Roche Court Garden Visit

 

12 June

Visit to Roche Court Sculpture Park, Gallery and Gardens.

Roche Court, East Winterslow, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP5 1BG

A sculpture park set in glorious gardens and surrounded by beautiful Wiltshire countryside. The 18century house was built for Lord Nelson and is the home of Lady Madeleine Bessborough, the grand dame of British sculpture. Roche Court is the culmination of 60 years work. It is a beautiful setting for the sumptuous gardens and our visit is timed to take full advantage of her passion for English roses amongst other plants shrubs and majestic trees. 

We will meet outside the front entrance at 11am and have an introductory tour and later, light refreshments. There are many sculptures set in the grounds and galleries to wander around.

The cost per person is £15. If you would like to come please contact Vicky via email: vicky.coral@hotmail.co.uk, telephone 01425 472034 or fill in the form that will be available at the next two meetings. If you need a lift please also let Vicky know so this can be arranged.

Vegetable growing

 

The Gilbert's Dahlia Year

 It is back to evening meetings for March.

Nick Gilbert will bring Dahlias for sale on the evening and there will be our seed swap when you can bring along surplus seeds or, for a few pennies pick up something different to try in your garden.

March 28th  7:30 pm  - 2024 at Ibsley Village Hall BH24 3NL

Note: This is an evening meeting     What three words: ///driveway.parsnips.decompose

The Harmonious Garden

Patricia Elkington is highly respected within the National Garden Scheme and has in the past been the County organiser - although now ‘retired’ Patricia still opens her ‘Little Court’ garden for the NGS.

‘Little Court’ first opened for the National Garden Scheme in 1984 and over the years Patricia has refined the planting into what is now one the the most popular gardens in the Hants NGS.

As for the overall look of the garden Patricia says, “There was a temptation to try and grow some of everything, but then I found I shouldn’t, a more tranquil effect is given with repetition of key plants.” 

For our Garden Club Patricia will talk about how colour can be misused and how less really can be more.

‘The Harmonious Garden’ - the use and misuse of colour in gardens

February 28th  2:00 pm  - 2024 at Ibsley Village Hall BH24 3NL

Note: This is an afternoon meeting

The Wild Bunch

 

 Our Christmas talk and Social evening is on 7th December 2023. Janette Merilion will entertain us with a talk on Christmas Crackers (not the kind you pull). There will be chat, nibbles and festive refreshments. Do come along and be part of the anticipation of an exciting year of gardening for you and the club.

My Greenhouse Year

 

October Newsletter

Please take a few minutes to read this important message from your Committee.

It is the time of year when we are putting our gardens to bed for the winter and it is also approaching the time of year when your Committee has to account for what they have been doing over the past twelve months at the annual AGM in November.

This month we have a very important message to all members regarding the future of your Club. The Club can not function without an elected Committee in place and as several members are standing down at the AGM we need people to fill these roles – Treasurer, Membership Secretary, and Speaker Secretary. The future of IDHS is in jeopardy and we desperately need your help to make sure that the Club can continue. If you value what the Club brings both socially and horticulturally then consider whether you can spare a few hours a month to help. Please come forward and contact any Committee member or you may know someone who may be interested that could be contacted.  It would be sad to see the end of such a successful club that has prospered for so many years and that so many people have enjoyed being part of. We must emphasis what a serious position we will be in if there is no response.

 The future of the Club is in your hands…

At the next meeting on Thursday 26^thOctober we have Tim Woodland coming to speak to us about Planting Bulbs in the Autumn. This will be very timely and Tim will have bulbs for you to buy as an extra temptation. We look forward to seeing you then.  If you have been busy dividing plants in your gardens then please consider putting some by for the annual plant sale next spring.   

Your Committee

Autumn bulbs

Please note a change to the programme. Our speaker for 26th October is Tim Woodland. This is the talk that would have been for September but Tim was unable to attend.

The soil is warm, moist and ready to nurture Autumn planted bulbs... come along and find out how to get the best from them.

Furzey Gardens

 IMPORTANT MESSAGE

regarding Furzey Garden Visit tomorrow

Due to the lack of numbers wishing to attend we have sadly had to cancel our outing to Furzey Gardens .

Anyone who has paid in advance will be refunded as soon as possible.

Cherry Tree Nursery talk 28th September

------> NOTE Change of speaker for Thursday 28th Sept. 2023 <------

Sadly Tim Woodland is unable to do the talk but Maria has kindly stepped with an interesting talk about Cherry Tree and Chestnut Nurseries.

