Cumbria
About the Group
The Group meets at the Crooklands Hotel, Crooklands , near Kendal, LA7 7NW (map)
Members free, visitors very welcome - £3.00, free parking
There is a talk, a plant and garden sundries sale, and raffle at every meeting
Contact
Stella Hall
01524 261183
cumbria@hardy-plant.org.uk
All meetings commence at 7-30 pm unless otherwise stated
2019 Programme
| Monday 21st January, 2019 'There's more to Galanthus than nivalis' Pat Murphy Our member, Pat, who has spoken to us before about Meconopsis, will be extending our knowledge of snowdrops with her illustrated talk. She is also planning on bringing some unusual ones for us to buy |
| Monday 18th February, 2019 'Translating your garden' Lyn Brunetti Lyn, who is head gardener at Warnell Hall in Cumbria, will be looking at a wide range of plants with a light-hearted view of their Latin names, to be enjoyed by both Latin haters and lovers! |
| Monday 18th March, 2019 Annual General meeting, followed by Members' slides of 'A garden that impressed me' |
| Monday 15th April, 2019 'Flower Power' Maureen Sawyer This illustrated talk will feature treasures and other valuables for long-lasting colour in the garden throughout the year |
| Monday 20th May, 2019 'The Interaction between Bees and Flowers' Julia Hoggard |
| Saturday 8th June, 2019 10am -Noon ANNUAL PLANT SALE Preston Patrick Memorial Hall (map) Everyone welcome |
| Monday 16th September, 2019 'Some Floral Highlights of South West China' Alan Oatway |
| Monday 21st October, 2019 'Tulips Past Till Present' Matthew Smith RHS Chelsea Gold medal winner, Matthew, of 'Brighter Blooms', will not only be delighting us with a presentation about tulips, but will also be bringing bulbs for sale |
| Monday 18th November, 2019 'Architectural Foliage' Michael Myers |
2020 Programme
| Monday 20th January, 2020 'The Way We Were' Doug Stewart asking how we gardened over 60 years ago and how much things have changed |
| Monday 17th February. 'A Rainbow of Dahlias' Jack Gott Dahlia tubers for sale |
| Monday 19th March, 2020 AGM followed by 'The Botanical Gardens of South East Australia' Adrian Lees |
| Monday 20th April 2020 'Daffodils' Ian Tyler Daffodil Society Judge |
| Monday 18th May, 2020 'The Versatility of Herbs' Helen Shipton-Smith Raffle prize- a herb planter |
| Saturday 13th June 2020 10am -Noon Annual Plant Sale Preston Patrick Memorial Hall near Kendal (map) 50p Entrance fee. Many unusual plants. Tea, coffee and cake available |
| Monday 21st September, 2020 'The Joy of Geraniums' Dr Andrew Ward of Norwell Nurseries, Newark Plants for sale |
| Monday 19th October 2020 'Expedition to Mongolia, flower-hunting with John Blashford Snell' Cynthia Hardyman |
| Monday 16th November 'The Himalayan Garden' (near Ripon) Phil Cormie Senior gardener |
2018 Programme
| 15th January, 2018 'Iddon Treasures' Jacqueline Iddon An illustrated talk on the wide variety of plants Jacqueline loves to grow and the design and development of her garden. Followed by gardener’s question time and a brief description of the plants Jacqueline has for sale. |
| 19th February, 2018 'Polemoniums' Dianne Nichol-Brown Diane is a joint holder of the National Plant Collection of Polemoniaceae. Her National Plant Collection of Polemoniums contains over 70 different kinds, the most in the world. See for yourself the wonderful variety you could be growing. Diane runs an organic plant nursery in County Durham. |
| 19th March, 2018 AGM followed by 'The Story of the Barnhaven Primroses and their Cumbrian Connection' Wendy and David Prescott Barnhaven Primroses date back to the early 1940s in America when Florence Bellis first began developing the colours and characteristics we see today. Between 1966 and 1990 the nursery operated in Brigsteer, Cumbria under Jared and Sylvia Sinclair. Since then it has again moved to a new country and is now situated in France. |
| 16th April, 2018 'How Roadside Verges Inspire my work with Perennials' Tom Attwood Tom has always admired the versatility of plants that grow in the harshest environments. The perennials that thrive, compete and co-exist create some exciting combinations that inspire his choice of plants when designing planting schemes. |
| 21st May, 2018 'Growing Wisteria in a Small Space' Fiona Butcher Twenty odd years ago, one day in late May, I saw a purple cottage. I fell in love instantly ... there begins the story Fiona will tell about her love of wisteria and her wonderful national collection. |
