Hardy Plant Society

Scottish and Northern Borders Group

Please see note at bottom of this page for more details about group meetings

Next Meeting Sat 26th May, 2012 Gardens in the Mugdock area

Wed 25th January, 2012 Lecture Day in Cathedral Hall Dunblane,

Sat 18th February, 2012 Woodland Walk with snowdrops Ardgownan,plus afternoon speaker in Inverkip.

Sat 10th March, 2012 Lectures and AGM in Doune Chris Chadwell to be one of the speakers. Plant sale and raffle.

Wed 25th April, 2012 Members' Gardens in Ayrshire Plant Sale

Wed 16th May, 2012 Brampton/Moffat Gardens

Sat 26th May, 2012 Gardens in the Mugdock area

8th - 10th June, 2012 HPS National Weekend The weekend will include visits to six gardens, three north of Dunblane and three to the east. There will be evening lectures and plant sales. The base for this weekend will be the Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Dunblane.

18th - 22nd June, 2012 Visit to gardens in Kent The base will be the Majestic Hotel in Eastbourne. Coach travel from Glasgow. Visit to gardens on three consecutive days.

Sat 7th July, 2012 Some Stirlingshire gardens

Wed 25th July, 2012 Peebles Gardens - Portmore House Kailzie and Dawyck,

3rd - 4th August, 2012 Aberdeenshire Gardens Two gardens on Friday afternoon. Dinner in Huntly on Friday evening. Three gardens on Saturday.

Wed 15th August, 2012 Members' Gardens in Helensburgh and Ross Priory

Sat 1st September, 2012 Gardens in Letham

Sat 13th October, 2012 Gardens in Connel Argyll,

Sat 17th November, 2012 Lecture Day in Oatridge College

Visits - Notes For All Members

To express your interest in a visit, please complete the request form (word document) and send this, together with an SAE for each meeting that you wish to attend to Joan Gilchrist, 6 The Grove, Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, PA11 3DU by March 2nd 2011. Please note that different committee members organise different Garden Meetings.

You will then receive a booking form for each meeting that you have requested. This will be sent to you a few weeks before the meeting date. Please return the booking form promptly, with the appropriate cheque, to the committee member named on the form in order to secure a place. Sometimes a meeting can be over-subscribed and numbers may have to be restricted and, where this happens, new members and those members who can only attend a few meetings will be given priority. In the event that you are unfortunately not allocated a place, your cheque will be returned to you. Any member who can only stay for part of the day will be fitted in if there is space available, otherwise we will assume everyone is attending the full meeting. It is embarrassing to have to explain to a host that the company is less than expected.

We are always looking for volunteers for a vote of thanks at the end of each garden visit. It is only a sentence or two to say how much we have enjoyed that visit, appreciate the kindness shown to us and the beauty of the garden, mentioning any special points of interest, so please screw up your courage and say ‘yes’ if asked to do this job.

We also need members to write a description of the visit. This does not need to include a long list of plants, but instead a simple record of the day, with any interesting or amusing happenings. All this not only assists tremendously with the organisation of the meetings, but also helps to ensure that everyone is participating and feeling involved.

Especially For New Members

Unless you have your cheque returned because we are overbooked, we look forward to seeing you on the day. It is very informal, so please speak to everyone – some of them may also be new members. You will find that each meeting has some different members attending, and it may feel as though you are never going to remember everyone, but gradually faces become familiar. To help with this aspect, you will be issued with a name badge, which you are asked to wear at all the meetings you attend. It is a good idea to bring a good selection of clothes and footwear for all types of weather. We try to do without umbrellas, if at all possible – they block the view of the plants!