Weather

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Next meeting

Tuesday 27th May

at Charlton Community Hall

John Graham on Herbaceous Plants

Discounts

Click here for the current list of suppliers offering discounts to members.

What’s on

Sunday 18th May

Wardington Manor Gardens

in aid of Katherine House Hospice

4 acres of delightful landscaped gardens

2.00-5.00pm

Entrance £5

Summer outing

This year’s summer outing is on Saturday 14th June to visit two renowned Hampshire gardens – The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens at Ampfield and Mottisfont Abbey Gardens close by at Romsey.

The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens were named in memory of their founder, the late Sir Harold Hillier, a member of the famous nursery family, and it has a unique collection of over 40,000 plants which now thrive in its 180 acres. In 1997 the Gardens were included by English Heritage on the Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England for the value of the plant collections.

Mottisfont Abbey Garden is set on the west bank of the River Test and the abbey, a former medieval priory, is surrounded by sweeping lawns with ancient trees and walled gardens. The most popular feature of the garden, however, is the internationally-renowned National Collection of old-fashioned roses in the walled gardens designed in 1972 by Graham Stuart Thomas and at their best in mid-June.

This promises to be another varied and enjoyable trip, with hopefully, something to interest everybody. For more details click here.

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Evening visit

Tuesday 1st July to Woodchippings, Juniper Hill

Our evening visit this year is to ‘Woodchippings’, a plant lovers garden of approx 1/3 acre set in the village of Juniper Hill, the setting of Flora Thompson’s ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’.

Crowded in its borders are bulbs, perennials and scented flowering shrubs, chosen for their variety of form and rich colours. Roses, wisteria and jasmine climb the walls of the house; clematis scramble up poles, through shrubs, and over arches.

The garden, enclosed by high country hedges, surrounds the house, and then stretches away to one side on the site of an old orchard. There, gnarled and ageing plums and a spreading chestnut tree provide dappled light for many woodland plants.

Each area of the garden has it’s own atmosphere provided by the plants and the placing of containers, garden ornament, and topiary, which gives a sense of structure and permanence through the seasons.

In early summer the old C19 French roses, their flowers tightly packed with petals, fill the garden with their rich heavy scent. English roses, with their intriguing range of scents, flourish in peach, apricot and yellow shades. Through July and August, daylilies, many with spidery and exotic forms, together with agapanthus and kniphofias, rule the borders.

Links to some useful sources of information