PAST EVENTS
CLUB MEETING
Saturday March 2nd, 2024
Rose Hardy, Cottage Garden Plants - 'From Back Garden to Gold, Her Chelsea Story' with plants for sale.
CLUB MEETING
Saturday February 17th, 2024
Timothy Walker - 'Spring in the Garden.'
CLUB MEETING
Saturday January 20th, 2024
Stephen Anderton - 'Discovering Welsh Gardens.'
CLUB MEETING
Saturday, November 4th, 2023
Richard Miers - 'The Long Road to Chelsea.'
CLUB MEETING
Saturday, October 7th, 2023
Andy McIndoe gave a lively talk with illustrations on beautiful bulbs for pots, naturalizing and to add color to beds and borders.
TRIP
June 20 - 23, 2023
Three day trip staying in Buxton, Derbyshire, including a full day at Chatsworth.
GARDEN VISIT
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Hyde Hall, the RHS property in rural Essex with herbaceous borders and the iconic dry garden.
GARDEN VISIT
Tuesday April 18, 2023
Hever Castle - the childhood home of Anne Boleyn with 125 acres of glorious grounds.
GUIDED SPRING TREE WALK IN KEW
Saturday April 29, 2023, 11:00
With Pat Smallcombe
CLUB MEETING
Saturday March 25, 2023, 2:30
Derry Watkins of Special Plants Nursery - " Unusual and long blooming flowers" with plants and seeds for sale afterward.
CLUB MEETING
Saturday February 25, 2023, 2:30
Roy Barker - 'Autumn Snowdrops - views from the Peloponnese.'
St George's Church.
GARDENER'S QUESTION TIME
Saturday March 11, 2023, 2:30 - 4:30
West London Bowling Club, 112a Highlever Road, W10 6PL
Jim Buttress and Harvey Groffman answered all your garden questions.
ZOOM LECTURE
Wednesday January 18, 2023, 6:00pm
Nancy Stevens - 'Shrubs are boring....really? Are you sure?'
HOLIDAY LUNCH
Saturday December 10, 2022
A festive time was had by all!
CLUB MEETING
Saturday November 12, 2022
Neil Miller, Head Gardener at Hever Castle entertained us with tales of Hever Castle.
ZOOM LECTURE - Pollination
Timothy Walker, botanist and gardener, entertained us with his informative lecture on pollination in the garden.
LONDON VISIT
Wednesday June 1, 2022, 10:30
Holland Park - We met up to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. The group enjoyed coffee followed by a guided walk at 11:30.
GARDEN VISIT
Tuesday June 21, 2022, 10:00
RHS Wisley Gardens - the Flagship of the RHS, not to be missed.
GARDEN VISIT
Wednesday May 11, 2022, 9:00
Exbury Garden, Hampshire - The 200-acre site world famous for the Rothschild collection of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias.
GARDEN VISIT
Thursday April 7, 2022, 10.00
Myddleton Gardens is home to a host of rare and unusual plants and lost London treasures, and Capel Manor features 30 acres of gardens to explore.
ZOOM LECTURE
Tuesday April 5, 2022, 2:30
Nancy Stevens spoke about Elizabeth Blackwell who illustrated 'The Curious Herbal' in 1735 based on her time at the Chelsea Physic Garden.
CLUB MEETING
Saturday March 19, 2022, 2:30
Jacqueline Aviolet discussed the history and propagation of hardy geraniums followed by a plant sale including roses and geraniums.
ZOOM LECTURE
Wednesday February 16, 2022, 4:00
Andy McIndoe - Designing and Planting a Small Garden.
ZOOM LECTURE
Monday January 10, 2022, 2:30
Timothy Walker - An illustrated lecture on 'Scent in the Garden.'
IN PERSON EVENT - Saturday 4th December
Many members joined us for the Competition prize-giving combined with a pre-Christmas lunch.
A good time was had by all!
IN PERSON LECTURE - Saturday 6th November
The speaker Sam Hunt, a planting designer whose company, Modica Gardens, is based in Gloucestershire presented a talk on “Seeded perennial meadows: a new way of gardening”.
GARDEN VISIT - Tuesday October 5th, 2021
Many members joined us on a coach trip to visit the flagship garden of the RHS.
IN PERSON LECTURE - Thursday September 2nd
St George’s Church, Campden Hill, W8
Andrew Babicz, keen plantsman with over 50 years of horticultural experience, presented our first in person lecture in quite some time. The topic was 'Seasonal Container Gardening.'
