© The Hardy Plant Society
The aim of the weekend is to further knowledge about hardy plants, to enliven interest and debate on garden themes/design, their importance in hardy plant appreciation and display and to provide information about the re-classification of Michaelmas Daisies.
The 4-star Abbey Hotel is in the centre of Malvern, just above the town’s ‘Winter Gardens’, with parking to the rear. It is approximately one mile from Great Malvern station. Much of the mile is uphill, the last section quite steep as the town is on the slopes of the Malvern Hills. The hotel has views towards the Vale of Evesham and the Hills. Facilities are modern and the hotel comfortable.
The majority of bedrooms are twin or double, but a small number of single rooms is available. If you are willing to share with someone we allocate please use the ‘Twin – allocated share’ reservation line on the booking form. The cost for the weekend for a person sharing is £190, for single occupancy £225. This includes two nights’ dinner, bed and breakfast, buffet lunch on Saturday, packed lunch on Sunday, all talks, garden visits on Saturday and entry to The Picton Garden on Friday or Sunday. Entry to other gardens on Friday and Sunday is not included. Dinner on Friday is a carvery, for which you will be allocated a time at registration, as space in the dining room is limited.
A few day delegate places are available, cost £140. This includes everything except bed and breakfast.
We shall try to cater for special dietary requirements. There are one or two ground floor bedrooms for disabled guests. The lift runs only to one part of the hotel.
Special rates have been negotiated. Please see the booking form.
This will take place on Friday afternoon from 3 pm until 6 pm.
Rob Cole, from Diane Cole Hardy Plants garden and nursery, will be our speaker on Friday night with a talk titled 'Fulfilling a Dream'.
On Saturday morning Stephen Anderton and Anne Wareham will pursue the main theme in a mutual interview/discussion format. Stephen has been the award-winning gardening correspondent of ‘The Times’ for many years and contributes to a host of garden magazines. His career as a full-time gardener took him to the position of National Gardens Manager for English Heritage. Anne Wareham, with her husband Charles Hawes, has designed and created the garden at Veddw House near Monmouth. The four acre garden has a star in the ‘Good Gardens Guide’ and is a Royal Horticultural Recommended Garden. Anne has been campaigning for fifteen years for a renaissance in British gardens, focusing on returning gardens to their place amongst the fine arts in British culture.
Paul Picton, owner of The Picton Garden and holder of the National Collection of Michaelmas Daisies, will speak on Sunday morning. His talk is titled ‘Half a Century of Asters’ and will include information about developments in the growing of Michaelmas Daisies.
After lunch on Saturday each delegate will visit two gardens from those described below. Everyone will be given a sheet to assist with a critical analysis of each garden visited. Transport is by coach from the hotel.
Two of the gardens are set in parkland, one long-established and the other newly-designed and planted. Another garden, surrounding a very old house, is a ‘fun’ garden with surprising built features and unusual planting, while the other two are more traditional in their approach to design and planting. The situations and therefore conditions in which all the gardens have been made vary.
The main gardener from each garden visited will be our guest for dinner on Saturday evening and then participate in a discussion prompted by delegates’ thoughts on the gardens. Bob Brown, former HPS Trustee and owner of Cotswold Garden Flowers Nursery, will chair this session.
Tickets for The Picton Garden on Friday or Sunday afternoon are included in the price of the weekend. Transport will not be provided and the visits will be arranged with time ‘slots’. We shall provide a list of other gardens you can visit on these afternoons and on Monday. The Society is anxious to encourage car-sharing.
There will be plants and other items for sale at the hotel on Friday and plants at some of the gardens throughout the weekend.
The Autumn Show is taking place on 26 and 27 September.
Once you have been allocated a place, we can only refund your payment if another member takes up the cancelled booking.
If you have any queries, please contact Vivienne McGhee, phone number 01386 830789, or at the address shown above.
(HPS)