Events
Throughout the year Hardy Plant Society local and specialist groups host a variety of events. All our events are listed here: most of them are for members, but those open to everyone, member or not, are flagged "Open to the Public". They usually include lectures by well-known gardening figures.
Those for members include the Annual Lecture Day, often a residential weekend in the autumn, garden visits and study days. An event is a good way to meet members from other groups, or none, hear speakers who may not be able to come to your group and learn from experts and fellow-members.
2021
| Saturday 8th May 2021 |
CANCELLED The Magic of Plants Lecture Day at Mercure Parkway Hotel, Leeds |
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Saturday Open to |
Fergus Garrett on 'Designing with Plants'. |
| Saturday 26th June 2021 |
Hardy Geranuim Group Hardy Geranium Day 2021 will be in Clophill, Bedfordshire, where we will be visiting Trevor Hard's garden. Provisionally the speaker will be Robin Parer, US nursery owner and author of 'The Plant Lover's Guide to Hardy Geraniums'. Further details TBA. |
| Saturday 26th June 2021 |
Ranunculaceae Group AGM and meeting - Guest Speaker - Timothy Walker followed by a visit to Coton Manor Gardens and Nursery Further details TBA |
| Saturday 25th September 2021 |
North East Group National ALD/AGM, Holiday Inn, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Details TBA |
| Saturday 16th October 2021 |
Essex Group |
Previous Years
2020
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Saturday |
Middlesex Group Passionate About Plants Cancelled 8-15am to 4-45pm (please take seats by 9-15am) Tickets £29-50 Brunel University London, Auditorium, Eastern Gateway, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, Hillingdon, UB8 3PH Speakers: Katie Rushworth, Nick Bailey, Toby Buckland, Andy McIndoe |
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The Shade and Woodland Plants Group The 6th Annual Meeting and AGM in 2020 will be a special Lecture Day with three excellent speakers. The event will will be held at the Britannia Airport Hotel, Manchester There will be the usual plant sales, raffle and Auction. |
| Saturday May 30th 2020 |
Hardy Geranium Group Annual Geranium Day and AGM Cancelled This year we visit member Sue Clarke's garden in Wrenbury, Cheshire. Sue has a Plant Heritage National Collection of G. sylvaticum and G. renardii which should be at their best. After our morning AGM Julie Ritchie, owner of Hoo House Nursery, will give a talk on "Most successful geraniums I have seen growing and plants to go with them". Plants on sale both from Hoo House Nursery and members and at Sue's garden. We will also visit another garden close to Sue's in Wrenbury which has many lovely Clematis and Roses. Both gardens open for NGS. |
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Saturday 13th June 2020 |
South Pennine Group |
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Saturday 13th June 2020 |
HPS Peony Group |
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Saturday 20th June 2020
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Postponed until 26th June 2021 Cost: Ranunculaceae members: £7or non-members £13.50 This year’s meeting of the Ranunculaceae Group is coming to middle England - Watford Village Hall, Northamptonshire. Following the AGM, we will have the annual lecture presented by Timothy Walker, who is putting together a new talk especially for the group which he has provisionally entitled - Irresistable Ranunculaceae. He will look at examples of how the many genera of Ranunculaceae contribute to our lives. In the afternoon, there will be a visit to Coton Manor Gardens and Nursery. The gardens are extensive and the nursery has 1000s of plants for sale, most of which are propagated at Coton. There is a cafe which offers a selection of light meals and snacks or attendees are welcome to bring a packed lunch to eat at the Hall or on the adjoining green. |
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Saturday 5th September
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Cancelled HPS Annual Lecture Day and AGM (Postponed from 28th March) Ticket Prices |
2019
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Saturday Open to the On-line booking now closed |
HPS ANNUAL LECTURE DAY AND AGM Ticket Prices A postal booking form has been published in the February 2019 'Newsletter' and a downloadable version is available here. For further information contact |
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Saturday Open to the |
HPS AMBASSADORS’ DAY – ‘GARDENING IN THE 21ST CENTURY’ Pershore College, Avonbank, Pershore, Worcestershire, WR10 3JP Matthew Wilson – ‘How to Garden in a Changing Climate’ Val Bourne – ‘The Living Jigsaw’ Plant sales including – Brockamin Plants, Cotswold Garden Flowers & Pershore College Pre-ordered Plant Supports Tickets £15 (Worcestershire Group Members £10) To include light refreshments throughout the day Pre-booked lunches £11 or bring your own. |
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Saturday Open to the Postal booking forms SOLD OUT |
The Magic of Plants Conference Jimi Blake – 'Hunting Brook through the Seasons' |
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Sunday 2nd June Open to the |
Peony Group Study Day and AGM Birtsmorton Court, Birtsmorton, nr. Malvern WR13 6JS By kind permission of Mrs Rosalie Dawes, the Peony Day will be held at Birtsmorton Court. It is difficult to imagine a more delightful location. The medieval moated manor house is set off by romantic gardens full of roses and peonies. The White Garden is very special and the topiary hedges are an impressive sight. Main speaker: Susannah Applegate on ‘James Kelway and his beautiful peonies’. 10 .00am: Registration, tea/coffee, plant sales, peony-themed raffle Lunch: bring your own packed lunch, which can be eaten at tables in the courtyard by the AGM venue. After lunch we will be able to enjoy the lovely gardens of Birtsmorton Court. Cost: Peony Group members £11.50, HPS members £13, visitors £15 |
| Sunday 16th to Wednesday 19th June 2019 |
GARDEN TOUR TO HAMPSHIRE Open to all HPS members who may bring a guest. |
2018
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Saturday 24th March 2018 Booking is now closed |
HPS Annual Lecture Day and AGM |
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Saturday 14th April Open to the public |
Middlesex Group 0830-1615 (Please take seats for celebrity talks by 0920) Celebrity speakers: Annie Godfrey, Frances Tophill, Adam Frost & Nick Hamilton This will be our eighth biennial ‘Passionate About Plants’ with a full day’s enjoyment from four expert speakers talking about plants and trees in our gardens. Plants from specialist nurseries, seeds, tools and other garden requisites will be available for sale before the start of the programme of talks and during intervals throughout the day. It should be a very special day out for garden lovers. |
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Saturday Open to the public |
Essex Group Bob’s talk will be all about ferns. Julian’s talk is entitled ‘Adventures with Fancy Foliage’ and Bleddyn’s talk will be on his 2017 plant hunting trip to North Vietnam.
