Gardening club news 2008–2009

Xmas Fun & Nibbles – 28th December 2009

A good turnout of over 20 came to the Christmas fun night – our last meeting of the year. As usual Caroline put in a huge amount of effort, and three teams contested some very serious (not really!) crafts and quiz.

We made some very presentable Christmas wreaths, some pomanders, fought over the word search and heckled our way through a festive quiz (all helped with liberal doses of mulled wine!). Santa (thank you John C!) judged our efforts, which were then raffled so lucky members took them home. Nibbles were also enjoyed and a great effort in clearing up by all finished off a very enjoyable evening.

Our next meeting is on Thursday 21st Jan (refer to programme link, above, for full details of the 2010 programme), which is a club night with local speakers; hope to see you there.

A Very Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone, and hope this weather brightens so we can get out in the gardens!

Steve Wheeler (Media and Publicity Secretary)

BBC Radio Northampton’s Gardeners’ Question Time Boosts Reading Room Funds by £370 – 9th November 2009

Those of us who attended ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’ hosted by the Gardening Club on 4th November had a very entertaining evening. Johnnie Amos (from BBC Radio Northampton’s THE GREEN WELLY SHOW) introduced his panel of gardening experts who were Phylip Statner (Cottesbrooke Hall), Susie Pasley-Tyler (Coton Manor), Nick Warliker (Poddington Garden Centre) and Janet Cropley… and then the fun began!

Questions ranged from monster brassicas, invasive box trees, coffee grounds in the garden, mysterious holes in allotments, men’s role in the garden, clematis wilt, rotten apples etc. etc. I think the Helmdon questioners showed their true character and I fancy there might have to be quite a bit of editing before the programme can be broadcast!

Sue Lidgley provided a wonderful buffet supper and the Gardening Club would like to thank her for her hard work before, during and after the event. We also had a marvellous raffle with generously donated prizes. Last but by no means least a big “thank you” to the Helmdon Gardening Club Committee and club members for their help in arranging this great evening.

If you want to hear what went on at BBC Radio Northampton’s ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’ last Wednesday 4th November in the Reading Room and missed the live broadcast, you can listen to a repeat if you go to the BBC Radio Northamptonshire’s website and click on ‘Listen To Again’ then click on ‘The Green Welly Show’.

Caroline King

Chairman of The Helmdon Gardening Club

October Meeting – 28th October 2009

A good crowd (with some new faces) enjoyed a very interesting and thought provoking evening in the company of Ian Small from Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Ian told us about the formation of the Commission, which was established by Royal Charter in 1917, and pays tribute to the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars. It is a non-profit-making organisation that was founded by Sir Fabian Ware. There are 2500 war cemeteries and plots, and we were told how they are all cared for and funded, with over 1200 staff worldwide. Planting schemes and problems were discussed which was of great interest. A film ‘ A Debt of Honour’ was shown, which illustrated how the war cemeteries and memorials came to be established in some 150 countries throughout the world and how, through its work, the Commission records and honours those who died.

A website (www.cwgc.org) has been set up, and amongst other things you are able to search records for relatives. The site gets over 500,000 hits per month.

After the talk, several people joined the club and received their discount cards. Sorry it was a slow progress, we were hoping to start earlier, but the Oxfordshire roads were against us! You will be able to join at our next meeting which of course the Gardeners Question Time on November 4th. Full details below.

Steve Wheeler (Media and Publicity Secretary)

Gardener’s Question Time – 8th October 2009

BBC RADIO GARDENERS’ QUESTION TIME

4TH NOVEMBER AT 7.00 PM IN THE READING ROOM

COME AND ASK A GARDENING QUESTION ON LIVE RADIO AND GET THE ANSWER FROM A PANEL OF EXPERTS. CELEBRITY JOHNNIE AMOS FROM BBC RADIO NORTHAMPTON’S ‘THE GREEN WELLY SHOW’ IS HOSTING A GARDENERS’ QUESTION TIME ON THE ABOVE DATE.

