Kniphofia rooperi
Hello Everyone
After a long, wet and cold winter, the clocks are about to change. Constant blue skies and balmy days might be a stretch too far but warmer and brighter it must surely become. Other changes are afoot too. Our winter programme of monthly talks in the hall finishes in May and is replaced by a series of garden visits and events. Please see below for more details.
Robin Pearce gave a very interesting and detailed talk on Ornamental Grasses on 8 March at the Hall in Little Mill which was both well attended and well received. There was, however, a plea from the members present for speakers, all speakers, be they guests or members asking questions from the floor, to wear a microphone. The suggestion was warmly approved.
A big thank you to all who attended the AGM via Zoom on 12 March. Minutes will be circulated soon.
Our meetings are held at Little Mill Village Hall NP4 0HJ on the second Saturday of the month. Doors open at 2pm and talks start around 2.30. Generally speaking, entry is £4 for members and £6 for non-members. Refreshments are served from 2pm i.e. before the meeting, giving members time to exchange news and views or simply catch up with each other. Coffee, tea and biscuits available free of charge.
Coming up:
Our next meeting in the Hall at Little Mill is on Saturday 12 April when Derry Watkins will talk on ‘The Humble Umbel’. The very knowledgeable and interesting Derry is the author of 2 books on greenhouse gardening and has introduced many plants from her collecting trips to South Africa and elsewhere. Many of you will know of or have visited her excellent garden, plant nursery and online seed shop at Special Plants, Cold Aston, near Bath. Don’t miss it.
Visit www.ticketsource.co.uk/The-HPS-Monmouthshire-Group to book tickets
Hold the Date:
On 10 May, Val Bourne will speak on ‘Bombproof Roses’. Not only is Val well-known to us as a speaker, organic gardener and garden writer, she is also Vice-President of the Hardy Plant Society. Like many of us, she confesses to being a plantaholic. Unable to spray for black spot on her roses, she has identified some super roses and uses them in her garden in Bourton-on-the-Water. Albas, Hybrid Musks, ramblers and some climbers feature while her borders have modern shrub and floribundas amongst the peonies and phlox. Val’s talk will also feature rose pruning, feeding and companion planting.
Other News:
We are planning another of our successful discussion lunches in April/May. Would members like to suggest a good topic? Please speak to a committee member if you do.
We are holding sales of members’ plants at each meeting in the hall and will be selling plants at Usk Open Gardens on 28th June. We need members to contribute plants if they can. There will be no separate plant sale this year.
· If you sell your own plants, you keep the proceeds.
· If a committee member or other volunteer sells on the growers’ behalf, the grower keeps 75% and 25% goes to the Group.
· If plants are to be sold by a third party, each pot should have 2 labels, one with the name of the plant to be retained by the buyer and the other with the grower’s name and stated price. This second label is given to the Treasurer for totting up at the end.
The committee is still researching garden visits for the summer months, planning both longer and more local visits which we hope will suit all our members.
Tender Shoots Gardening Club
The next Zoom talk is on Tuesday 29th April. Ruth Plant is speaking on Dieramas (Angels Fishing Rods). https://tendershoots.uk/programme/
The Malvern Spring Show is on from Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 May. Go to threecounties.co.uk/buy-tickets/ for tickets and information.
Our local group website is: www.hpsmonmouthshhire.co.uk and national HPS is: at www.hardy-plant.org.uk. All contain useful information.
NB Members should receive an automatic renewal notice by email from national HPS when their renewal is due. If not, to renew your HPS membership for 2025, you should go to https://www.hardy-plant.org.uk/uk-subscription Membership of this Monmouthshire local group is open only to national HPS members living in postcodes NP4 to NP44 and bordering areas. We have no additional local membership fee.
To seek assistance with plant queries, please send an email to helpdesk@hardy-plant.org.uk)
We welcome feedback, suggestions for speakers or for gardens of interest for future visits. Please send us an email if you have something to say. And if you can lend a hand in some capacity, we’d love to hear that too.
Happy gardening.
Sue
For further details of our local group and programme of events, see https://hpsmonmouthshire.co.uk/
To book places at events where booking is open, see https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/The-HPS-Monmouthshire-Group
For more about the national Hardy Plant Society, see https://www.hardy-plant.org.uk/
The HPS Monmouthshire Group is also an Affiliated Group of the RHS, see https://www.rhs.org.uk/, and of the online Tender Shoots Garden Club Network, see https://tendershoots.uk/
Note: If at any time you would like to be added to or removed from our emailing list or to view or change the personal information The HPS Monmouthshire Group holds about you, please send an email to monmouthshirehps@gmail.com with ‘Personal Information’ as the
Selling Plants at Meetings
Should you want to sell plants at our meetings (please do), here are some helpful guidelines. If you have enough plants for an entire table please let us know beforehand. Otherwise, please arrive a little before the meeting and put your plants on the shared table/s. We will keep track of the sales and give you your share afterwards.
Whether you sell your own plants or ask others to sell on your behalf, our policy is that of the first £40 of your sales, you give 50% to group funds and retain 50%. Proceeds from your sales beyond £40 are then yours to keep.
Keeping track of sales does depend on your labelling. The following is a system which we’ve found works well and we ask that you use it:
- Each of your pots should have 2 labels, with the text clearly visible/legible.
- One label naming the plant – either with its Latin name or its common name, though both can be used. (You could also add flower colour and expected size if useful, perhaps on the reverse of the label.)
- The other, coloured if wanted, should have your name or identity mark and the asking price. (This label is removed and retained when the plant is sold to enable your sales to be totalled, and then given back to you so you also reuse it at a future sale.)
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For further details of our local group and programme of events, see https://hpsmonmouthshire.co.uk/
To book places at events where booking is open, see https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/The-HPS-Monmouthshire-Group
For more about the national Hardy Plant Society, see https://www.hardy-plant.org.uk/
The HPS Monmouthshire Group is also an Affiliated Group of the RHS, see https://www.rhs.org.uk/
Note: If at any time you would like to be added to or removed from our emailing list or to view or change the personal information The HPS Monmouthshire Group holds about you, please send an email to monmouthshirehps@gmail.com with ‘Personal Information’ as the subject line.
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Monmouthshire Group 