GARDEN VISIT - July 28
Parham House and Gardens in West Sussex – a superb Elizabethan family house with award-winning gardens.
ONLINE LECTURE - Tuesday June 22nd at 2:30 Via Zoom.
Nancy Stevens presented 'Scottish Gardens' - From 17th century Renaissance parterres to a garden of cosmic speculation. From General Eisenhower's 'holiday home' to the garden where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes acquired his extensive knowledge of poisonous plants. We viewed an artist's garden, an author’s garden, saw where Clive met Louise & Henrietta, and learned what the size of your walled garden says about your social status.
ONLINE LECTURE - Friday May 28th, 2:30pm via Zoom. Dr Ian Bedford talked about 'Companion Planting for a Balanced Garden.' This renowned entomologist entertained us with his enthusiasm and advice.
ONLINE LECTURE - Friday April 9, 2:30pm via Zoom.
Dr David Marsh, garden historian, presented 'The Opposite of Chelsea: The Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire'. Like Chelsea, Chaumont hosts designed gardens every year, but on a shoestring budget, encouraging recycling and emphasizing the meaning behind the garden. The results are memorable and often humorous.
ONLINE LECTURE - Tuesday March 9, 2:30pm via Zoom.
"A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever" - Japanese Gardens. Join Nancy Stevens as she takes us on a journey through Japan and their beautiful gardens. This lecture will cover the importance of gardens to the Japanese, how they use them, the different types, and the techniques employed within them. It will answer the burning questions you have always wanted answered, such as why the Japanese gardeners of the 15th century were 'untouchables', what the wandering stream banquet is and what the connection with sake is, why Japanese bridges are so high and arched and which temple was burned down in 1950 by a mad monk - and much more.
ONLINE LECTURE - Thursday February 11, 2:30pm via Zoom.
Timothy Walker, botanist and gardener presented the world premiere of 'SPRING INTO GARDENING AGAIN' – what to do and grow in the garden for a great spring display. Gardeners know that spring has arrived when there is too much to do in the time available. This talk looked at what needs to be done and when. Timothy also suggested some plants to grow for March to May. It is based on his new small (100m2) garden where he has been gardening since 2014. Click HERE for his plant list.
ONLINE LECTURE - Tuesday January 19th, 2:30pm via Zoom. Dr Ian Bedford presented Garden Bugs: Cohabit, Control or Conserve? What are the good and bad garden bugs we often find in our gardens and what should we do with them? This renowned entomologist entertained us with his enthusiasm and advice.
ONLINE LECTURE - Wednesday December 9th, 2:30 pm via Zoom. CITY GARDENS TOUR with Katie Wignall. There are over 300 green spaces within the small area of the City of London. Granted, some of these are tiny, but on this virtual tour we walked around hidden corners to discover the unexpected bursts of colour and space in the oldest part of London. Each oasis, however small in size, is packed with history and we uncovered their secrets! Katie is a Blue Badge Tourist Guide and founder of Look Up London. She specialises in sharing London's hidden gems. With a mix of video, google street view and images her virtual tour gives you immersive walks from the comfort of home. Details of the gardens she discussed and her google map can be found HERE.
ONLINE LECTURE - Tuesday October 13th, 2:30 pm via Zoom. Timothy Walker, botanist and gardener presented his ideas on 'How to be a 21st Century Gardener.'
ONLINE LECTURE - Tuesday August 11th, 2:30 pm via Zoom with Sandra Pullen, specialist in gardens, architecture and decorative arts of the 18th century. Horace Walpole was a keen amateur gardener whose own garden very much reflected the emerging trends of naturalism, and later romanticism in English 18th century garden design. During the 50 years Walpole owned Strawberry Hill he commissioned several well-known artists to record his house and garden. This talk used these 18th century watercolours to chart the history and development of the gardens and illustrate how in 2010 they helped inform the restoration.
ONLINE LECTURE - During lockdown we held our first online lecture via Zoom on June 9th with Timothy Walker, lecturer, botanist and gardener. We were delighted with members’ responses to our first Zoom lecture by Timothy Walker on American Gardens. Notes on the lecture and links to some of the gardens and plants he highlighted can be found HERE. In case you missed the talk or would like to re-visit some of the gardens he mentioned, you can browse through them, albeit without Timothy’s expertise and wit.
ONLINE LECTURE - Stephen Anderton, garden writer for The Times spoke via Zoom about his own garden in the Black Mountains in Wales on July 14th.