June 2026: "Ferns and Grasses" - Chris Bird

Chris Bird works at Sparsholt College.  During his career he has amassed an amazing 10 Chelsea Gold Medals and numerous other awards.  He has visited the Club several times and, as well as being extremely knowledgeable, always gives an entertaining and interactive talk which is enjoyed by members.

This year he talked to us about ferns and grasses. He explained the different types, giving examples of each which can be grown in this area.  He also gave advice on growing these in particular:

• mark the site of ferns and grasses which die right back during the winter - e.g. with a stone or stake - to ensure you don't accidentally dig them up
• many ferns and grasses need to be well-spaced in order to show their shape off properly
• ferns should be mulched rather than fed
• several grasses grow to hand height making them very pleasant to the touch e.g. some stipas

Above: Chris reacts to a question from a member.

The Members' competition was entitled “Fern-tastic!”, consisting of an imaginative display, placed members' own containers of ferns and/or grasses from their garden. Photos can be seen below:

May 2026: Visit to Mottisfont

At the end of May, some of our members enjoyed a private guided tour of Mottisfont rose garden after the site had closed to the public.  It was very well timed, with the roses at their peak.  Some photos from this visit can be seen below.

May 2026: Plant Sale

This year's sale broke the £1,000 barrier for the first time, earning a record £1043.50p for Club funds.  This money helps us to keep our membership cost down, while booking an excellent programme of speakers and events including our popular quiz night and buffet which take place after our AGM.

With varying weather forecasts, we initially set up the plant sale outside but by 4.30pm the outlook looked bleak, particularly with thunder around.  At that time the hall became available to us so we took the decision to hold the sale in the hall.  Thanks to us compiling a wet weather routine in the lead up to the plant sale the Committee coped with limitations of space in the hall although poor Theresa, selling other garden items, had to remain outside because of space limitations for the garden items and the amount of them that we had to sell. Those items brought in £90 alone incidentally. We are grateful to our Patron Fred Dinenage in giving up his time to open the event and conduct the very successful raffle which brought in £314 for the Club.  Fred was in good form telling us that he met someone on the street recently who looked at him and came up and said: “Didn’t you used to be Fred Dinenage!”

Some photos from the event can be seen below.

April 2026: "Orchids: Wild and Beautiful" - Peter Ashburn

Peter is an amateur grower, who grows orchids in the home and in the garden for fun. He grows a range of different orchids, but his favourite tropical orchids are Oncidium and Phalaenopsis. He is currently joint chair of the Wessex Orchid Society, which holds two shows a year in Portchester and monthly talks in Shawford. Before retiring, he was a Professor of Nanoelectronics at Southampton University.

The first part of his talk covered UK hardy orchids in the wild and in the garden. In Hampshire, good places to spot these include:

• Hoe Road Meadows, Bishops Waltham
• Porstdown Hill
• Boundway Hill in the New Forest
• Noar Hill
• Chappetts Wood

The second part of John's talk covered growing and caring for tropical orchids in the house. His advise included:

• keep them out of direct sun in the summer but in it in winter
• spray external roots
• water with rainwater when routes in the pot are pale and white, then tilt the pot to remove excess water
• orchids need warmth
• pot the orchids in wood chippings, and renew these every 3 years
• a good plant will have several leaves and roots

Above: Peter admires a healthy orchid plant brought in by a member

The Members' competition was entitled “A Host of Daffodils” and consisted of a display, in members' own vases, of up to 5 Narcissi stems. Photos can be seen below:

March 2026: "The Humble Potato" - John Trim

John Trim is an expert on growing vegetables, particularly for shows. He is a Fellow of the National Vegetable Society, show judge and horticultural lecturer.

John started his talk with some information about the history of potatoes, from when South American people gathered wild potatoes and exposed them to frost to make them more palatable, through their introduction in Europe around the 16th Century (in terms of England it is now thought that Drake, not Raleigh, brought them over), to when they became popular for eating and growing thanks largely to French pharmacist Parmentier and pioneering Scottish breeders.

His advice included:

• grow potatotes in bags to discourage slugs
• in this area plants early potatoes in mid-March and maincrop in early April
• for larger potatoes, gouge out all but 1 or 2 eyes from the seed potatoes
• there is no need to chit maincrop potatoes
• to avoid scab, wash the skins of seed potatoes (before chitting where appropriate) and keep fertilizer at the bottom of bags, away from potato skins
• to avoid eelworm, don't grow potatoes in the same spot in the ground for at least 4 years after a crop
• late blight seldom hits 1st or 2nd early potatoes so concentrate on these if it's a problem
• cut down haulms 3 days before lifting potatoes to help the skins set

John mentioned that his favourite potato to grow is Kestral although he also recommends Charlotte and Picasso.

Above: John Trim listens to a question from Club Chair Glenn Duggan

The Members' competition was entitled “Easter Parade” and entries consisted of a hat decorated for Easter using fresh flowers, foliage and some Easter ornaments. There were only 3 entries so all of them won a prize, photos can be seen below:

February 2026 - Part 1 - "How to Grow Roses Successfully" and Part 2 - "Rose Rustlers Saving Old Roses" - Glenn Duggan

Due to a last minute speaker cancellation Glenn brought forward the talk which he had intended to give in August, but in fact this was quite timely since it meant that we learnt about growing roses ahead of the Club's visit to Mottisfont rose garden in May.

In part 1 Glenn told us about the many different types of rose which are available and provided his advice for successful rose growing, which included:

• ideally, grow in soil with a pH of 6-7.5.  If you cannot achieve this it may be best to grow your roses in post
• position them so that they get 6-8 hours of sun in the summer
• water well when first planted and add plenty of mycorrhizal fungi (e.g. rootgrow), once mature water weekly
• feed in accordance with the instructions on your feed packet, roses dislike being overfed
• mulch around the base
• deadhead regularly
• prune when dormant (for information about pruning see the February 2025 newsletter in our Archive, you will need this year's password)
• don't overcrowd them

In part 2 Glenn introduced us to the Rose Rustlers of Texas, one of a number of groups of people who take cuttings of old roses from places such as homesteads and cemeteries and propagate these to ensure that they do not die out.



The Members' competition was for an arrangement titled “The Winter Garden”consisting of a display of a maximum of 7 stems of anything members could find flowering in their garden that would fit into the club’s vases.  To avoid any suggestion of bias Glenn decided not to act as judge and instead four of our Club members - Doug G, Neil R, Jen G and Karen Y - did the judging.  The winning and all other entries can be seen below.