President's Letter (January 2016)

Dear Members, Exhibitors and Supporters of the Society,

It is lovely to write this letter in this long month of January as it makes me look forward to the gardening year ahead and to the future events of the Society.

Bob Bates, our busy General Secretary, has put together a 2016 programme bursting with events from talks on Butterflies, Pruning, Composting and Chickens in the Garden and visits to Chelsea Flower Show and Arley Hall and a Fungus Forage have been arranged and with our two shows in June and August this year I am sure there is something for everyone. The full programme, and all the current news of Society events, is reported on our website. Do have a look.

I hope, like me, you are looking forward to Christine Walkden’s talk on 17th February. The tickets are selling fast so please buy yours without delay if you don’t already have them and do think of questions to ask at the Q&A session.

Our annual dinner will be at the Golden Lion on Wednesday 8th April. Please come and bring a friend. It is a nice way to meet fellow members of the Society. The booking form is available on our website, together with the booking form for the trip to Arley Hall and the Fungus Forage. 

One of our Committee members, Carol Edwards, has an article about a local garden with gardening advice published in the Essentials magazine each month. Thank you Carol - your articles make excellent and informative reading.
 
Please continue to support the Society by continuing or becoming a member - £6 Membership subscription or £10 as a Patron. Please contact our new Membership Secretary, Esther Parks, for a Membership Renewal Form.

I look forward to meeting you at the talks and shows and wish you a successful growing season and enjoyment in your garden.

Pat Weir
President

President's Letter (Summer 2015)

Dear Members,
 
I enjoyed the annual dinner at The Golden Lion. It was good to meet so many people, old and new friends, and much nicer on a pleasant Spring evening. There was lots of conversation; everyone was swapping growing tips on how to win the President's Shield with the streptocarpus members were given when we went to Dibleys Nurseries.

I got tips from Rex Dibley himself on the finer points of a prize winning plant! So I am looking forward to judging all your plants at the August Show!

I am looking forward to visiting Eaton Hall; we are bound to get lots of ideas, and I can't wait to see the working areas of the garden. It will be a Grand Day Out.

I hope to see you on 13th June 2015 at the Village Hall for our Spring Show. The plant stall is just the place to buy plants that enjoy our local conditions, and the WI Cream Teas are hard to beat! There will also be the chance to enter one of the prize categories on the day; have a look at the Schedule on our website; there is something for all ages.

And do not forget the Main Show on 29th August 2015 at Darland Sports Centre. Unfortunately, due to building works, we are back in the Gymnasium this year, but we will still have a full programme of prize categories for you to enter and enjoy.

Happy Gardening!
 
Pat Weir
President

President's Letter 2015

Dear Members, Exhibitors and Supporters of the Society

I am delighted to tell you the Society had a successful year in 2014 and we have started 2015 with a bang! Chris Beardshaw, the award winning garden designer, radio and TV presenter gave us a superb talk on 18th February. The talk was entitled “100 Plants That Almost Changed the World” and Chris spoke about how he took Furzey Gardens to Chelsea Flower Show and won a gold medal. It was very interesting and not at all what you would expect. Tickets sold out a week before the event and over 250 people attended.

Our hard working Secretary, Bob Bates, has put together a very interesting programme of talks and visits for 2015 and of course we will be having our two annual shows and our annual members’ dinner. I am sure you will find something (if not everything) to interest you. I really want to see Eaton Hall Gardens in the company of the Head Gardener. The full programme can be found here. Do come along as the talks are very good value. 

We launched the Society website last year and it is proving to be very popular and it reaches a wide audience. It is a vehicle for your gardening news, views and photographs. Do have a look and if you want to post something, go to comment on the news / blog posts on the website.

Our annual dinner will be at the Golden Lion on Wednesday 20th May. Please come and bring a friend. It is a nice way to meet fellow members of the Society. Bookings will be taken at the March and April talks or you can book by phoning Bob.

In June we will have our plant sale and show. This is an ideal opportunity to try showing if you haven’t done it before. There is lots of help and advice available and it is good practice for the main show at the end of August.

I hope you will continue to support the Society by continuing or becoming a member: £6 Membership subscription or £10 as a Patron. If you are interested in joining the Society, click here, complete the form and someone will contact you.

I look forward to meeting you at the talks and shows and wish you a wonderful growing season and lots of enjoyment in your gardens and allotments.

Pat Weir
President