Minutes of Reading Room AGM – 29th September 2009

THE HELMDON GARDENING CLUB

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held in The Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon

At 7.30 p.m. on 15th September, 2009

Committee members present:

Chairman Mrs C King

Treasurer Mrs. R. Spence

Vice Chairman Mrs. S. Adhemar

Vice Chairman Mrs. K. Taylor

Wine Steward Mrs. A. Corrin

Media/Publicity Mr. S. Wheeler

Trips Organiser Mr. O. Brunsden

Also: Reading Room Rep. Mrs. M. Reardon

1. CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS: The Chairman welcomed those present and thanked both the Committee and those who regularly attended the meetings for their enthusiasm, hard work and commitment over the past year since the Club’s inception. She also explained that this meeting was a chance to reveiw the past year and to discuss the way the Club was going and an opportunity for people to give their ideas about the future development of the Club. The Chairman also thanked Mr. Peter Payne for his invaluable contribution to Club meetings.

The Chairman also said that the present Treasurer, Mrs. Ros Spence, would be stepping down from her role of Treasurer and thanked her for her hard work and dedication to her job.

2. TREASURER’S REPORT: The Treasurer gave a brief report of the state of the Club’s finances. She explained that the Club now had its own Lloyds Bank current account with two signatories – Mrs. Caroline King and herself, Mrs. Ros Spence. The amount in the current account stands at £384.56.

3. MEMBERSHIP ISSUE: The Chairman read out the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’, as the Gardening Club Committee saw them, for having yearly membership. There followed a twenty minutes discussion about the issue and this ended in a vote with the overwhelming majority voting to have yearly membership. Another discussion followed about the cost of yearly membership and this ended in a majority vote to charge a flat fee of £15 per person for yearly membership which will run from the beginning of October to the end of September. There is to be no concession for couples and visitors would be welcome and would pay £2 on the door each time. The number of their attendances would be unlimited. Only members – and not visitors – would be eligible to enter garden competitions and some ‘members only’ events. Half yearly membership would start at the beginning of April of each year and would cost £7.50. (Between the beginning of October and the start of April people wishing to become members would have to pay £15.)

4. DISCUSSION ON THE RUNNING OF THE CLUB: on the whole people seemed happy with the way the Club was being run. The Chairman reiterated what she had said at the very first meeting that at any time the Treasurer’s book and the Chairman’s book could be looked at and at any stage any suggestions would be most welcome.

5. ELECTION OF OFFICERS: The following officers were elected:

Chairman Mrs. Caroline King

(Majority vote)

Vice Chairman Mrs. S. Adhemar

(Majority vote)

Vice Chairman Mrs. K. Taylor

(Majority vote)

Treasurer Mrs. Wiggy Smith

(proposed by A. Smith; seconded by B. Buxton)

Membership Sec. Mrs. S. Adhemar

(proposed by K. Taylor; seconded by A. Corrin)

Wine Steward Mrs. A. Corrin

(Majority vote)

Media/Publicity Mr. S. Wheeler

(Majority vote)

Trips Organiser Mr. O. Brunsden

(Majority vote)

Reading Room rep. Mrs. M. Reardon

(Majority vote)

6. GENERAL CLUB NOTICES: The Chairman read out some general Club notices about forthcoming events and invited people to browse the items on offer in the Garden Equipment Sale. The meeting ended at 9.10 p.m.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Lecture– 21st September 2009

The Helmdon Gardening Club Has Invited

THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION

To give a lecture on 16th October at 7.30 in The Reading Room

We are lucky enough to have the Commonwealth War Graves Commission coming on this date to give us a film show and talk on the history and work of this marvellous institution.

We hope that the lecturer will be able to answer questions on matters relating to the upkeep of the graveyards and the surrounding grass, shrubs and trees as well as any other questions about their work you wish to ask.