Maria Tidy, Community Liaison Officer at The Sheltered Work Opportunities Project will be joining us on 28th September to tell us how the charity works to support people with mental health issues through the use of therapeutic horticulture. The Charity runs out of two plant nurseries, Cherry Tree Nursery in Northbourne and Chestnut Nursery in Poole and they support over 200 people each year helping them to learn new skills for life and gain confidence. Maria will also be bringing along some of the plants produced by the Volunteers (service users) for you to purchase.

 

Knoll Gardens

IMPORTANT MESSAGE

 We are very sorry but the organised trip to Knoll Gardens which was due to take place 5^th September 2023, has unfortunately had to be cancelled due to lack of bookings. 

We look forward to seeing our members at the Show on Saturday.

 Your Committee

Plants for Free

 

Social - 27th July

 

July Newsletter

 Ibsley & District Horticultural Society

Many of you will be very busy in your gardens, tending your precious plants and vegetables and trying to keep on top of the weeding and watering but we hope that you will allow yourselves an evenings rest and find time to come to the club meeting and Summer Social which is next Thursday, July 27th.

All we ask is for everyone to bring along a plate of nibbles which can be shared around and we will provide the drinks. Mike Webber will be on hand to entertain us with a garden quiz and there will be the usual monthly members competition so that you can bring a pot plant, a single bloom, a vase of flowers and a fruit or vegetable and see if you can get some points which are added up at the end of the year. It is really pleasing to see that there are more participants every month so do join in.

On Tuesday 5^th September we have another special garden visit planned for you. A guided tour around Knoll Gardens at Wimborne will be unmissable as you will be able to see spectacular ornamental grasses, shrubs, rare trees and perennials all of which have been established over the past 25 years by the present owner.

Four days later on September 9^th will be our main event of the year – the Annual Show. We still need volunteers to help Di Barnaby and her team and if you can’t help out on the day maybe you could donate some plants, bric a brac or unwanted garden sundries to sell at the Show on the Club’s behalf. We are also calling on all cake makers to bake for us so that visitors can enjoy a good selection on the day.

As previously requested in last month’s newsletter, if you are in possession of any cups that you won at the 2022 show then please can you return them as soon as possible – either at the next club meeting or to any of your Committee members who are listed on the back of your membership cards. The cups have to be checked to see if they are in need of refurbishment so do get them back in the next few weeks.

Talk 29th June 2023 - Viticulture

Our next talk is about wine production in England. Jonathan has a great deal of experience of the processes involved in growing the grapes right through to the bottled wine. 

 

We need a new treasurer by the Autumn

 

May Newsletter

 Some of my greatest gardening pleasures come at this time of the year. Opening the back door and hearing the birdsong that fills the air is one and it is easy to imagine that they are singing for joy but of course they are not. They are busy finding mates and defending their territory.  Watching them foraging for food and nesting materials uses up more time than I care to imagine. As an untidy gardener I kid myself that I am providing lots of insects for the birds to eat and plenty of hiding, resting and nesting spaces in my slightly overgrown hedges but I will cut the hedges once the nesting season is over.

The emergence of lilac blossom is another pleasure as it takes me back to my childhood and my grandparents garden where their lilac hedge was a profusion of blooms and the heady fragrance filled the air. Scents for me provide a powerful aid to memories. Purple lilacs are supposed to symbolise the first emotions of love whilst the white represents youth. They make excellent cut flowers so you can bring that amazing scent indoors.

At our recent Committee meeting we discussed ways to encourage more of you to our meetings especially the ones in the winter. It is understandable that coming out in the dark on a cold, wet winter’s night is not pleasant, but we still have speakers and the hall costs to pay.

We wondered if for a couple of winter meetings it would help if the time was changed to an afternoon meeting instead of the evening. We need to know your thoughts on this and if you would support the club. We don’t want to go into more detail until we have your views so please get in touch in what ever way you are comfortable with.

As you may know, the plant sale was a success but it does not have to end there because if you have any plants surplus to your requirements you can always bring them along to our monthly meetings and they can be sold on behalf of the club.

  

We are also busy arranging the annual Show which will be held on Saturday September 9th so keep your eyes open for the show schedules which are being distributed locally. Di Barnaby, our Show Organiser, is looking for 15 volunteers to help on the day. It is a good way to get to know people and give help at the same time.

Back to the birds! Our speaker for this month is Stephen Oakes who will introduce us to Birds in Your Garden. He will also be bringing along some bird food for us to buy. I am sure that it will be an interesting talk so do bring along friends and family. we need your support more than ever and any feedback is always welcome.  Please bring something for our club competitions too. Last month I quickly went out to my garden, picked some flowers that were blooming, popped them in a vase and got second place! No flower arranging skills required.     

Happy gardening

Your Committee

 

Birds in your Garden

 

April Newsletter

 Ibsley and District Horticultural Society

April Newsletter

 

Where has this month gone? I am sure that time is speeding up and the list of things to be done grows longer by the day. Thank goodness for the longer evenings and dare I say in the warmth that is felt when the sun breaks through. I am at the shall I / shan’t I moment as to whether to put out my precious plants and seedlings and to get the vegetable plot going.

