Saturday meetings are held at Crowle Parish Hall, Church Road, WR7 4AZ on the second Saturday of the month, except for February (Pershore College), June (Plant Sale at Peopleton Village Hall), August (no meeting) and September (all day at Pershore College). Apart from September and the Christmas party in December, the talks all start at 2pm. Entrance to the talks at Crowle is free to Group members; visitors' entrance charge is £3. Visitors will be expected to join the Group if they attend regularly.
Please note that the public address system at Crowle Parish Hall does have a hearing loop, so please speak to a member of the Committee if you wish to take advantage of this facility.
| Sat 10 Jan | Talk: Confessions of a plant freak – things that turn me on | Nick Macer |
| Nick is a plant geek and owner of Pan Global Plants in Frampton, Gloucestershire, since it was set up in 1997. Now regarded as one the UK's top nurseries, it closes every October. Nick regularly travels to plant-rich pastures around the globe. His title for the talk says it all - Confessions of a plant freak… things that turn me on. | ||
| Sat 14 Feb | CELEBRITY LECTURE AT PERSHORE COLLEGE The Curious Gardener – My gardening life and the things I’ve learned. Admission by ticket only. |
Anna Pavord |
| Anna Pavord, born 1940, our speaker for the February 14, 2015, meeting, is gardening correspondent for The Independent and author of widely-praised books including The Tulip, Plant Partners and The Border Book. She wrote for The Observer for 20 years and contributed to many magazines including Elle, Country Life and Gardens Illustrated. | ||
| Sat 14 Mar | AGM followed by our photographic project: Over the garden wall … | Mick Dunstan |
| After the annual general meeting is completed, Mick, our Speaker Secretary, will be showing the first part of two presentations to the group this year - called Over the Garden Wall. They are all about Worcestershire HPS members and their gardens through the course of 2014. Ten members volunteered for the project, which ran through a year of record temperatures across the UK. There will be the first five gardens today - with the rest to follow at our July meeting. | ||
| Sat 11 April | Talk: Perennials from seed | Rob Cole |
| If you’ve ever tried growing perennials from seed - and failed - this hands-on demonstration of seed-sowing secrets should do the trick. Rob, who runs Meadow Farm Nursery at Feckenham, says this is his most popular talk and has been praised by even the most experienced Hardy Planters. We’ll arrange seats in a semi-circle for this event to allow everyone the best view of what’s happening. | ||
| Wed 6 May | Coffee morning at the home of Ann Sheppard and John Taylor, Defford, nr Pershore | |
| 7 - 10 May | Malvern Spring Festival | |
| Sat 16 May | Talk: First impressions, second thoughts | Bob Brown |
| One of Worcestershire’s horticultural heroes - the man behind Cotswold Garden Flowers nursery - shares some of his personal insights into gardening predicaments. His topic this month is First Impressions, Second Thoughts, in which he looks at why you shouldn’t give in to impulse buys … and the interplay between gardeners. | ||
| Wed 27 May | Evening visit - Spetchley Park Gardens | |
| Sat 13 June | PLANT SALE at Peopleton Village Hall, 2 - 4pm | |
| Sun 21 - Thurs 25 June | North Yorkshire Garden Tour | |
| Sat 11 July | Talk: Over the garden wall … more members’ gardens | Mick Dunstan |
| The second part of the 2014 project looking at the gardens of the final five of our volunteers during the seasons of 2014. Find out which Worcestershire HPS member was shown around the flower meadows of Switzerland by famous gardener Christopher Lloyd, after they finished studying together for their horticulture degree in the 1940s. | ||
| Collect tickets for September's Anniversary Lecture Day | ||
| Wed 15 July | Coach trip to Rodmarton Manor & Gardens, and Hookshouse Pottery, Glos | |
| Tues 21 July | Coffee morning at the home of Roger Smith, Pershore Win and David Botterill, Shipston‑on‑Stour | |
| Sat 12 Sept | HPS Worcestershire Group 20th Anniversary Lecture Day at Pershore College. Admission by ticket only - tickets free to Worcestershire Group members, available at July meeting. | |
| Sat 10 Oct | Talk: Plants for Autumn and Winter | Paul and Helen Green |
| This is a plant material-only demonstration by the people who run Greens Leaves Nursery, near Newent - not a photographic slide in view. Paul and Helen Green will be looking at Plants for Autumn and Winter interest and promise to be fairly mobile so that the whole audience should get a good view of what’s being discussed. | ||
| Sat 14 Nov | Talk: North American plants in British gardens | Keith Ferguson |
| Keith is treasurer of the Western Counties group of the Hardy Plant Society - and a retired, ex-professional botanist, and deputy keeper of the herbarium and head of the pollen unit at Kew. His topic this month is North American plants in British gardens - from the Appalachians to California, including the cultural requirements for plants such as trilliums, phlox, asters and solidago. | ||
| Sat 12 Dec | Christmas Lunch (starting at 1pm) and Quiz | Philip Aubury |
| Philip is the former director of Birmingham Botanical Gardens and he will be hosting a special Christmas Quiz. There’s the chance to compete in teams of four or five for a prize to celebrate the winning team. | ||
Refunds – As a general rule for outside trips no refunds will be given later than two weeks before the event. Individual organisers of outings may differ from this policy and it is important to check the information given at the time of booking.