This night will also give you a chance to buy your membership cards (£15 for the year) for the first time. Everyone is very welcome and if you don’t want to become a member of the Club it doesn’t matter – you just need just pay £2 on the door each time.

Visit to Eydon Garden – 17th September 2009

The Helmdon Gardening Club paid a visit to the private garden of Dr. Glyn Jones, Eydon on 12th September. The weather was absolutely perfect as was Dr. Jones’ garden!

Dr. Jones was for twenty years the senior lecturer at Holloway College in London specialising in plant genetics. If you think that sounds a bit dull and academic think again! Dr. Jones is an amusing and charming man and his garden is absolutely gorgeous. It has been planted with shrubs and flowers from all over the world – carefully grouped together and providing something of interest every month of the year. Although his garden is not huge, Dr. Jones’ clever planting makes it look much bigger than it is.

After enthusing over his garden, we were all treated to glasses of wine and juice (and chocolates!) on the patio in glorious September sunshine. A neighbour had been invited round to show us her tame fox so the afternoon was pretty much complete by then! Dr. Jones is a natural speaker (well after twenty years lecturing he would be) and we are going to invite him to talk to us at The Garden Club next year …. so be sure not to miss it.

Talking of missing things, I’m afraid to say I completely forgot to add this visit to our Gardening Club schedule on the website so only those of you who came to our last few meetings knew that it was still going ahead. Many apologies to those of you who missed out. I promise to do better.

Caroline King

Chairman

August Meeting – 10th September 2009

A packed reading room enjoyed another interesting meeting of the Gardening Club.

After a few notices – (a lot connected with ‘The Reading Room campaign’ which can be found elsewhere on the website) – we moved on to the main business of the evening, which was a talk by Sallie from WRAP about home composting. It was very entertaining, with two quizzes and I think we proved what a clever lot we are again! Basically we should all have a go at composting – its free – helps soil structure – can be used as a mulch – and quite a few other things. Please go to WRAP’s website www.wrap.org.uk for further details and tips. Sallie showed us a few compost bins available from them, and they will only be selling them until the end of September, so rush to get a bargain!

Peter Payne gave us our monthly tips – cut those evergreen hedges – keep those containers well watered and deadheaded – plant your daffodils soon (nice and deep) – and a tip for a bee attracting shrub Ligustrum ‘Silver Star’, and a late spud ‘Sparta Red’.

Our next meeting on Tuesday 15th September (7.30 pm) will be our AGM – and we will discuss ‘The Membership Question’ and next year’s programme. After that there will be a bring and buy sale of garden equipment, and some important and exciting news about the ‘Gardeners Question Time’ visit on November 4th.

Hope to see you all there.

Steve Wheeler (Media and Publicity Secretary – very grand!)

Visit To Greatworth Plants – 27th June 2009

On a lovely warm and sunny June evening about twenty of us visited David Wilcox at his nursery near Greatworth.

David showed started the evening off with a short talk about running a nursery and he showed us his marvellous potting-on machine which rapidly fills earth into any size of pot with a suitable hole in the middle for the plant. Easy! (Well, apparently ‘easy’ but pretty boring when you have to pot on a few thousand plants in one day!)

Then … what we had all been waiting for … David showed us round his polytunnels and we were allowed to go where we wanted and buy what we wanted. Most of us were like children in a sweet shop.

Annual General Meeting – 7th September 2009

Our next meeting on Tuesday 15th September (7.30 pm) will be our AGM – and we will discuss ‘The Membership Question’ and next year’s programme. After that there will be a bring and buy sale of garden equipment, and some important and exciting news about the ‘Gardeners Question Time’ visit on November 4th.

Garden Competition Winners – 21st August 2009

The prizes for the club’s garden competition were awarded at the garden party in July, which thankfully didn’t (well not until later) have the same weather as when the judging took place.

Thanks to everyone who entered the various classes and I hope we can look forward to the next one. Also a big thank you to Peter Payne for leading the judging.

