Kerry Austen is Team Leader and Head Gardener of the international rose trials at Joseph Rochford Gardens Ltd.

Kerry also works at RHS Wisley Bowes Lyon Rose Garden, and is the Chair of the Rose trial forum at RHS Garden Wisley

Click here to listen to Kerry talking about rose trials.

Nigel Start says that his love of gardening started in the late seventies when his first small house came with a large plot. He found the best way to manage it was by growing fruit and vegetables, with the help of a small flock of chickens to clear the weeds and fertilise the ground. He very quickly became self-sufficient for a good bit of food, and has been so for over 40 years. Nigel’s talks are all based on his personal experience..

George Lockwood is a full time totally organic passionate gardener. He studied at Capel Manor College and has been gardening for the last 15 years.

Winner of the European Garden Book of the Year 2019, we are delighted to welcome back Catherine Horwood to talk about an international garden designer, plant expert and scholarly garden historian, the extraordinary Penelope Hobhouse. Click here for more information.

Catherine is a social historian of women's horticultural history, houseplants and flower arranging. Contributor to many publications including Gardens Illustrated and The English Garden, and author of books including Beth Chatto. A Life with Plants, (our excellent February speaker last year). Catherine’s specialist subject is garden history, women's history, history of indoor plants, and as a biographer of Beth Chatto and Penelope Hobhouse.

Catherine is an honorary research fellow at the Bedford Centre for the History of Women at Royal Holloway, University of London. A former journalist, she has a doctorate in history on interwar dress codes and has published on the social history of sports clothes, on consumerism and women’s magazines. She has contributed to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and to BBC Radio 4 programmes on shopping and social history.

THIS MEETING IS ON ZOOM

Click here for the link to watch (passcode: bonsai) at home OR come to St Laurence’s as usual to watch on screen together.

Kit Holland will talk to us about her role as Orchard Manager, in the Midsummer Community Orchard, and tell us all about pruning and common fruit tree diseases.

The orchard is always looking for volunteers to care for the orchard from raking grass from future wildflower beds, mowing, pruning trees and watering new plantings. We usually have monthly volunteering sessions throughout spring and summer on Sunday mornings 10-11.30.

You can contact Kit on Twitter: CommonOrchard or on Facebook: friendsofmidsummercommon

Steven Coghill, Horticulturist and Head Gardener at King’s College, will tell us how he created the dry border and the secrets to a magnificent meadow.

Steven’s career included lecturing at horticultural college, and managing the gardens at two great estates: Braxted Park and Glemham Hall. His work at King’s College Cambridge has included the creation of a new garden as a setting for the memorial to the renowned Chinese poet Xu Zhimo. One of Xu Zhimo’s most famous poems was ‘Remembering Cambridge’.

Click here to read more about Steven.

Get in the festive spirit by coming along for light refreshments, games and chat.

Bring along a wrapped gift of max £10 to take part in the tombola.

Rebecca Chambers opened The Shopkeeper's Daughter, in St Neots, in November 2021, and sells a variety of house plants. Her aim was to provide something different for the town and says she has many customers looking for a special plant as a gift..

Rebecca said: “I have tried to please everyone with the range of plants I sell, I have cacti, Calatheas, some Severas, but most importantly I wanted to make people not afraid to care for plants. “My philosophy is anyone can keep a house plant alive, you just need the right instruction. That is basically my mission - to get St Neots green.”

Rebecca explained the most popular plant is a Euphorbia lactea. It is a hybrid and it's also structural and pretty; they are the sort of plant that makes a great present

Rebecca revealed the meaning behind the shop’s name, “My mum and dad moved to St Neots from London when my mum was pregnant with me. We used to live above M&S which was previously Liptons which my Dad ran. “He has always had shops, which how my shop got its name.

Keith has over 20 years’ experience in local government as an Arboriculture & Urban Forest Director. He is currently a Director of Barcham Trees, the largest container tree nursery in Europe. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and is a Chartered Arboriculturist. He has an MSc in Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, a BSc in Social Science and a BSc in Arboriculture. Keith is currently a trustee of the Arboricultural Association and also of the Trees and Design Action Group (TDAG).

Catriona Caldwell is a landscape and garden designer working in Cambridge and throughout the UK. Initially trained as an architect, Catriona developed a keen interest in landscape and horticulture during her final postgraduate years. After a few years working in practice in London, this prompted her to start full time work as a gardener and return to studying, graduating in horticulture & garden design from Capel Manor College in 2014.

Catriona works in close collaboration with architects, designers and craftsmen to develop landscapes in harmony with the site and surrounding environment. She has recently worked for clients designing a variety of contemporary urban gardens in Cambridge and London and larger scale rural projects.

This meeting will begin with our short AGM where we will elect our new committee for 2024-25, and review the progress of the last 12 months.

Jim Paine, Walnut Tree Garden Nursery

How do plants tell the time? How and why do they communicate with each other? Did you know that some plants can generate enough heat to melt snow, whilst others nourish their young?

