the hardy plant society

Oh wow! Bob Brown! He is so knowledgeable! When I opened the garden for the NGS this year for the first time, I was madly trying to fill the space where the dead Elaeagnus had been removed - and I got in touch with his Nursery! They have so many unusual plants there.

We haven't got a local gardening group - I wish we had. GOY helps there, though, Sbg!!!!! :-)))

GoY sure does. we have several hps members who open under the ngs. they are really keen to share their gardens with others, usually total strangers too. Some members only open for our group as they regularly feel their gardens arent good enough. they usually are of course.
Bob brought some plants with him to our talk. good specimens and reasonable priced too. some placed orders and he delivered them to us that night.

All very well said, Seaburngirl. Our gardening societies and clubs are all suffering from falling memberships and it will be a great loss if they go. We are active in three, ranging from the village gardening club to a national society. We put a lot of work into our membership but we get so much more out of it. I would urge all GoYers to dip their toes in the water and see just what is out there.

its a shame that i resisted for so long. I wonder what little gems i missed in that time.
I couldnt agree more and whilst i also belong to the RHS i find the stuff at local level so much more satisfying.

nice blog sea.. i must admit i always think they will be a bit snobby and look down at me as i dont know much at all about gardening or names but nice to see you got along ok at your club, we have a fuchsia club close by but not sure i just want to discuss just one variety of plant, even though i love fuchsia, will keep an eye out for other clubs now

Yes - The RHS is very worthwhile, I think! I could go to a gardening club about 6 miles away - but I haven't ...yet. Maybe I will. We'll see.

Your society sounds great Seaburn - I've never heard of one around here, I'm pleased you finally went along.

i think you will probably find your local group to be as diverse as goy sanbaz go on give it a go.

google the hardy plant society and there will be a list of all the regional ones. if you are lucky it wont be too far away. we get some members travelling 60+ miles for keynote speakers. [fergus garett, noel kingberry to name but two we have had recently.]

Do you normally have a guest speaker each month?

yes we do and they cover a vey wide range of topics. some very specialist and some very general. we dont hold a meeting in august but we try to get in 2 or 3 garden visits a year too.
many speakers bring plants to sell, linked to their talk and we always have a members plant table. a third of the plants price goes to club funds to help pay for the more expensive speakers.

It sounds great, I went to the website and I think the nearest to me is about 30 miles away.

that doesnt sound too bad. you may find other members willing to car share. i pick p an elderly lady from the next village.

go on give it a go. you might be very happy.

looked it up sea,,, not one here, closest is in kendal over an hour away :o( will have to see if any other groups closer

Sandra if you hear of any garden clubs etc round here give us a bell, as i dont know of any, mind you there may be some around the local villages, look in gazette but never found any.

we have a club here carol but only a flower club, think there is something at garden place marton, need to look into that after xmas though, and a fuchsia club in poulton but dont really want to stick to just one plant, will keep checking

Try looking at
http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/groups/local/venues-and-contacts/
and
http://www.srgc.org.uk/localgroups/northcumbrialectures.
There is a spring show in Blackpool which is hosted by the AGS and SRGC in alternate years (Sat 13 March - Collegiate High School, Blackpool Old Road). If you go along to that you will find someone to talk to who is sure to be able to help with local clubs etc. - we are all looking for any excuse to talk to people!!!!
You will find both these two clubs are of a similar nature to the Hardy Plant Society.

thankyou mr MB, will jot that down, its next to joe`s college, 5 mins from me :o)

interesting - will find out when they are next speaking at a place close to us.

Hi, take a look at the Cottage Garden Society site at
http://cottage-garden.org.uk/
My local group hold monthly meetings 7 miles from where I live and occasional garden visits. The topics/speakers at meetings vary - I just attend the ones that interest me. There's always a plant table (always cheap, often unusual) and last month a tablefull of homemade jams (yes, I did indulge myself !). Worth investigating - what have you got to lose ? :~))