At our June meeting we had an unusual topic for our talk: “The History of Silk” from Clive Garner of The Mulberry Worm explaining how it was first made in China followed by the development of the famous Silk Road and and the industry eventually reaching Britain via Italy and France, with reminiscences of Cash’s silk ribbon factory in Coventry.

It wasn’t one of our normal gardening-related topics and there are ethical issues in the production but it was fascinating nonetheless. Clive was a captivating speaker and brought a wide selection of his own scarves, glassware, necklaces and other artefacts made using silk which members and guests could buy whilst enjoying their refreshments.

After drawing the raffle Clive judged our monthly competition “a single stem of any flowering plant from your garden” which was won by Rosalie’s Allium christophii, with Sue’s Cerinthe second and Joan’s yellow rose 3rd. The photo doesn’t do them justice sorry folks!

We sold the first programmes for our Village Open Gardens Weekend on 8^th/9^th July and they will also be for sale on our plant stall at the Village Fete 24th June then on the weekend itself at the village hall, 11am to 5pm both days, £5 adults for entry into 13 gardens with refreshments at several, a big thank you to all the generous garden owners and their helpers.