| Saturday 9th June, 2018 10am till Noon Plant Sale Preston Patrick Memorial Hall Donations of plants most welcome – and don't forget to come and buy! This is a lovely event and plays a large part in our busy Cumbria Group of the Hardy Plant Society Diary. Proceeds go to maintaining our flourishing gardening group. You will not believe the number of plants we can fit into the hall! They are all grown by our members so you can be assured they are healthy and well established. Prices are reasonable too, very easy on your pocket! Refreshments available. Parking is free and there is a small entrance fee. |
| Tuesday 19th June, 2018 Garden Visit The group is invited to the gardens of Christine Matthews and Liz and Roger Neale at Westhouse near Ingleton. We will meet at Christine's at 2 p.m, 'Overgreen', Westgate Lane, Westhouse, LA6 3NP, grid reference SD 676.744. This is a small, delightful cottage garden that includes island beds, small streamside planting and a kitchen garden. Then we will go to Liz and Roger's at Bank House, Bank House Lane, Westhouse, LA6 3NP, grid reference SD 675.743. This is a well established three-quarter acre informal garden with trees and shrubs that provide food and shelter for wildlife, particularly birds and butterflies. There is also a pond area with small woodlands. Refreshments will be served here. Choice of parking at Overgreen, the lane junction or Bank House, with approx. 5 minutes walk between properties. Please ring Stella Hall on 015242 61183 by 15th June to book. The cost is £4, £5 to non-members. |
| Tuesday 3rd July, 2018 Garden visit Three of the gardens open for the NGS at Warton have agreed to host a visit from HPS Cumbria. The 3 gardens are spread across the village and offer a wide variety of planting and design ideas incl. cottage charm on limestone pavement, unusual herbaceous and more formal approaches. They are 111 Main Street, Warton, (NGS), together with 2 Church Hill Avenue (NGS) and a cottage garden at Tudor House (NGS). Parking in Warton is tricky; and it is recommended that you park in the village car park which is about 150 yds away and we would obviously appreciate car sharing; park either at the bottom of village (LA5 9NU) or the public car park, next to Old School Brewery (LA5 9PL) The charge will be £8 per person including refreshments of tea/coffee and cake. All proceeds will be given to NGS charities. All the group will meet at 111 first for refreshments at 7.00 p.m. and then split into two to head up and down the village, to the other 2 gardens. The visit is limited to 20, so please contact Stella on 015242 61183 or by e-mail if you wish to come, unfortunately, it will of necessity be on a first come, first served basis. |
| 12th July, 2018 2-00pm Garden Visit Our third garden visit is to the Fernhill Coach House at Halecat, postcode LA11 6RX. We will meet there at 2.00 p.m. and follow up with a visit to Abi & Tom’s next door (map). Cost is £5 to include tea and cake. It comprises a one-acre garden and orchard - a riot of chaotic exuberance. From a stable yard, old tip and remnants of an orchard - seven years of hard work have resulted in a garden. Mixed borders, lots of veg, greenhouse, polytunnel, ponds and lots of roses. Let Stella know on 015242 61183 or by e-mail by 1st July if you want to join this visit. |
| 17th September, 2018 'In the footsteps of an Edwardian plant hunter, Reginald Farrer, in the Italian Dolomites' Brian Gomm Reginald Farrer lived at Ingleborough Hall in Clapham and introduced many new alpine plants to his home village in Yorkshire. |
| 15th October, 2018 'My dream garden' Heather Russell A welcome return by Heather, talking about the changes she has made to her garden with a mix of perennials and grasses. |
| 19th November, 2018 'Capability Brown, landscape vandal or genius?' Elaine Taylor Elaine will be challenging us to think afresh about Capability! |
2017 Programme
| 16th January "My Favourite Plants" Ron Davies |
| 13th February, 2017 'Spring Success in the Garden with pruning and propagation techniques'. John Foley There will be plants for sale. N.B. Crooklands Hotel |
| 13th March, 2017 AGM and Photo Competition The three classes are: Frozen, Fern Abundance and Summer in the Garden. Happy snapping! NB Crooklands Hotel |
| 24th April, 2017 'Agapanthus' Steve Hickman Steve Hickman is from Hoyland Plant Centre which holds a National Collection of Agapanthus. His display, which included Agapanthus, won a Gold Medal at Chelsea last year. |