Jim Paine of the well-known Walnut Tree Garden Nursery will tell us about these and other fascinating secrets about the life of the plants in our gardens and in the countryside around us. Jim and Clare previously worked at the IUCN - UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre on Huntingdon Road, until moving to Norfolk to establish the Walnut Tree Garden Nursery in 1998.  The Nursery is a specialist nursery that propagates and sells a large variety of hardy garden plants, from well-loved classics, through to more unusual species and varieties, but as of Summer 2023 the nursery will  close as both partners work towards retiring. Jim will continue to give talks, and indulge his plant propagation addiction.

TABLE COMPETITiON - A flowering pot plant

Caroline Holmes

Caroline gave a talk to Chesterton Garden Club  on Zoom during Covid lockdown on The Poison garden at Alnwick Garden, she is returning to talk in person on Impressionists in their gardens. Caroline is a broadcaster on TV and radio, international lecturer and consultant.  She is Course Director University of Cambridge ICE International Summer Programme. She is the author of a number of books including;

Water lilies and Bory Latour-Marliac, the genius behind Monet’s water lilies.

The RHS Herbs for Gourmet Gardeners

Follies of Europe

Impressionists in their gardens

TABLE COMPETITION - small vase of brightest flowers and foliage from your garden

Chris Gibson, formerly at Natural England

The most frequent thing I am asked for is a list of the plants mentioned in the talk, and at long last, here it is!  This is far from being a comprehensive list of garden goodies (and baddies), just the ones that anyone who has seen the talk will have seen pictures of. Click here.

If you need more inspiration, there’s plenty out there, such as the website of the Wildlife Gardening Forum. Or better still, take a trip out to somewhere like the Beth Chatto Gardens, Elmstead Market, a few miles east of Colchester, wander round the garden on a warm day, see what the insects are visiting, and then go into the nursery and buy it, assuming your garden has the right conditions. Nature generally will point the way!

TABLE COMPETITION - Photo of wildlife in your garden OR an object featuring British wildlife.

Catherine Horwood

A TALK ON ZOOM - contact us here for a zoom link

Catherine Horwood is an English journalist, author and social historian who writes extensively on horticulture, garden design, and in fashion the history of dress. She is the authorised biographer of the British plantswoman, garden designer, and author, Beth Chatto. (best known for creating the Beth Chatto Gardens near Elmstead, Essex and described as ‘one of the most influential horticulturalists for the last 50 years’). Her biography, Beth Chatto: a life with plants won the European Garden Book of the Year award in 2020.

Tim Fuller, The Plantsman’s Preference

Tim Fuller is an ornamental grasses & woodland perennial specialist and is also a member of the RHS’s floral trial panel which recommends plants for the Award of Garden Merit.His nursery, the Plantsman’s Preference, is in Norfolk at South Lopham and specialises in hardy geraniums, ornamental grasses and unusual or rare herbaceous perennials. He maintains that he has an aversion to plants that need staking or dead- heading ( amen to that! ) Tim’s plants have been awarded gold and silver- gilt medals over the years and best in show at the Suffolk show in 2011 and 2012.

TABLE COMPETITION - An indoor fern

Ben Cijffers, Cultivate Gardens

Having worked across a range of industries from ecology to construction, Ben turned his attention to his true passion of Gardens, and in 2017 he started Cultivate Gardens Ltd.  The company quickly grew into a leader in design and landscaping in Cambridge, offering an end to end service from concept to completion. Ben and his team specialise in working with private homeowners to create contemporary and exciting gardens that respond to the challenges and vernacular of the city.

 Ben and his team are committed to working ethically, ecologically and thoughtfully, and are accredited Living Wage Foundation employers.

 Ben lives in Cambridge with his family, and likes to spend his spare time tending to the very first Cambridge garden he built, which is conveniently his own!

TABLE COMPETITION - a firework design of leaves

Lucy Skellorn, Foster Irises

When Lucy was growing up in her family home near Stowmarket, she remembered an oil painting of her great, great, grandfather hanging on the wall. As a child she was aware that he had something to do with irises but had no idea quite how famous he was in his day.

 He was, in fact, Sir Michael Foster, (1836 - 1907) physiologist, MP, teacher, writer and a passionate collector of irises, often referred to as ‘the father of iris breeding.’ He worked at Trinity College in Cambridge and lived at Gt Shelford where he spent his leisure time developing new irises. Much of his source material was brought back from such places as Turkey, the Middle East and China.

 Iris amas was developed from a specimen found in Turkey in 1885 and became a source for many hybrids, bred for larger flowers of a robust nature with prolific flowering. Sir Michael Foster introduced many new varieties including Mrs Horace Darwin, a white flower with purple veining, named after Charles Darwin’s daughter in law and Iris Caterina, one of Lucy’s favourites, with blue flowers and a good fragrance.

 Lucy has worked in in the gardens of Helmingham Hall and Ickworth House, amongst others. This encouraged Lucy’s mission to find as many of her great, great grandfather’s irises as possible. She now holds the official Foster iris collection in her garden in Ringshall, near Stowmarket.

Simon McWilliams from Hedgehog Plants and Garden Nursery

Jay and Simon love unusual plants and their nursery near to Bury St Edmnds was started in 2003 when they both gave up their jobs and became “Hedgehog Gardens”, a gardening service in and around Hopton, Suffolk where they built a steady client base and gained a good reputation.