Thanks again to Julia and Pat McAuliffe for hosting a very pleasant evening, and many apologies for the slow write up, what with holidays and this constant growing weather, my customer’s gardens have been keeping me busy!

The winners (and runners up) were as follows: –

Best Display of Garden Plants

1st Julia McAuliffe

Best Lawn

1st Caroline king

Most Wildlife Friendly Garden

1st Julia McAuliffe

R/Up Jan & Cec Harrold

Most Imaginative Garden Feature

1st Charlotte & Paul Sandilands

R/up Jan & Cec Harrold

Most Attractive Patio

1st Jan & Cec Harrold

R/up Fiona Mason

Best Garden Vegetable Patch

1st Rex Jessett

R/Up Charlotte & Paul Sandilands

Best Shed

1st Doreen England

Steve Wheeler (Media and Publicity Secretary)

Composting The Subject of Next Meeting – 18th August 2009

At our next meeting of the Gardening Club on 20th August at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room we are lucky enough to have a representative of www.wrap.org.uk (which is a department of the local Government specialising in composting) coming to talk to us. Sallie will talk about composting in general and will be able to sell us compost bins and equipment. Open to everybody just £2 on the door.

Caroline King

Chairman

Garden Party – 5th August 2009

In front: Joan Hadfield, Jenny Overson,

Barbara Buxton and Doreen England

The first Helmdon Gardening Club Garden Party was held on July 11 by kind invitation of Julia and Pat McAuliffe at their home in Wappenham Road. Although the weather was not particularly kind, the members who attended were able to look round the garden and admire the chickens before enjoying a buffet of dishes brought by each member. After supper the prizes for the Garden Competition judged in June by Peter Payne and Steve Wheeler were handed out. Many thanks to Julia and Pat and all those involved in the organisation for what we hope will become an annual event, and congratulations to the prize winners.

Alex Corrin.

Visit to Broughton Grange Garden – 30th July 2009

The rain did not spoil enjoyment of the wonderful planting

The Gardening Club’s first garden visit attracted fifteen members and, in spite of some rain showers, was most interesting and enjoyable.

On Tuesday July 14th the party went to Broughton Grange, near Broughton Castle, Oxon, a garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, and were shown around by the head gardener, Andrew.

The garden is divided into three main terraces. The first is a prairie style garden and a water feature, on the next level are box hedges shaped into the vanes of three British native leaves, and the final level has yew sentries guarding the approach to the garden. The garden has a large developing arboretum and is looked after by seven full time gardeners.

Owen Brunsden.

How To Attract Birds To Our Gardens – 5th July 2009

Click for poster

Outing To Greatfield Plants Nursery, Greatworth – 28th June 2009

On a lovely warm and sunny June evening about twenty of us visited David Wilcox at his nursery near Greatworth.

David showed started the evening off with a short talk about running a nursery and he showed us his marvellous potting-on machine which rapidly fills earth into any size of pot with a suitable hole in the middle for the plant. Easy! (Well, apparently ‘easy’ but pretty boring when you have to pot on a few thousand plants in one day!)

Then … what we had all been waiting for … David showed us round his polytunnels and we were allowed to go where we wanted and buy what we wanted. Most of us were like children in a sweet shop!

The glorious end to a glorious evening was tea and delicious home made cakes on David’s lawn very kindly provided by his wife.

A really good outing and one I would love to repeat perhaps next year.

Caroline King
Chairman of The Helmdon Gardening Club
24th June, 2009

May Meeting – 28th June 2009

A good indication that the Gardening Club is thriving (apart from the nice comments) is the continuing high attendance rate; we had over thirty people to our meeting in May where we enjoyed a full and varied evening.

Jean Simmonds, a physiotherapist living in Helmdon, gave us lots to think about when she talked to us about the “do’s’ and ‘don’ts” when it comes to working in the garden. We were told now to lift things properly and the pitfalls to avoid when digging and undertaking strenuous work. Jean even brought along a model of a backbone to show us how things can go wrong if precautions aren’t taken. We took on board everything Jean said and hope not to repeat mistakes of the past!

