Newsletters | wnh-horticlub

NEWSLETTER OF 27TH MARCH 2024

Just when we thought things were getting better, the rain came back! On the positive side, lots of plants are well in advance of last year. Tulips are now in flower and there is a bank of bluebells in flower in Pyrford already. It would be good to think this is an indication of future good weather but I’m sure it is actually a reaction to past weather!

The March Meeting started with the AGM – all 17 minutes of it - at which you said that you wanted the same Committee to deliver a similar programme as last year – and it will be delivered as planned, complete with a celebrity speaker in November. The Meeting then heard a talk by Chris Stewart on The Earthworm - everything you wanted to know but did not dare ask! It was an interesting talk, packed with facts about something so small that is essential to cultivation.

There was also the Mini-Show for daffodils which produced many entries of different varieties, this year being a particularly high standard which challenged our judge, Jo Graham, to identify those entries with just that bit extra. The results of the classes are as follows:

Long stemmed daffodils

1st - Bob Hodges

2nd - Rosemary Thompson

3rd - Gill Munslow

Short stemmed daffodils

1st - Rosemary Thompson

2nd - Louise Clubley

3rd - Lynne Moore

Our next meeting of the 2024 programme will be on Friday 5th April 2024 when we are delighted to welcome back Ray Broughton (remember his excellent talk on 80 things you may not know about horticulture!) who, this time, will be telling us about 'The Alternatives to Peat.' As the use of peat is being banned for amateur gardeners, this is a very topical subject and one which will be relevant to any grower both indoors and outdoors.

You may be interested in another talk by Ray Broughton on Companion Planting for the National Vegetable Society Surrey DA at East Horsley Village Hall KT24 6QT (20 minutes drive away). There will be familiar faces there so you know there will be a warm welcome. Only £1 entry as an Associate member – start at 8pm.

Anyone who would like to pay their subscription, please bring either a cheque or cash in an envelope with your name on the front.

All Saints Church members are gathering on Good Friday, 29th March from 10 – 12 noon to decorate the raised bed cross planter in their garden for Easter. Everyone is welcome. Please bring a pot of spring flowers so we can all celebrate the season. Refreshments, including hot cross buns will be available.

Look forward to seeing you all on Friday week.

NEWSLETTER OF 9TH FEBRUARY 2024

This is an earlier Newsletter than usual as it includes the Calling Notice and the papers for the Club Annual General Meeting, which will be held at the start of the meeting on Friday 1st March, which have to be sent out 3 weeks in advance.

We started our programme for the new year with a talk by Julie Verity who told us about the so-called Wild Gardener, William Robinson (1838-1935) who was quite a character outside his garden exploits – an interesting talk about an unusual topic.

The Meeting on Friday 1st March members will hear a talk by Chris Stewart, also known to us as the Mole Man, for those of you who remember him from a few years ago. His topic this time is The Earthworm - everything you wanted to know but did not dare ask! In addition, there will be a Mini-Show for daffodils. There will be two classes:

Long stemmed daffodils
Short stemmed daffodils

For both classes bring 5 stems in a vase and register with Rupert on arrival.

AGM Papers. The following documents are attached for your perusal before the AGM part of the Meeting – if you need hard copy, please print off your own copies where possible:

Calling Notice and Agenda
Financial Report for 2023
Minutes of last year’s Meeting

Subscriptions. For the fourth year in a row, subscriptions will remain at £6 per person. It entitles you to vote at the AGM and thus play a full part in the running of the Club. As the AGM is on the 1st March, there is still time to by bank transfer - -Remember, membership payment is needed before you can vote at the AGM!

RHS Wisley News. Three points, following up the announcements at the February Meeting:

Discover familiar houseplants mixed with other weird and wonderful plants, among fossils and footprints. Be transported back to long, long ago in a Plants Before Time exhibition in the Glasshouse. The whole of the lower level of the Glasshouse has been used and it is well worth visiting – though note it is half-term next week. Do also include the orchids which are in a side room. It is on until the 10th March (last entry 3.15 daily), is free entry and out the cold, wind and rain! Suggest you pick up the leaflet – Time Travel Passport – as it has lots of information about the plants.
As an RHS affiliated club, we have a card that gives 2 visitors a 50% discount to any RHS Garden. Please contact Louise if you would like to use it for a visit.
Wisley is shut on the 24th-25th February as the A3 just outside is closed that weekend.

Look forward to seeing you all on Friday in 3 weeks’ time – with your daffodils!

NEWSLETTER OF 19TH JANUARY 2024

A Happy New Year to all at the start of the new calendar year. After the really wet spell then the biting cold, the gardens are beginning to come to life already. The crocuses, snowdrops and early daffodils are in bloom as well as the camelias, daphne and witch hazel – at least they are at RHS Wisley! Actually this is what I wrote this time last year but it is already starting now in spite of the fact it is -5º while this Newsletter is being written!

We start our programme for the new year with a talk by Julie Verity called ‘The Wild Gardener’ on Friday, 2nd February in our usual meeting place, All Saints New Haw Church Hall, starting at 7.45. The Wild Gardener is not actually Julie but one William Robinson(1838-1935). Look around the gardens of southeast England and you will find his influence. At Munstead Wood, Sissinghurst and Gravetye (to name but a few), naturalistic planting, drifts of plants, cottage and woodland garden plantings have found their place – because of this man. Robinson’s influential ideas about wild gardening led to the popularisation of the ‘English cottage garden’, transforming the gardens of the rich to look like those of the working classes.

Melissa will be there with her conserves (do bring any empty jars, please) and refreshments are included, all in the entry fee of £4 for members and £5 for visitors.

For the fourth year in a row, subscriptions will remain at £6 per person. It entitles you to vote at the AGM and thus play a full part in the running of the Club. As the AGM is on the 3rd March, there is time to pay at the end of the meeting on Friday by any of the following methods:

Cash at the meeting but it must be in a sealed envelope with your name(s) on the envelope
Cheque at the meeting to Louise
Bank transfer to WNHHC Barclays Account, with your initials and surname and the word ‘Subs’ as the reference
By card at the meeting – see David

Details of the AGM and the Agenda will be circulated 3 weeks beforehand. This will include nominations for the Club Committee. The present committee have been in place for 5 years and while all are offering themselves for re-election, new members would be very welcome. In addition, if you have any comments, questions or suggestions, this is your chance to ask them formally. They will need to be with the Secretary (Melissa) a week before the AGM to allow time for a considered answer to be prepared.

The programme for the evening meetings for rest of the year is on the website at https://www.wnh-horticlub.co.uk/monthly-meetings. Some speakers later in the year have had to be moved round because of availability changes but all the dates given in your bookmark, distributed before Christmas, are still the same. You will also note a reduction in the number of mini shows. While the popular ones will be in place, the less well-supported one will not be run this year.

For those of you who like to listen to gardening topics on the radio, we have received an email about a slot on BBC Surrey Radio. On Sunday mornings from 1030 – 1200 on the Pat Marsh Show, there is a phone-in session to an expert who will answer your gardening questions, live on air. We have listened to a couple of them and they are very interesting, covering a wide range of horticultural topics about ‘real’ problems that listeners would like answered. Nice relaxing listening on these cold, wet or windy (or perhaps all three!) January mornings.