Thanks to our wonderful plant sale last weekend, I now have a bit more space in my greenhouse although I did buy more plants as I couldn’t resist the amazing variety that our members produced on the day. I wish to thank everyone for their support and especially the committee for all their hard work. Two people who were incredible and who made the day happen were Bren Ings and Di Barnaby. They deserve a huge thank you from all of us.

I love to wander around my garden each morning to see what may have appeared overnight and to listen to the birds singing. I have had a couple of lovely surprises recently which happens to me from time to time as I am not an “organised” gardener. I forget where I have planted things even though I do try to label them. Yesterday I found a clump of arisarum proboscideum or mouse plant. It is a relatively small clump forming gem with glossy arrow shaped dark green leaves. The delight is in the spring if you carefully part the leaves, you find cream and purple flowers that look just like a tiny mouse tucked up with a long curling tail. I also discovered that I had a fritillaria acomopetala flowering which is a tall bell shaped purple and green fritillary which I have never managed to grow before. I love the snakeshead fritillaries that are becoming established in my garden and hope that this different variety will do the same.

 

It was great to see more people at our March meeting so hopefully this trend will continue for our next meeting – this Thursday (27^th)

The talk should be really interesting as our speaker is Kelvin Mason from Sparsholt College on composting and recycling in our gardens. This topic is very much on trend at the moment and could be helpful in making savings in today’s economic climate.      

We would love to see you and also any entries that you may have to take part in our club competition. Bring along a pot plant, single bloom, bunch of flowers or a vegetable or fruit to enter. It all adds to the fun.

You can also get some zinnia seeds from Di Barnaby to grow for our annual show.

Bring a friend along too as we are a friendly bunch and they would be made very welcome.  

Good gardening to you all and we look forward to seeing you soon.

 

From your Committee

Images from the 2023 Plant Sale

 

Composting and recycling - Kelvin Mason

 

 Ibsley & District Horticultural Society

March Newsletter

 

Spring greetings to you all

Isn’t it great that the days are drawing out and we can at least see positive signs that our gardens are coming to life. I have loved going out to see my snowdrops, but the cheerfulness of the daffodils is a pure joy.

Energy is returning to the garden, the pace of growth is quickening, and the greening up is beginning in earnest. I love seeing the fat buds unfurl and the cherry, camellia and magnolia blossoms that fill our gardens and streets.

I have sown some seeds and potted up plants that I have divided and these I will be taking along to our Plant Sale on April 22^nd. I hope that all of you have been doing the same as we need your support to make it a success. If you have a lot of plants to sell, then please book a table or you can share a table with others. Terry Ings (01425 653834) is in charge of booking tables so please get in touch with him to book your spot.

Also get your family and friends to come along as you won’t find better plant bargains this year. The plant sale is also a good place to sell any garden related items so bring them along as well. Please don’t forget to bring bags along for all of those plants that you will be tempted to buy and remember that it is cash only sales as we have no facility to take cards.      I will be raiding my piggy bank on the day so the date to remember is April 22^nd!

Before the plant sale we have both our regular monthly meeting and on April 20^th there is a trip to Hinton Ampner near Arlesford. This is a beautiful National Trust house and a garden that will be full of spring interest. Details will be given at our meeting on March 30^th so do come along and find out what is being organised for you.

The Club has missed some of our regular members during the winter months and we are hoping that with lighter evenings we will be seeing you again.  This month our talk will be on climbers by Martin Young who as well as being able to give advice will also be bringing some plants with him to sell.

This will also be our annual seed swap evening so bring along any seeds that you wish to swap. You may have some special seeds that you have gathered in your garden and that you would like to share. I have some Allium seeds that I hope will grow this year. If you have seeds to swap then bring them along and for a small donation you may find some others that catch your eye. Please try and bring an entry our monthly competition as well.

We look forward to seeing you at the next meeting on March 30^th.

Your Committee

 

Annual seed exchange

Our next meeting is a talk on Climbers 30th March 7.30pm 2023. As part of the evening we will hold our annual seed swap. It is a good chance to try something new or maybe pick up a few seeds that you don't want a full packet of.

 

The wildlife diverse garden

No explanation needed

 

Climbing plants for your garden

Climbing plants bring a new dimension to gardens offering height, flowers and stunning foliage to even the smallest garden.