Liz Humphrey was next and she showed us how to pot up the ultimate hanging basket which was not quite as simple as we had imagined and the result, in just ten minutes, was gorgeous.

After a quick break we had a fantastic plant sale and raised quite a bit of money for the Club; many thanks to those of you (well, all of you in fact) who brought in plants. The tomato plant I bought is already bearing lots of little green tomatoes.

Peter Payne gave us five minute’s worth of topical tips and the evening was rounded off by Charlotte Sandilands who talked about Falcutt Hall House and her (and Paul’s) efforts to redesign many parts of it …. including turning the old tennis court into a silver birch grove! Inspirational.

Another friendly and fun evening. Anybody is welcome to any meeting at any time; we don’t have a membership system so you just pay £2 on the door. Please look at our 2009 schedule on the Helmdon website for what’s happening for the rest of this year.

Caroline King

Chairman

Garden Competition And Open Gardens – 8th June 2009

Helmdon gardeners are a tough bunch and we didn’t flinch to open our gardens on the 6th June 2009 to two very stern looking judges (for the garden competition) and for members of the Club to have a nose round our gardens ….. all in the pouring rain and lowering clouds.

I’ve sent my especial congratulations to those opening their gardens (always a nerve-wracking thing) to other members of the Club. Our members are meant to know a bit about gardening so it was quite a challenge to let them into our own gardens. Everybody seemed very polite though and ignored that shady corner with loads of weeds, or the plants that hadn’t quite come into bloom yet!

Next year we might open our gardens to everybody living in Helmdon; I’m not quite sure whether that will be worse or better! Still it was all good fun and if you want to be part of this growing and jolly bunch of gardeners, do please join us at any of our meetings in the Reading Room (details under ‘Village Groups’ on the Helmdon website). This Club is just that little bit different and along with the knowledge we hope to acquire, we seem to have a good deal of fun as well. Come and see for yourself.

Caroline King

Chairman

April Meeting – 19th May 2009

A great turnout on April 28th of nearly forty enjoyed an excellent illustrated talk by Barry Smith, head gardener at Stowe Landscape Gardens. Barry has been at Stowe for 29 years, starting there straight from school at age 15, working for various owners until the National Trust took over its management in 1989, and has been in his present role for 5 years. He talked us through the history (many of the design greats have been involved – Bridgeman/Kent/Capability Brown), planting schemes, monuments, problems arising from missing records, and some present and future changes of the gardens. Local links included the use of Helmdon stone and sand on the site. I know we will all be looking at the landscape and gardens differently on our next visit. We look forward to Barry visiting again next year with part 2 of his talk.

I found a good website with the full history of Stowe which you might find interesting at http://faculty.bsc.edu/jtatter/summary.html.

A few club notices followed –

The club has booked the Reading Room for meetings for the third Thursday of the month next year – so book it in your diaries now!

Caroline is still favourite for a clean sweep of the garden competitions to be held on June 6th – there is only one more meeting to enter – don’t be shy!

The club Garden Party is to be held on July 11th – more details to follow.

Katherine House is looking for volunteer help in their gardens – please contact Lucinda Lloyd – the admin manager ([email address removed]) – [phone number removed] if you think you can help.

Ann Smith would also like assistance with the Church Fete, as would Charlotte and Paul Sandilands with their open gardens for the Church on Sunday 14th June – please contact Caroline [phone number removed]) if you can help.

Steve Wheeler gave some details of the results from the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. It revealed that 7844 gardens took part in Northants (550,000 countrywide), and the top bird in the county is the starling, and long-tailed tits have doubled in numbers since last year. Full details at http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

Peter Payne entertained us with his ‘question corner’ covering local tips (including a good way of avoiding looking at the remains of daffodils by covering with newspaper and compost and planting other bedding through) – he has also got a bit excited and planted most of his allotment already!

