co.uk