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Saturday 9th June More Information Open to the public on the day |
Peony Group Study Day and AGM This year we are meeting at the Hillside Centre, RHS Garden, Wisley. |
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Sunday
Open to the public |
With regret this event has had to be cancelled. ‘East to West’ – and something in between! The Lantern Theatre, Mountbatten School, Whitenap Lane, Romsey, Hampshire SO51 5SY |
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Saturday 13 October 2018
Open to the public
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Worcestershire Group Lessons from Great Gardeners - a talk by Matthew Biggs In this lecture based on his RHS book of the same name, Matthew examines just what it takes to be a great gardener. He uses examples from around the globe and from history. He considers several examples, among them William Robinson who was inspired by nature, the art of Gertrude Jekyll and the extravagances of Madame Ganna Walska who created a grandiose ‘stage set’ in California. He considers the motivation, techniques and eccentricities that drove the great gardeners to succeed, and using evidence from their lives and gardens, reveals how you can become a great gardener too. Matthew is a HPS Ambassador. He is best known for his appearances on BBC Radio Gardener’s Question Time. He has made numerous TV appearances and is a contributor to BBC Gardener’s World magazine. He has been a professional gardener for over 20 years. He studied at Pershore College and the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. Tickets £10 (Worcestershire HPS Group members free). Please send cheque to Lyn Maile, Hatfield Mount, Hatfield Lane, Norton, Worcester WR5 2PZ (sec@worcs-hardy-plant.org.uk). Collect tickets at the door or send SAE. |
| Saturday 27th October 2018 |
11am—5pm Launch of HPS Hardy Garden Chrysanthemum Booklet |
2017
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Saturday 25th March 2017
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HPS AGM & Annual Lecture Day celebrating our Diamond Jubilee Easton College 9:00 am - 4:30 pm The event not to be missed for a variety of reasons, is the AGM, Lecture Day and 60th celebrations. The Norfolk and Suffolk Group were asked to host this as the HPS was inaugurated in Norfolk in 1957 by Alan Bloom. Speakers are Matthew Biggs and Alan Gray See Norfolk and Suffolk group page for full details |
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Saturday 1st April 2017 Open to the public |
Primrose Day Chaddesley Corbett Village Hall 9-15 am - 4-00 pm Hosted by the Western Counties Group The day will comprise of primrose themed talks by Caroline Stone and Penny Jones. There will be opportunities to buy plants from them as well as a members' plant stall. After Lunch Olive Mason has invited us to visit her gardenat Dial Park which is just a 5 minute walk away. £12-00 for HPS members and £15 for non-members |
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Saturday 6th May 2017 Open to the Public
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‘The Magic of Plants’ with Bunny Guinness, Troy Scott-Smith, Val Bourne, Marina Christopher. |
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Saturday 6th May 2017 |
The 2017 Annual Meeting will be in Kent: a short AGM will be followed by a talk from Keith Wiley of Wildside Garden and Nursery. |
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Sunday 14th May 2017 Open to the Public |
Peony Study Day AGM, lecture Jeanine Lemmens of Graefswinning, Nieuwerkerken, Belgium. High Lane Village Hall, Windlehurst Road, High Lane, Nr Stockport, SK6 8AB |
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Saturday 17th June 2017 |
The Geranium Day will be held in Nottinghamshire on Saturday June 17th 2017. The speaker will be Dr. Andrew Ward and we shall be visiting Norwell Nurseries. Visit the Hardy Geranium Group page for more. |
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Saturday |
‘Hardy Plants in a Changing Environment’ A Lecture Day hosted by the East Yorkshire Group
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Saturday Open to the Public
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Berkshire Group 10.15 TIMOTHY WALKER: BORDERING ON INSANITY - This talk looks exclusively at the herbaceous border and covers the principles and practicalities to be adopted when trying to create a border that is interesting all year round. Door open at 9.30am, St Peter's Hall, Church Road, Earley, Reading, RG6 1EY Plants and award winning preserves for sale, Refreshments and light lunch included Price of ticket £13, available via the Secretary at helen@byeslane.org.uk |
Please note:
Events organised by HPS groups often include visits to the gardens of ordinary members. Visitors will obviously need to take care as there may be uneven paths, spiky plants and other everyday hazards. Members attend all HPS events at their own risk.