Please check elsewhere on the Helmdon website for details of BBC request for help from pea growers, or contact Caroline for details [phone number removed]).

Our next meeting is on Friday 29th May, and we will be having a Plant Sale, so please bring along a couple of plants to sell and boost club coffers!

Steve Wheeler (Media and Publicity Secretary)

Outing to Broughton Grange Gardens in July – April 14th 2009

The Helmdon Gardening Club is planning a visit to Broughton Grange Gardens on 14th July 2009. We will leave the village at 5.00 p.m. and travel by coach to Broughton Grange; the gardens – on a lovely summer evening – are said to be exquisite. If you would like to come, please join us at one of our Garden Club meetings on either 28th April or 29th May (7.30 p.m. the Reading Room, Helmdon) and put your name down on the list. We anticipate the cost will be £13.50 per person (coach fare and admittance fee) or possibly less.

March Meeting: Social at The Bell! – March 19th 2009

A change of venue on March 11th for the club this month, where we enjoyed a very good evening at The Bell. The chance to chat and check on garden progress, and enjoy some excellent food provided by Richard and his staff. Caroline produced a great ‘silent’ quiz (well not that silent!) and my team and I will be looking for something to prop up with our prizes of garden sticks for some years to come. It was good to support our local pub, and hope we can make it a regular event.

The next meeting is on Tuesday 28th April at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room, where Barry Smith, the head gardener from Stowe Landscape Gardens will be talking to us.

Finally, our speaker in August (it will soon be here…honest) is from WRAP (who deal with recycling and composting policies) has reminded us that if we would like to get some advice, and cheap compost bins to visit www.recyclenow.com/compost before the end of March to grab a bargain.

Hope these frosts stop soon …. would like some plums this year.

Steve Wheeler (Media and Publicity Secretary)

February Meeting – March 11th 2009

Janet Cropley, from the National Gardens Scheme entertained over thirty members with her talk on ‘Plants for difficult times’ (a late change of subject), where she displayed pictures from her own garden showing plants that give interest at different times of year. Her enthusiasm and love of her garden is infectious, and it was nice to hear that pruning shrubs also causes a plantswoman problems, as you always seem to affect something! The talk was followed by a Q&A session, covering such things as honey fungus – we look forward to her visiting again.

Jenny Saunders then gave a presentation showing some wonderful hellebores that she discovered after seeing an article in ‘Herefordshire Life’. Six wonderful plants with different colours and forms were brought from Basil Smith of Ullingswick, a gentleman who grows nothing but hellebores in his nursery which looks fantastic, and the plants where cheap as well! – how does Jenny fit it all in her garden?

A few club notices followed, and Caroline told us of her discovery that Starbucks (the Tesco of coffee shops!) are giving away coffee grounds that are supposed to be a good slug/snail deterrent, we look forward to hearing the results.

The club is holding a Garden Competition on June 6th – there are categories for all, so please be brave and make an entry (it’s not aimed to rival ‘Chelsea’, but just a bit of fun) – otherwise Caroline will win everything! (I think I might go for the untidiest or ‘most toys lying about’ award).

More information at our Club Social in the Bell on Monday 16th March (contact Caroline King if you haven’t booked yet), and our next meeting in the Reading Room is Tuesday 28th April, when we will have a visit from Barry Smith, the head gardener of Stowe landscape gardens.

Steve Wheeler (Media and Publicity Secretary)

January Meeting – February 3rd 2009

Around thirty members enjoyed another varied evening, which had something for everyone.

Starting off with a very hands on (or in!) presentation of Cider making by Chris Page & Wayne Taylor of the the Helmdon Heritage Cider Club. A quick history of this young enterprise was followed by a demonstration of pulping and pressing the fruit, and tasting of the fresh juice and the first batch of cider (from October) … I for one had a couple, and look forward to retesting later in the year! The HHC is on the lookout for spare fruit (apples and pears) next year, so if you can help – let us know.

