2017
January
Saturday 28th
Talk: The Plantsman Magazine, by Mike Grant
2.30pm Stowupland Village Hall IP14 4BQ
About the speaker: Mike Grant is editor of The Plantsman and RHS specialist publications such as plant monographs, cultivar registers and yearbooks. He previously worked as a senior botanist at Wisley.
February
Saturday 25th
Talk: ‘Poppies of the monsoon (the Genus Meconopsis)’, by Christopher Grey-Wilson
2.30pm Stowupland Village Hall IP14 4BQ
About the speaker: Christopher Grey-Wilson was editor of the Alpine Garden Society for 20 years. Before this he served as a Principal Scientific Officer at the Royal Botanic Gardens for 22 years and from where he made plant collecting expeditions to Iran and Afghanistan, Nepal, western China, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Tanzania. A former editor of the Royal Horticultural Society’s magazine The Plantsman he has also been closely involved in a number of gold medal winning awards at Chelsea.
March
Saturday 25th
Talk: ‘Growing for Gold’. Two national collection holders Melanie Collins and Sarah Cook discuss their aims and approaches to showing.
2.30pm Stowupland Village Hall IP14 4BQ
About the speakers: Mel Collins is a partner in Mickfield Hostas, a family micro-business, which has grown out of a collection of the genus
Hosta spanning 40 years and now holds the largest National Collection of the genus Hosta. She is happy to share her experiences with fellow collection holders contemplating the publicity of their own National Collections. Sarah Cook holds the National Collection of Cedric Morris irises. In 2015, in collaboration with Howard Nurseries, she won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show showing Cedric Morris irises. She has spent many years sourcing and growing the irises bred by Cedric Morris who lived at Benton End. Before her retirement she was the Head Gardener at the National Trust Garden at Sissinghurst in Kent.
April
Sunday 2nd
Narcissus workshop at Hullwood Barn.
10.30am – 3pm. Lunch, tea and coffee provided. £10. 01473 822400, email Sarah@malmaisons.plus.com Maximum number: 20.
Saturday 22nd
Talk: ‘New Garden Worthy Plants’, By Bob Brown.
2.30pm Stowupland Village Hall IP14 4BQ
About the speaker: Bob has a life-long obsession with hardy perennials widened and much honed since he started his nursery Cotswold Garden Flowers 25 years ago on an isolated acre of unpropitious alkaline clay in Worcestershire. He is known for having opinions (many very critical) about all the 15-16 thousand kinds of plants he’s grown or tried to grow. He has been vice chairman of the Herbaceous Committees of the RHS and is the holder of the Veitch Memorial Medal awarded for the science and advancement of horticulture.
May
Sunday 28th
PLANT HERITAGE SPRING PLANT FAIR
10-4pm, Helmingham Hall, IP14 6EF Entrance £7.
September
Sunday 17th
PLANT HERITAGE AUTUMN PLANT FAIR
10-4pm, Helmingham Hall IP14 6EF. Entrance £7.
Saturday 30th
Talk: ‘Greece: from Forest to Phrygana. A personal experience of a diverse landscape and its flora’, by Graham Kendall
2.30pm Stowupland Village Hall IP14 4BQ
About the speaker: Graham has worked in horticulture since 1968. Having studied at the Savill Gardens, Windsor, and the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, he went on to be Head Gardener at three National Trust properties before starting his own business. A year studying in Greece in 1979, at what is now a garden owned by the Goulandris Natural History Museum and home of the Mediterranean Garden Society, kindled his love for its native flora. Graham has been leading plant tours to various parts of Greece for 10 years.
October
Saturday 28th
Talk: ‘Trees for Autumn’, by Graham Proctor
2.30pm Stowupland Village Hall IP14 4BQ
About the Speaker: Graham attended Hadlow, Merrist Wood and Capel Manor colleges before starting work with Redbridge Parks Department. Keen to combine his practical knowledge and design skills he stared a successful landscaping company that he ran until 1993 when, with his wife and sister in law, he took over what is now Crown Nursery in Ufford. He is a BBC Radio Suffolk Gardening Guru and writes a regular gardening column in the East Anglian Daily Times.