| 22nd May, 2017 'Once seen, Never Forgotten' Don Witton Don, who holds the National Collection of Euphorbia, will be giving an illustrated talk about unforgettable plants, gardens and gardeners. Whether it is unforgettable garden scenes, beautiful flower blooms, bizarre artefacts or hilarious encounters, this talk has an eclectic mix of images caught on camera during Don's garden travels around this country and further afield. A colourful and entertaining talk that will last long in your memory. |
| 10th June, 2017 10am -12 Noon Plant Sale at Preston Patrick Memorial Hall 10am-Noon Donations of plants most welcome and don't forget to come and buy too! This is a lovely event and plays a large part in our busy Cumbria Group of the Hardy Plant Society Diary. Proceeds go to maintaining our flourishing gardening group. You will not believe the number of plants we can fit into the hall! They are all grown by our members so you can be assured they are healthy and well established. Prices are reasonable too, very easy on your pocket! Refreshments available. Parking is free and there is a small entrance fee. |
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Sunday 25th June Three Garden Visits We start with Anne Snowden’s garden at 2pm. The address is 50 Schoolhouse Lane, Halton, Lancaster, LA2 6QX This is a south facing garden, on a slope, with mixed borders that include topiary and roses. Next, we will visit Lindsay Coopland’s garden. The address is 8 Lonsdale Road, Hest Bank, LA2 6DS This garden is both wildlife and child friendly. It covers 1/5 of an acre and was once a field. Some of the original hedges can still be seen. Lastly, we will visit a garden designed by Thomas Mawson. This bee friendly garden has wonderful views over Morecambe Bay and the Lakeland hills. Refreshments will be served in the garden. The cost for the day is £6 for members and £7 for non-members. Please phone 015242 61183 to book before the 23rd of June. |
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29th June, 2017 10-30 am Chapelside, Mungrisdale |
| 6th July, 2017 at 2-00pm Garden Visit to Greencroft House, Great Strickland A visit has been arranged to Ron Davies' favourite garden belonging to Maureen and William Irvine. The address is Greencroft House, Great Strickland, CA10 3DF. We will meet at the garden at 2pm. The garden was featured in Cumbria Life about 2 years ago. It contains a series of garden rooms, each with different characteristics. There are many alpines and hardy herbaceous plants. The cost is £5 for members and £6 for non-members. There are no refreshments but Larch Cottage Nursery is nearby. Please phone 015242 61183 to book. |
| 18th September, 2017 'Washington Wild Flowers' Alan Oatway A welcome return by Alan as he extends our knowledge of the origins of some of our garden flowers. Alan, an accomplished speaker, knowledgeable about alpine plants from many areas, chose to make an individual visit to Washington State in the North-West of the United States. The mountains visited included the Cascades, Burroughs Mountain and Mount Baker. The plants shown in a series of excellent photographs are abundant and colourful with familiar names but with a hint of America included. The wildflower meadows measured up to anything to be seen in Europe. The visible wildlife included deer, chipmunk, birds, especially flickers (woodpeckers) and humming birds and Orca whales off the coast. An excellent and entertaining talk. |
| 16th October, 2017 'Unnatural Gardening' Peter Williams Peter is a retired plant scientist and a lifelong gardener. His talk briefly explores fashions in gardening, then questions the current fashion of natural gardening, drawing some surprising conclusions! Much is now made of the need to garden naturally and to garden for wildlife. This talk briefly explores fashions in gardening and then looks at the concept of natural gardening and questions whether this current fashion is actually possible, sustainable or even desirable. The talk has four main sections – native vs alien species, naturalistic planting, encouraging wildlife into the garden and organic gardening. The conclusion reached might well be that all gardeners – even the most ‘ecologically sound’, definitely adopt unnatural practices! This talk adopts a humorous approach but covers important underlying themes |
| 20th November, 2017 'Woodland Garden Plants' Neil Huntley Neil runs the Hartside Nursery Garden in Alston, Cumbria. The Nursery was set up on a small holding in the North Pennines purchased by his parents in the early 1970’s. They are the highest Alpine Plant Nursery in the country (at just over 1000 feet above sea level) and have exhibited at many major horticultural shows. Neil specialises in Primulas and he grows a wide range of small European species and hybrids as well as some rare Himalayan species. |