Winter 2020/21 Newsletter

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Happy New Year to all our members!

Our 2020 Year

Well, 2020 was a very strange and difficult year for everyone, not least those small societies like ours who found it extremely difficult trying to plan ahead amid so much uncertainty and rapidly changing rules on what we can and can’t do. We had to cancel all the talks, trips and shows that we know our members enjoy so much, and although we had a very successful virtual show in August, we all missed being able to get together at these events and share our love of gardening with like-minded people.

On the positive side, ironically it looks as though gardening as an activity might have benefited, as reportedly many people took up growing, particularly vegetables, in the spring lockdown, with greater appreciation of the many beneficial effects on both our mental and physical health.

Planning for 2021

Of course the other positive now is the prospect of getting the vaccination and finally being able to resume a normal life. With that in mind, and in order to prepare for a resumption of the Society’s activities this year, we have planned the following:

  • In recognition that we were unable to deliver the usual benefits to members last year, there will be no membership charge this year for all paid-up members (though any donations you may care to make will of course be gratefully received). Any new members joining this year, and lapsed members who didn’t pay last year, will need to pay the usual rate of £7.50.

  • The President’s Letter will be sent out in early February as usual. This will contain your membership card for 2021/22, and details of the talks and trips programme for this year. We have organised two trips this year, in May and July, to Ashwood Nurseries and Wollerton Old Hall Garden, which I’m sure will be very popular, as well as a really good programme of speakers for our monthly meetings, and we will of course be planning to resume our flower shows in June and August.

  • Because of the continuing restrictions imposed by the Government, there will be no meetings in January or February. We are hoping that we will be able to resume our talks programme by March, but we will of course keep you informed about this.

New Competition

We had planned to introduce a new element to our talks, in that members would be invited to bring along on the night a flower arrangement on a particular theme, with a small prize given to the person judged to be the best. We thought this might be a good way to keep our hand in prior to the June and August Shows, and perhaps be an encouragement to anyone who does not normally submit an entry. We have decided to go ahead with this, on a virtual basis until we can resume our monthly meetings, as with last August’s show. It will work as follows:

  • The theme for January is “An arrangement of winter flowers/stems from your garden”. Please take a photograph of your arrangement and send it to entries@brhs.org.uk, by 20th January. The winning arrangement will receive a £5 prize and be put on the website.

  • The theme for February will be “A bowl of bulbs”, to be sent in by 24th February.

The committee would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members for their continuing interest and support.

We are all looking forward to having a great gardening year in 2021!