Next Peter Payne gave us some village gardening information – covering some tasks we could be getting on with, fuchsias, geraniums and local knowledge on growing conditions – so we will all be getting those beans in soon.

Steve Wheeler gave a quick reminder regarding the RSPB’s very worthwhile ‘Big Garden Birdwatch’ happening over 24th/25th January, and was pleased that 15 or so survey forms disappeared (hope you saw even more than we did – I’m sure they know they are being watched).

We had a break for another good plant (and pots from Cliveden!) identification quiz by Owen Brunsden – the winners receiving a packet of sunflower seeds, and a head start on a club competition later in the year.

The evening ended with some club notices and a verbal quiz (we are a clever bunch on the whole). The War Memorial garden maintenance has now been covered for the year which is wonderful, and ideas and help are still needed for the Church Fete (please contact Ann Smith). Various competitions were announced to get everyone planning for June. The ‘club member’ question still not finally sorted, so do keep coming to the meetings and help the club grow.

At our next meeting on Friday 20th February (7.30 pm – £2 admission), we will host the very entertaining Janet Cropley from the National Open Gardens Scheme, talking about ‘Plants for difficult spaces’ – so please do come and join us!

Steve Wheeler (Media and Publicity Secretary)

Christmas Meeting – December 27th 2008

Despite all that pre-Christmas stress, thirty of you turned out on a cold night to come to the Helmdon Gardening Club and, I hope, had a thoroughly nice evening.

We were entertained by a talk from Mr. Chris Smith, Head Gardener from Canons Ashby who led us through the huge and ambitious renovation plans he has for the gardens. Oh to have his skill, budget and vision!

Liz Humphries was also present and was selling some of her lovely garden gifts, plants, garlands etc.

We finished off the evening by giving out a few notices … it always seems we are asking for volunteers! This time we were asking for help with maintaining the small garden round the Helmdon War Memorial, seeing what we can do to help Anne Smith with the Church Fete and, finally, wondering what we could do to promote the produce side of the Helmdon Carnival. If anybody reading this can help with any of these, perhaps you would be kind enough to give me a ring or send an e-mail and I’ll give you all the details. I also gave out our 2009 schedule of meetings which is looking very exciting (find the dates in the 2009 Village Diary and on our own programme page).

The evening finished with some tasty Christmas nibbles and wine.

Our meeting on January 23rd 2009 is a members night where ‘members’ (’member’ means anybody who turns up to a meeting; we haven’t sorted that one out quite yet) give their own brief talks and gardening tips. We are having a cider making (and tasting!) demonstration, a talk about fuchsias and a talk about making a wormery. I love members nights so do come. It will be fun.

Thank you all for your wonderful enthusiasm and especially patience whilst we get this Club up and running. Now we have a proper framework for next year’s meetings, things will get better and better.

Caroline King (Chairman)

December Meeting Reminder – 13th December 2008

Next meeting on Tuesday 16th December at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room: a great opportunity to listen to the Head Gardener of Canons Ashby about his work and the restoration of the gardens … plus … do some last minute Christmas shopping from Liz Humphries from Plenti-full-Pots who will be selling some lovely gifts. All this and a glass of wine and some tasty nibbles. Everyone welcome.

Do come.

Third Meeting – Another Great Night – 9th November 2008

We all had another great night at the third Club meeting on 7th November 2008. There was a very strong turn-out of members and the theme of the meeting was Club members entertaining us with their own particular garden ‘thing’.

Peter Payne gave us a very funny and informative talk about his allotment and all his years of gardening experience in Helmdon. We learnt about potato blight (and which neighbours he blamed for this!), using spirit levels to put your runner bean canes in dead straight, a new term to some of us called ‘late ground’ and the highs and lows of allotment keeping.

Wiggy then talked to us about all the various gardens she has had in her life and how her first ever pocket money was spent on gladioli bulbs (an unusual child indeed), her 45 year old secateurs given to her by her father and how her husband – as a loving surprise – completely dug up her beloved flower border one time.

