Three of our members' gardens are opening for the HPS Jubilee celebrations. Also Kathryn Elrick Smith has invited us to a coffee morning at her garden. This starts at 10:00am and finishes at 12:00pm or 12:30pm. The cost is £2 (includes coffee), but you may also be asked for a contribution to, or to buy plants to support, her favourite charity.
Margaret Stone, Brockamin, Callow End, Worcester WR2 4TQ
Seventy-five visitors, including 21 from Staffordshire Group, braved a cold damp Sunday and were rewarded by a feast of varied snowdrops and an opportunity to talk to Margaret about them and her other winter-flowering plants. There will be a report in the spring newsletter, but here are some photos of the day.
Linda Marsh, 1 Albert Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 2QY
Mabs Cottage, 8 Trotshill Lane East, Worcester WR4 0HX
We will have been at Mabs Cottage for 30 years on 1 June 2017. I wish I could say that over that period the garden has been developed to its full potential, but it is still very much a work in progress. The garden is just under half an acre and the soil is mostly heavy clay, so not the easiest to manage. It is basically a cottage style garden (a polite way of saying anything goes anywhere!), with a large vegetable garden at the back, which was totally overgrown when we first moved here, a very large natural pond at the front of the house, and a pergola leading to a large barbeque area that we inherited.
Directions From M5 Junction 6 – Follow signs for A4440. After 200m, take first exit on roundabout onto Parsonage Way. After 1000m, at top of the hill, take second exit on roundabout onto Plantation Drive. After 800m, take 5th turn on left onto Millwood Drive (Tesco store is at the far end of this road). After 300m, take first left onto Trotshill Lane East. After 700m, at top of hill at the bend carry straight on across the lane, after stopping to check for pedestrians, through an open gate (No. 8 on left hand gate post) onto a gravel drive. You cannot see the cottage from the road, only a three-car garage. The drive is about 100m long – stop before the pond at the end! Park on drive and grass verges.
Ann Sheppard and John Taylor, 1 Church Cottage, Church Road, Defford, Worcester WR8 9BJ