We are delighted that this month more normal summer weather finally arrived. Everything is growing away happily now and the earlier delays will make us really appreciate nature in all her glory.  Our spring Zoom meeting season finished with two good talks at the end of May, one about the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas and the other covering the history, design and symbolism of the ‘Gardens of Paradise’. The Zoom meetings are taking a break now till the middle of August.

We know that most of our members are keen to resume our in-person monthly meetings in the Covid-secure village hall with our usual excellent range of speakers, who are all lined up ready to go as soon as we can. As we are remaining in Step 3 of  the government roadmap at present we cannot go ahead with reopening due to the size of our group but we will keep everybody advised about our plans. In the meantime happy gardening!

It’s all go this month with much-needed rain for gardens, vegetable patches and allotments, a touch on the heavy side sometimes and hailstorms – still we can’t have everything! The growing season is behind due to the weather but it’s catching up. This week sees the Royal Horticultural Society’s virtual Chelsea Flower show, and their new Bridgewater garden in Salford opens tomorrow, visits are by booking only with spaces filling quickly.   

We’re also now on Step 3 of the roadmap and we remain hopeful that we will be able to resume our face-to-face meetings in the not too distant future, new variants notwithstanding. Our Zoom talks have continued with recent subjects ‘Successful Fruit Growing’, ‘Plant Hunters’, ‘Extending the Season in your Garden’ and ‘The History of Herbs’. 

These photos, including Pam’s wonderful Strelitzia that she grew from seed and has been in flower since February, are a selection from our new members’ gallery.

Thank you also to Rosalie, Sylvia and Val for sharing their super spring snaps too, please do click the link above to see the rest.

April has lived up to its reputation with many of the showers being white and very chilly, but now we find ourselves in need of rain! The sunshine has spurred us all on whether our gardening interests are edible or ornamental, and there is plenty to keep us busy. Whilst we monitor the roadmap developments, we are continuing with our Zoom gardening club meetings and a full list is on our Programme 2021 page with plant lists where available. Some members are choosing to watch the talks via YouTube which they find more convenient. 

Amongst recent presentations were ‘Succulent Gardens’ with some great photos from the West Country & Scilly Isles plus guidance on growing and propagation; ‘Millenium Seed Project’ on the background to the Kew Seed Bank and others around the world; a very interesting & useful talk on ‘Drought Tolerant Plants’; most recently ‘Seasonal Changes in the Dorothy Clive Garden’ with beautiful illustrations of all the work that has happened to make this a garden of year-round interest. Like many it is now open to the public within the guidelines, and we have also forwarded details of the Plant Hunters Fairs to our members. All just something to keep us going till we can meet again as a large group! Plus a small selection of spring flowers….

We gardeners have been enjoying a few days of fabulous weather after that dreary greyness that followed the snow, with hopeful signs that spring really is on the way! And we’re on day 1 of Step 1 of the roadmap out of lockdown so onwards and upwards… Whilst we continue to wait for the time when we can safely restart our regular group meetings, some of our members have been enjoying our Zoom talks (as part of the Tender Shoots Garden Club Network) and a list of those is available on our Programme 2021 page, with downloadable handouts and details of how to watch via YouTube instead. Discounts are available to all members and included in our monthly update emails, with kind email buddies passing on the information to those who aren’t online. We will monitor the roadmap developments closely and continue to keep in touch.  

The weather hasn’t been on the side of gardeners lately and most of our our forays outside have been to knock snow off weighed-down evergreens or cut back sodden perennials where we could reach without trampling the ground. However our walks in the local neighbourhood or even peering out at the the winter wonderland have lifted our spirits and we’ve been sent some stunning photographs by Anita, Sophie & Rosalie this month to share with you all – many thanks. There are plenty more on our Gallery , please do take a look.

We have some good news that our members now have the opportunity to join Zoom gardening club meetings and a list of is available on our Programme 2021 page. We know that not everybody can join in but it’s something that we can offer to keep us going 
until we’re able to meet up again in person, which is of course what we all look forward to!   

There are many things to be cheerful about when you’re a gardener, even during a third lockdown – bulbs poking through, buds waiting to burst open, the days lengthening, the sparkle of snow! And a fabulous sunrise from your garden if you’re very lucky.. 

Our regular meetings are still on hold due to the current situation so in the meantime we are pleased to bring you a very seasonal http://www.cwggc.co.uk/gallery/ of photos shared from our member’s gardens and the local area, here are a few samples. Onwards and upwards as the GQT saying goes!   

…….and a very much better 2021! We are looking forward to when we will all be able to meet up again at some point next year and we thank you all for your continued support. In the meantime we will continue to update our members via email, and please do have a look at http://www.cwggc.co.uk/gallery/ for more Christmas photos plus some great snaps of our members’ gardens. Thank you to our contributors this month: Amy, Lesley, Rosalie, Sylvia, Wendy & Derek. Wishing everybody a peaceful Christmas and healthy New Year.     

This month, instead of Ron Rock’s fascinating talk on the Secret Lives Of Solitary Bees, we invite you to look through two new galleries of our members’ photographs http://www.cwggc.co.uk/gallery/ and see more of Sophie’s wonderful photos of fungi and a very autumnal Cannock Chase, how lucky we are to live here! The other gallery is of members’ gardens, including two examples of cloud pruning plus “before & afters” to show what a good sort out in the garden can do! Thank you to June, Lesley & Sophie for all of those. 

It looks as if we won’t be able to meet up again as a large group just yet although hope is on the horizon for sometime next year………in the meantime, happy gardening! 

 

Next Tuesday, if things had gone as originally planned, we would all have been meeting up for Graham & Jane Wagstaffe’s “And Now for Something Completely Different” presentation…but in the absence of that, we hope that you enjoy looking through our 2nd members’ gallery by clicking here http://www.cwggc.co.uk/gallery/ .

Thank you this time to our contributors Chris (shown here with her giant Echium), Ivy, Lesley, Lora, Pam, Rosalie & Val. Ivy’s beautiful Streptocarpus was given to her by Ann and has flowered all summer! Our new canine star is Frida, basking in her favourite outdoor spot. Please keep sending in your photos so that we can keep in touch this way.

At this time of year we would normally be posting photos of our annual produce show so in the sad absence of that, thank you to Mark & Elizabeth, Pam, Rosalie and Sylvia, who responded to our request for photos to keep us all in touch until we can hold our meetings again. Here are a few to start, and you can see them all by clicking on http://www.cwggc.co.uk/gallery/  

We hope that you enjoy looking at these, and will be encouraged to send in photos of your own garden, veg, fruit or wildlife during the coming months, especially as we move into the next season, and we will create more galleries to share them all.