I ended the mini-talks with a ramble about my roof garden in London and the problems of gardening three flights up from the ground, the pleasures of creating a mini-oasis in mid-London and the ultimate problem of a leaking roof which meant we had to move to Helmdon (an expensive hobby – gardening!).

Our meeting ended with a plant identification quiz kindly organised by Owen Brunsden who also donated some lovely cyclamen as prizes. After this we had a verbal plant quiz to stretch our horticultural brains even further.

A great evening. Please do join us for the next one on Tuesday 16th December when we will have a talk by the Head Gardener of Canons Ashby but do bring along some money as Liz Humphries from Plenti-Full-Pots will also be there selling some of her pretty gardening things.

Caroline King

(Chairman)

Second Meeting Backs Up Successful Start – 18th October 2008

We welcomed about forty people through the doors of the Reading Room for the second meeting of the Helmdon Gardening Club on Friday 17th October 2008: another extremely encouraging sign that the Club will be successful.

Mr. Wilson, the Manager of Hurrans Garden Centre in Banbury, talked to us about the ups and downs of the commercial plant world. He told us how difficult it is to work out just how many plants, how much compost etc. he needs to order without there being either a shortage or too much left over at the end of the season. Mr. Wilson also talked about fashions in gardens (did you know that the in colour this year is white … we didn’t!) and he finished his lecture by kindly donating a signed copy of a book about plants that he has written.

Mr. Paul Sandilands then talked to us about his aunt, the famous garden designer, Rosemary Verey. Paul illustrated his talk with pictures from a book about his aunt’s garden. These wonderful photos just about made all of us want to give up! How could we hope to conjure up such a lovely garden ourselves!

Wiggy gave us a wonderful and easy topical tip to do in our gardens in the autumn … but if you want to know what it was, you will have to come to the next meeting!.

The meeting ended with a raffle – the prizes having kindly been donated by members. Please do come to our next meeting which will be a members’ night when we entertain each other with mini-talks about our various garden stories, tips or passions and we will end with a plant identification quiz. Next meeting is Friday 7th November at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room.

Caroline King

(Chairman)

First Meeting A Huge Success – 22nd September 2008

Our very first meeting of the Helmdon Gardening Club was a HUGE success! Thank you to everybody – all 45 of you – who turned up.

We elected the following Club officers at the meeting:

Chairman: Caroline King [phone number removed] ([email address removed])

Vice Chairs: Kate Taylor ([email address removed])

And Sarah Adhemar ([email address removed])

Treasurer: Ros Spence ([email address removed])

Just to let you know that our meetings for 2008 are as follows:

Friday October 17th at 7.30 in the Reading Room (guest speaker is the Manager of Hurrans Garden Centre)

Friday November 7th at 7.30 in the Reading Room (club members will be instructing us and entertaining us with their gardening tips)

Tuesday December 16th at 7.30 in the Reading Room (the Head Gardener of Canons Ashby will be speaking to us)

Hope to see you there.

Caroline King

Launch of New Club – 23rd August 2008

Helmdon is to have its own gardening club!

We are having our first meeting on Tuesday 16th September at 7.30 p.m. in the Reading Room, Church Street. (We are hoping to hold all subsequent meetings on a Friday evening once a month).

A lot of people have expressed an interest in a club like this and ALL are welcome … non-gardeners especially! We aim to have a relaxing couple of hours chatting about our various garden problems, visiting each others’ gardens, listening to visiting professional gardeners, holding a summer garden party and light-hearted garden competitions … anything from the biggest weed to the prettiest garden.

If you are a complete novice, an experienced gardener or simply would enjoy a pleasant evening out once a month (over a glass of wine/cup of tea etc.) then please either come to our first meeting, or e-mail or ’phone one of us about the dates of subsequent meetings.

Looking forward to seeing you!