In 2007 a local hard landscaping centre offered them the chance to run their very small plant section and they jumped at the chance, becoming “Hedgehog Plants & Gardens” in the process.

Initially Jay ran the plant section having grown plants since she was ‘knee high to a gnat’ whilst Simon continued with the gardening side of the business. However, they both quickly decided that simply buying in the same old plants that you see everywhere and selling them on wasn’t for them.

Slowly but surely they began growing other, more interesting hardy plants and introduced them to their customers. This went well and in 2008 they did their first ever plant fair at Wyken Vineyards in aid of SWWAG – Stanton Woodland & Wildlife Action Group. A fair we attended for many years.

So, to find the plant for your garden that no one else has, this is the nursery for you!

https://www.theinterestingplantnursery.co.uk/our-plants/

Michael Brown

‘A Bouquet of Weeds’ – We curse them and try to kill them, but in the past most of our common weeds were grown on purpose because they were useful; yes, even Ground Elder! Learn how to love your weeds and get your own back at the same time.

and Annual General Meeting with election of committee members

AND … review of summer plant project - all to bring their tradescantia or hellebore seedling.

An all day visit to Beth Chatto’s Garden. Beth Chatto's Plants and Gardens.  Exponent of the right plant for the right place there are many types of gardens to explore; gravel, water, scree, woodland and reservoir.  Coach departs from outside the Church of the Good Shepherd, Mansel Way CB4 2ET at 9.30 returning to Cambridge at approx. 5.30.  Café on site for lunches and refreshments. They take card payments only.

Cost: £26 includes entrance fee and coach.  Guests £30.  Bookings are open to  other garden clubs and members of the public in order to fill the places on the coach.

Click here to request a place

A visit to St Johns College Gardens, with a tour guided by the Head Gardener, David Austrin.  Meet at 2.15 at the College’s Great Gate on St John’s Street for the tour at 2.30.  Costs: Free for members, £5 for guests.  Click here to request a place

David Livermore, Honorary Secretary of the Bedfordshire Alpine Garden Society

The Alpine Garden Society is one of the largest specialist garden societies in the world. The Society has a wide interest in plants that encompass not only true alpine and mountain plants, but also small hardy herbaceous plants, hardy and half-hardy bulbs, hardy ferns, hardy succulents and small shrubs.

The Bedfordshire group began in 1986 and has being going strong ever since with regular monthly meetings, speaker evenings, a library and a very popular annual show.

Our guest speaker is Simon White, Garden Centre Manager of Peter Beales Roses.

Simon will show us how easy it is to grow the nation’s favourite flower up and around anything from arches to pergolas, walls and fences including north walls, up trees and in pots and containers, obelisks and rails and even free standing.

This Talk will show you that every Garden has somewhere that you would be able to grow a climber or Rambler Rose.

The late Peter Beales started the rose nursery in 1968 and started to specialize in the old fashioned style of shrub rose and climbers and ramblers. There are over 2.5 acres of display gardens at the nursery and Garden Centre in Attleborough Norfolk where most of the collection is showcased.

Our guest speaker is Fiona Rose from Arts and Crafts Living

More famous for his work inside the home, William Morris (1834-1896) made a significant impact on the evolution of the English garden. He considered the garden inseparable from the house, rejecting Victorian formality and instead drawing inspiration from medieval gardens.

This lecture examines his gardening principles drawing from Morris’s lectures, letters, poetry, and prose. It also explores his own gardens that served as an inspiration behind his flower-based designs: Red House, Kelmscott Manor, Kelmscott House and the garden at his factory Merton Abbey Works.

Fiona’s interest in the Arts & Crafts Movement and in particular William Morris, began in her teenage years when she fell in love with Morris’s wallpaper designs. In 2009 Fiona turned her passion for the Arts & Crafts Movement into a career by starting her own business selling home interiors featuring designs by the great C19th designers. She has been lecturing about topics related to the Arts & Crafts Movement since 2010 and is an accredited lecturer with The Arts Society.

Our guest speaker is Nicola Rotton from Bloom and Blossom. A cut flower enterprise in Cambridge which grows, and supplies, its own locally grown cut flowers for your table and home.

More information - click here

Our speaker tonight is Margaret Nimmo Smith.

Margaret has been a keen amateur gardener all her adult life and a founder member of the local NCCPG (now Plant Heritage) and HPS groups. In the past she has run the Spore Exchange for the British Pteridological Society and worked for 10 years at Monksilver Nursery propagating ferns.  More recently she has retired from running the U3AC Garden Group.  

Fashions in the Garden could be translated into fashions in garden plants or my garden journey with plants.  Margaret will talk about her early gardening influences, how plant buying has changed and how fashion in plants and style of planting has developed over the last 50 years. Take a trip down memory lane and back into the future!

Fun and festivities. Join us for this social event to mark the end of a very interested term of talks and meetings. More information to follow …

The party will be held at St Laurence’s Church Hall, 91 Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 1XB

 All are welcome, members free, guests £5