 

Memberships dues - easily pay by Bank transfer

Your new membership cards for 2023 are ready and you can pay and collect your card at the meeting or should you prefer, we are offering alternatives. The cost this year is £10 per person and can be paid by cash or cheque (payable to IDHS) either at a meeting or sent to Mr Alan Milburn at 65, Parsonage Barn Lane, Ringwood, BH24 1PT

or by online banking using the following details:

Account Name: Ibsley and District Horticultural Society

Sort Code: 30-96-26

Account number: 42436068

Please put your surname in the reference box

'A Wildlife year to remember'

 

PLEASE NOTE - Change of Speaker and topic...

sadly Bryan Pinchen is unwell and will not be able to give the talk booked for Thursday 26th Jan 2023.

Rosemary Legrand has kindly stepped in to offer an uplifting and inspiring talk about Spring blossom in Japan. Rosemary has given talks for us before and has always been greatly applauded by those attending

 

... more strange facts from Brian Pinchen

 

 

IDHS Newsletter Nov/Dec 2022

 Dear Members,

This newsletter will cover both November and December as we see a new committee forming and only a short time between meetings.

 

Finally as I write we have a cold crisp day, a lovely respite from all the rain we have endured for weeks and hopefully it has encouraged you out into the garden to enjoy any remaining blooms!

  

Our December meeting is on Thursday 8^th December at 7.30pm where we will have our Christmas Social. We will have a table garden related quiz (with a prize)  and raffle but no usual members competition. Instead we are asking you to decorate a cracker with natural materials which will be judged and a prize awarded.

We are asking everyone to bring a small plate of finger food, either sweet or savoury which we will all share. This worked well in June and reduced waste, increased variety and was enjoyed by many. We will be serving refreshments to go with this!

 

Your new membership cards for 2023 are ready and you can pay and collect your card at the meeting or should you prefer, we are offering alternatives. The cost this year is £10 per person and can be paid by cash or cheque (payable to IDHS) either at a meeting or sent to Mr Alan Milburn at 65, Parsonage Barn Lane, Ringwood, BH24 1PT 

or by online banking using the following details:

Account Name: Ibsley and District Horticultural Society

Sort Code: 30-96-26

Account number: 42436068

Please put your surname in the reference box

Our next meeting is on:

November 24th, 2022 at 7.30 pm

Ibsley Village Hall BH24 3NL

The topic is 'The WIld Flowers of Crete' - it is preceded by our AGM... BUT, don't let that put you off, we have perfected the brisk AGM it will be very short and sweet. The talk will be colourful and inspiring, just the thing for cheering up a November evening.

 

IDHS Newsletter October 2022

 

Hopefully you are enjoying this mild weather and welcome rain although more is needed to restore streams

back to previous levels.

 

It was lovely to see so many of you at our last meeting with Andy McIndoe and we welcomed a number of new members.

 

Our next meeting is on Thursday 27^th October when we have Wilf Simcox coming to give us a talk on Conservatory Plants.

Please remember to enter the members competition – details on your membership cards

There will be the usual raffle and refreshments at 50p for a tea or coffee.

Julie Cole and Debbie King are doing refreshments this month.

 

The show committee for 2023 is meeting shortly and they are keen to get children entering the show as they are our gardeners of the future. If any of you have ideas of how to attract children please send us an email.

 

Just a reminder that next month is our AGM but it only lasts for about 10 minutes and papers will be sent out to you a week earlier.

 

In December (8^th December) we will be having a members competition to decorate a Christmas cracker with things from your garden, so you may need to start collecting now. We will also have a quiz and the social. We will once again ask you all to bring a small plate of food either savoury or sweet which can be shared. This way definitely reduces waste, keeps club costs down and provides lots of variety.

 

Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday

 

Your Committee

Talk 27th Oct 2022 - Conservatory Plants

October 27th, 2022 at 7.30 pm

The topic is Conservatory plants given by Wilf Simcox

IDHS Newsletter September 2022

 

Thank you to everyone that supported the Show and a very big Thank you to Di Barnaby and her team of helpers who made it such a great success. Planning has already started for 2023! If anyone would like to volunteer to join the show sub committee to start work on the schedule, Di would love to hear from you.

 

Our next meeting is this Thursday -29th September at 7.30pm when we will be welcoming Andrew McIndoe to talk to us on the Creative Shrub Garden. There will be plants for sale and a raffle to include a signed copy of one of his many books.

Refreshments will be done by Minnie McKay and Jenny Curry, two new members, and we will have the usual members competition.

There is an entry charge of £5 for any non members for this meeting to help cover speaker costs. Tickets will be available on the door.

 

Our secretary John Humphry, who has done a sterling job for good number of years, has decided to step down at our AGM in November so we are looking for a new secretary. Please consider joining the committee to help out. The job primarily involves sending out this newsletter, keeping minutes of committee meetings and the AGM, and being the link for Hampshire and Dorset Federations & the RHS for all external communications.

 

We are looking forward to seeing you on Thursday

 

Your Committee