Shade and Woodland Plants Group

About the Group

Trillium ovatum 'Roy Elliott'

Members of the Shade and Woodland Plants Group are a community of gardeners with a special interest in plants adapted to grow in these conditions. Most gardens have shade, whether under trees or in areas overshadowed by walls or buildings. The ground may vary greatly from soil that is rich and moisture retentive to that which is poor and dry. Here, perhaps more than in other areas, we need to put the right plant in the right place to ensure a good display.
With members scattered across the UK and abroad, the Group aims to establish an exchange of information and advice about growing shade tolerant plants and from this create a web-based archive available to the public.

Activities

Annual Meeting

The Shade and Woodland Plants Group holds an Annual Meeting and AGM. The venue will vary each year to ensure all members have an opportunity to attend.

2021 AGM

Our seventh meeting and AGM will be a visit to our Secretary’s garden, Diana Garner, in Cholesbury which is high in the Chiltern Hills on the Herts/Bucks border, at 12.00 on 2 May 2021.

The garden has an acre planted with unusual trees, shrubs and herbaceous borders, which leads to 3 acres of mixed deciduous woodland which was an old brickyard, planted with daffodils, acers and rhododendrons, with a large fernery planted round an old clay pit. The garden opens for the NGS from March to July as an un-manicured garden. It is a happy garden with a lot of space and seats where people can space out safely, and a small open barn for teas.

Visitors are invited to bring plants for sale and Phil Smith from Sunnyside Nursery, Northchurch will have a plant stall. We do not know how many people we will be able to invite due to the COVID 19 regulations, but at least it is the possibility of an outing for a few of us!

The charge will be £5.00 pp and members are encouraged to bring their own picnics. If you would like to come and visit the garden please download the pdf file for booking details.

Download pdf file

Rare Plant Exchange

Excellent nurseries, Plant Finder and mail order combine to make it much easier to source rare and unusual shade loving and woodland plants than it used to be. In some cases however, plants just are not available commercially and are often out of stock even when listed in the Plant Finder. Our plant exchange is meant to help with such cases.
More information about the shade and woodland plant exchange.

Seed Distribution

The HPS seed distribution scheme works well, and we do not wish to duplicate the service that they already supply. However there are three areas in which a distribution scheme amongst our members may add value:
Firstly there are many woodland plants for which germination is much more successful if they are planted as soon as possible after collection (Epimedium, Trillium etc.). We need a process which gets these from the donor to the planter much more quickly than the main distribution scheme can achieve; Secondly the seed of several woodland plants ripen either very early in the year (spring ephemerals) or much later than the seed distribution cut off (Kirengeshoma, Disporopsis etc.) although these are distributed by the main scheme, they are automatically quite old before they get planted. Finally many woodland plants produce seed in very small quantities. We would like to ensure that this goes to shade enthusiasts who stand the best chance of germinating and successfully growing the plants.

More information about the shade and woodland seed distribution

Shade Monthly

Our e-newsletter, Shade Monthly, is sent to all members of the Shade and Woodland Plants Group. Each edition will then be made available in the library about 3 months later.

Further Information

Membership of the Group

Membership of the Shade and Woodland Plants Group is open to all Hardy Plant Society members.

The group’s annual subscription will run from 1st January to 31st December each year:

£5.00 per annum or £6.00 for two people living at the same address
(If you wish to pay for the next three years immediately, that will be £14.00 and £17.00)

Overseas members: £7 p.a. (£8 joint), or £20 (£23 joint) for three years. Payments can only be accepted in sterling.

Joining the Group

You can follow the link to the downloadable Application form (pdf file)

then either:

    Electronic application (preferred)
Please e-mail personal details as requested on the Application Form then make an electronic transfer from your bank account using the following details:
        Account: Shade and Woodland Plants Group
        Sort code: 40 32 02 Account number: 21574647
        Reference: Your last name and HPS membership number (please make sure you include this so we can link your payment to your application). Your membership number has 6 digits, starting with the figure 8, and can be obtained by contacting admin@hardy-plant.org.uk
    Postal application
Please download and complete the application form and send it with a cheque payable to ‘HPS Shade and Woodland Plants Group’ to the Membership Secretary at the address given on the form.
    Payment by Standing Order
You may wish to complete the Standing Order Form (pdf file) so that your annual subscription is paid on 1st January annually. This simplifies the administration of subscriptions and many HPS members already do this for their national subscription.

Contact us

For more information about the HPS Shade and Woodland Plants Group please contact the Secretary, Diana Garner, at shade@hardy-plant.org.uk or the HPS Administrator, e-mail admin@hardy-plant.org.uk ,or in writing to 3 Basepoint Business Centre, Crab Apple Way, Evesham WR11 1GP