Unless otherwise advised all our programmed meetings will be held at the Heaves Hotel, Sizergh, Kendal, LA8 8EF. Visit our Programme and Venue pages for more information.
Information on the competition is at the link Photo Competition
Saturday 18th June dawned damp and cloudy, but it soon brightened as lots of Hardy Planters from the Cumbria Group headed towards the Village Hall at Preston Patrick for their annual Plant Sale, the main source of the club's income. The volunteer helpers came loaded with plants of all shapes and sizes, delicious cakes and gave their time.
The empty hall was soon transformed into a hive of industry as tables were erected and arranged, plants were sorted and priced and cups and saucers readied for customers. A well deserved 'cuppa' and a browse round the plants before opening time was then enjoyed by the volunteers.
Although there was a queue outside by 9.45am, the doors remained shut until 10.00am when people were allowed in to snap up a bargain! As the plant tables quickly emptied, so the refreshment room filled with customers enjoying scrumptious cakes with their tea and coffee. Comments such as 'Excellent!' and 'Delicious!' were heard as people gradually drifted away and the helpers, exhausted and happy, tidied away and took their new acquisitions to plant in their own gardens.
The amazing sum of about £940 was raised! A huge thankyou to all the helpers, both the seasoned ones and those joining in for the first time. Here's hoping you will help out again!
Now...... it's time to be thinking about all those cuttings which can be taken now to raise new plants to fill next year's tables!
Stella Hall, Hon. Secretary
A photo slide show is available at Plant Sale
Winning photos from this competition are at Competition Winners
It was a beautiful day and thirty five members and friends met either in Kendal or Lancaster for the journey to Cheshire.
Ness Botanic Gardens was our first stop. A quick coffee and then we all had the 64 acres to explore. The planted areas which we were interested in were separate, but the walks in between were delightful. There was a nice breeze and we had views over the Dee estuary. Highlights included a Cornus kousa in flower, with a huge cascade of pink and white bracts and a lovely potager with some very clever planting to illustrate how vegetables can be very attractive in small raised beds. I think everyone liked the pond areas near the Visitor Centre. It was very tranquil with some lovely planting in shades of green and yellow (irises, alchemilla mollis, primulas etc), with a well planted rockery around it. My description does not do it justice, but it was gorgeous. Lunch was either a picnic under the trees or a meal in the new Visitor Centre.
Our next garden was Weeping Ash Garden near Manchester. The description in the Good Gardens Guide and the NGS Yellow Book led me to believe it would be good. When the coach pulled into the Car Park about four times the size of Hayes in Ambleside…I started to get worried. John Bent, the owner, met us and took us into his garden just to the side of the Car Park. He apologized for the dryness, and also said that the garden was in need of a tree surgeon as some specimens had out grown the space. The worry increased!!!! Oh dear! On the plus side, John Bent took us round the garden and shared his knowledge of the creating of the garden and it's planting with us. On the minus side the garden was a disappointment - it was overgrown, tumbledown and with very few flowers to be seen. One has to wonder how the descriptions in both sources I used came to be made. Again on the plus side, many of us visited the very nice tearoom and also bought plants (which were very expensive although a very good size). I managed to buy the netting for my blackcurrants which I could not get locally. There is a silver lining to every cloud.
A lesson learned I feel …..Always recce the gardens you visit Erica!
With that in mind I am off to Northumberland next Friday to visit Herterton House and also two private gardens very nearby. In August David (my husband) and I are visiting Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. Two of these were suggestions made on the coach so I hope for some good gardens for Cumbrian Hardy Planters next year.
Erica Clapp, Hon Secretary
