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. 

At our AGM on May 9th the usual reports were received then all the committee who were standing for one more year were re-elected and members endorsed a proposed annual membership fee of £20 for the 2023/24 year. The official business was followed by a raffle then an amusing multiple-choice gardening quiz with some very close scores and the winning table received their prizes. Members brought their own drinks and nibbles to enjoy whilst participating and collected their free plug plants to grow on for the members’ only class at our Produce Show in September.

Anita had also mounted all the photos from the SAGG competition on a board for everybody to look at and these were displayed alongside the trophy that our club won for gaining the the most points in the show – see previous post below – members were very impressed, and hopefully inspired!

We were pleased to welcome Malcolm Dickson of Hooksgreen Herbs to our April meeting on a very wet and windy evening. He gave an interesting presentation about their herb nursery and how they prepare for plant fairs and flower shows, where they have won several prestigious gold and silver-gilt medals with their displays. He talked about many different types of herbs with both culinary and medicinal uses, including some that we might not have considered as herbs, giving us tips on growing them and their general dislike of wet winters! Their website also gives advice on uses and preferred conditions for every plant they sell.

After his talk, Malcolm drew our raffle then we all enjoyed refreshments whilst browsing the plants that he had brought along, some are pictured here, as well as our usual free magazines. There weren’t any tulip entries in this month’s competition due to the weather we’ve been experiencing recently.

We are all looking forward to our visit to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nurseries on 19th April with a full coach including guests from other clubs. Then at the end of that week it’s the Staffordshire Association of Garden Guilds AGM at Walton near Stone and we’re hoping that our entries into the photographic competition will be successful!

After day of snow, sunshine and hailstorms, at our March meeting a good number of members and guests were enthralled by a beautifully illustrated talk from Ron Rock, an enthusiastic volunteer for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, on some of the many different species of solitary bees, which number over 200 in total. These very effective pollinators vary in their appearance, nesting habits and methods of pollination which Ron shared with us in a really understandable way, and finished his talk with a quote from a sign at his favourite football club Forest Green Rovers “when nature wins, we all win”. The two photos here, given to us by Ron, are a snippet from this fascinating evening.

After his presentation Ron answered more questions from members, drew our raffle and judged our monthly competition which was won this time by Ivy, with Sue W 2nd and Joan 3rd. Members also took home several different varieties of spare plants kindly donated by Sylvia to grow on ready for our stall at the Village Fete, and for their own gardens too. Our coach bookings for next month’s visit to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nurseries have gone so well that we’ve been able to hire a larger coach and invite other clubs to come along with us.

   

In February we welcomed Ruth Williams with her fascinating whistlestop tour of the many interesting locations in our county, some well known and others much less so, even for those who’ve lived here all their lives. A real mixture of gardens, nature reserves and buildings, many with extra snippets of information that you won’t find in guide books! And of course all the best tea rooms if you’re out for the day…

After drawing the raffle, Ruth judged our monthly competition which was a posy of snowdrops. Well done to Pam who was first, Joan second and Rosalie third; all the entries were excellent as you can see from the photos. The most points earnt in these competitions over the year will win our Trudi Brearley Challenge Trophy.

Then we enjoyed refreshments with an opportunity to ask Ruth more questions, and bookings for our first coach trip since 2019 are going very well! And the last two photos on this blog are of the amazing aeonium that Anita bought from Howard Drury (our September speaker) at another garden club meeting about 2 years ago, its height and flowerhead are amazing.

We started our 2023 programme on a wet and windy evening with an amusing and informative talk on Primulas and Auriculas from Ingrid and John Millington of Hillview Hardy Plants. Ingrid showed us all the different types and colour ranges available, how they were bred and the various growing conditions they all prefer. She also had some fascinating historical information on their medicinal uses – apparently the wonder cure for almost every ill known to mankind! John then followed with what Ingrid called his “doom and gloom” section on pests and diseases, plus propagation, to complete a very good presentation.

