Western Counties

30th January, 2016 
“The Patch - A Garden for All Seasons”
Jim Almond
Jim is an experienced speaker and grower specialising in alpine plants and bulbs, and holds a National Collection of Juno Iris. He is a keen photographer and horticultural writer with articles in ‘The Plantsman’ over recent years. Jim was a good friend of Margaret Owen and regularly visited ‘The Patch’ over the past 10 years to savour her plant collections, taking a seasonal look at the plants she cherished the most. Starting with a few examples from her famous snowdrop collection, closely followed by Narcissus and other interesting early bulbs. Plant Heritage Collections of Camassia, Dictamnus, Veratrum and Berine ensure there is a riot of interest throughout the year. Add in the established trees and shrubs, some amazing lilies and herbaceous borders simply brimming with plants for the connoisseur. There may be plants for sale.

27th February, 2016 
“The Subtle Art and Exact Science of Pruning”
Timothy Walker
Tim joined the staff of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden in 1980 as a trainee gardener and in 1988 he became the Horti Praefectus (Director), a post that he held for 26 years until July 2014. He is now lecturer in Plant Sciences at Somerville College, Oxford. His particular interests are Euphorbia, plant conservation and explaining why plants are fascinating and important.

26th March, 2016 
“Irises for the Natural Garden”
Alun and Jill Whitehead
Alun and Jill are holders of one of the National Collections of Siberian Iris with over 160 cultivars. Their garden, Aulden Farm, has developed in a natural style with abundant wildlife, and the Beardless Iris suit this style and their Herefordshire clay. The talk will cover various Beardless Iris, gardens, and the people behind the plants. Alun is a qualified Iris judge and has served on the Joint Iris Committee with the RHS. Aulden Farm is open by appointment and visitors are welcome to see the Collection. They also open for the National Garden Schemes and are Western Counties Group members.

30th April, 2016 
“Scents and Desirability”
Andrew Ward
Andrew started his nursery and gardens 21 years ago in a frost pocket and on heavy clay. He gives approximately 50 lectures a year nationwide and has given the HPS National AGM lecture on several occasions. This talk tries to unravel the mysteries of why plants produce both scented flowers and aromatic foliage. It looks into the methods employed by plants to attract pollinating insects and animals and then gives illustrations of why we should use scent to its full in our garden and finishes with some beautiful plants which should be grown for scent as well as their aesthetic qualities. There will be plants for sale or you can pre-order from the nursery website www.norwellnurseries.co.uk

Sunday 15th May, 2016 
Garden Visit
We are invited to visit two members’ gardens on the 15th May, both quite close to each other. Brenda Jones’ garden and Keith and Lorna Ferguson’s. The gardens will open from 11:0am to 5:00pm and teas will be served from 3:00pm. The entrance fee (including tea) is £5 per person, payable at the second garden. Please contact the group for further details.

28th May, 2016 
“A Plantsman’s Guide to the American West”
Julian Sutton
Julian Sutton is a lifelong plantsman. Having started out as an academic botanist, he and his wife Sarah caught the cultivated plant bug seriously while working at Ness Gardens in the 1980s. They ran a mail order nursery, Desirable Plants, in Devon for over 20 years. In order to garden and propagate better, and to write more, they have shrunk to a domestic scale, but still sell a wide range of choice and interesting bulb, woodlanders, ferns etc through their twice yearly Desirable Plants email lists. There will be plants for sale. www.desirableplants.co.uk

26th June, 2016 
“Propagation - Part Two”
Joe Sharman
Joe has an HND in Commercial Horticulture and is a specialist nurseryman (Monksilver Nursery www.monksilvernursery.co.uk) and writer of articles in local and national magazines. Joe continues with a hands-on demonstration of propagation techniques with audience participation expected. Please bring plant material. He welcomes questions on specific plants or problems you may be having, stating it will be more fun. Joe produced the original Plant Heritage Pink Sheet of endangered species. There will be plants for sale.

30th July, 2016 
“Flowers of the Pontics”
Bob Wallis
Bob and his wife Rannveig are both now retired and are devoting more of their time to growing, showing and learning more about their large collection of bulbous plants which are housed in their greenhouse in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. They are frequent travellers and most of their holidays over the last three decades have been focused on plants in the wild. They lead plant hunting trips for AGS expeditions to Turkey and were recipients of the AGS Lyttel Trophy for "an outstanding contribution to the world of alpine plants" in 2007.

27th August, 2016 
“Plantsman’s Choice”
Bob Brown
Bob needs no introduction as he attends almost every meeting to talk about the contents of our wonderful plant material display table which encourages a lively debate between members during the morning. For those members new to our group be prepared for a very interesting afternoon.
We also have the opportunity to visit Adrian and Sheila James' garden. Further details available from the group

24th September, 2016 
“Stumperies, Ferns and Shady Friends”
Andrew Tolman
Andrew entered horticulture, first with the Parks Department studying City and Guilds, then working on a golf course before returning to work with plants at Estcourt Estate nr Tetbury. His next position was as a Senior Gardener for HRH Prince Charles at Highgrove where he led a team of three gardeners. He left in June 2013 to set up his own gardening business - Andrew Tolman Professional Garden Services, www.atpgardening.co.uk

29th October, 2016 
“Winter in Bloom”
Samantha Hope
Samantha initially trained as a Field Geologist, but re-trained at Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Glasshouses whilst doing the RHS Level 2 qualification at Pershore College. She went on to work/study at the RHS Garden Wisley for a year with their Rock and Alpine team, with additional training at Kew and Great Dixter. Since then she has spent the last four years as part of the team at Ashwood Nurseries, growing Hepatica and Roscoea in particular, propagating alpines, helping with the events and giving tours of the Hellebore collection. Her talk will be a journey through the Hellebore season, looking at botany, cultivation and the varied breeding works currently undertaken at Ashwood Nurseries. She will show the current range of hybrids and cultivars available, varying in colour, form and markings, along with a range of suggested planting partners. There will be plants for sale.

26th November, 2016 
Members' Day