13th January: Brian Fisher - Plants of Madeira - via Zoom
An introduction to the native flora of Madeira. A brief look at introduced species that have become naturalised in Madeira. The ways that plants are used in public spaces, botanical gardens and private gardens. Quinta houses built by wealthy landowners who established extensive exotic gardens, public gardens with beautiful displays, streets lined with flowering trees and even a ‘Magic Garden’ that can only be entered through a cafe form the basis of this talk. |
10th February: Franzi Cheesman - Stoke Poges Memorial Gardens
The Stoke Poges Memorial Gardens were the brainchild of Sir Noel Mobbs, Lord of the Manor of Stoke Park. In order to protect the land from being used for housing development he bought it and commissioned Edward White, a leading landscape architect in the 1930s, to design it as a Memorial Garden, without any tombs, buildings or large memorials and to look like a country garden. Franzi Cheeseman will take us on a virtual tour of the now Grade 1 listed landscape. |
12th May: John Tyler - Making Space for Wildlife
With so many ancient habitats disappearing from our countryside each year, even the smallest garden can provide a vital sanctuary for wild plants and animals. We look at a range of simple ways to make a garden more attractive to wildlife (and more interesting for us), including garden design, choosing the right plants, building a pond, establishing a wildflower meadow and managing your garden in a wildlife-friendly way. |
11th August: Hazel Roberts - Growing Food not Gluts
It is all too easy to grow an abundance of food when kitchen gardening. In her talk, Hazel looks at how to avoid growing gluts, starting with the planning process and following right through to finding ingenious ways to use and store what you grow so that it is manageable and doesn't go to waste. |
8th September: Darren Lerigo - Plants for Bees
Helping the honeybee is about how to be a bee friendly gardener - knowing the most valuable plants for providing nectar, what the bee needs to encourage foraging and how to make sure you have something in flower all through the year. And of course, we will look at how to make a lawn a better place for the honey makers. |