After the raffle, our members were able to browse a selection of plants from the Hillview nursery to purchase before they enjoyed their refreshments. Ingrid also judged our monthly competition of a “vase of winter flowering stems from your garden” which was very well supported with colourful and fragrant entries despite the rather inclement weather! The Points awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places are totalled at the end of the year for the award of our Trudi Brearley Challenge Trophy. Joan was the winner, with Rosalie second and Ivy third, well done to them and everybody who entered.

This year the weather was looking a bit touch and go but luckily although it was bitterly cold there was no snow. We kept our members and guests Christmas social event very local, starting with Ted’s Baked Potatoes to warm us up, with a choice of six tasty fillings and side salads. Ted has an outlet in Sutton Coldfield, does outside catering and lives in the village! After a choice of desserts we were entertained by Cannock Wood and Gentleshaw Amateur Musicals Society (CWAGMS – see their facebook page) with a wide range of songs, stories and carols including some hilarious audience participation! Fortunately there are no incriminating photos available :))

The tables were decorated with Ann’s beautiful lamps and fresh foliage, and members turned into Santa’s elves to help clear away and wash up. They also generously donated extra prizes for our special raffle which we drew during the interval. It was a very cheerful evening that put us all in the mood for Christmas and looking forward to a happy healthy 2023!     

Our November meeting didn’t quite go to plan as unfortunately our speaker Nigel Hopes, Head Gardener at John Massey’s Garden Ashwood Nurseries was ill and unable to attend so we wish him and his family a speedy recovery. We’re pleased that quite a few of our members still came along and we agreed to have John’s Garden as the first of our coach trips next year.

We chatted instead about the speakers and events in our newly printed 2023 programmes, plus the classes that members would like to see in our reinstated annual Show and squeezed in a quick floral quiz before our raffle and refreshments. The monthly competition for the splendid Trudi Brearley Challenge Trophy (which was on display) will start again in January too. In the meantime, we’re looking forward to our Christmas social evening next month with Ted’s Tasty Jacket Potatoes and ‘Songs from the Shows’ by Cannock Wood and Gentleshaw Musical Society to entertain us afterwards.

This month we welcomed Stan & Vicki of Craig House Cacti in their cheerful outfits with a hands-on talk on the care of cacti and other succulents, after they updated us on their latest Gold Medal and this year’s show season. Stan explained the different growing requirements of this wide range of plants and showed us how to (safely!) repot when necessary, also the best ways to propagate. Vicki gave a practical demonstration on seed-sowing and they both shared their knowledge in an amusing understandable way.

After their talk they drew our raffle then whilst we enjoyed refreshments we had the opportunity to ask them more questions as well as choose from the good choice of plants for sale afterwards, some of which you can see in the photos. Members also started reserving their places for our Christmas social evening and took home the free magazines that are available every month.

We opened our meeting with a tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth’s lifetime of service and devotion to duty, also her patronage of the Royal Horticultural Society since her accession to the throne in 1952. Our popular speaker Howard Drury of www.thedrurys.com had added some beautiful photographs of her to his excellent presentation on “The Men Who Inspired Me” which was much enjoyed by all our members and guests.

It started with his early years gardening alongside his father in Lincolnshire then working for Bert Jackson who built one of the first independent garden centres, before his own formal horticultural training at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. He shared with us his memories of all the inspiring people he has met, worked with and learnt from, both famous and less well known, too many to mention here but all fascinating, and he included practical gardening tips as he went along!

Howard gave the eulogy at Peter Seabrook’s funeral in February which he described as a great honour, and he had a lovely photograph of the Queen and Peter together at a flower show, then one of her at Chelsea this year in her buggy holding a bouquet of Sweet Pea ‘Peter Seabrook’. After his talk he drew our raffle and had brought a good choice of succulents for us to purchase whilst he chatted to members over a cup of tea. He is a fascinating speaker, always with excellent presentations, and he will definitely be welcomed back to our club in the future!