Archive Listing of Previous Events

This is an archive of previous lectures and other events

Click here to return to the future programme

Saturday, 30th March 2024: The Adventures of a Seed Detective

Presenter: Adam Alexander
Adam is a board member of Garden Organic who writes, lectures and blogs on the conservation of the genetic diversity of edible crops. Every year he grows up to 100 different varieties from his library of some 500.

Saturday, 24th February 2024: Can the Americans Garden?

Presenter: Timothy Walker
Timothy has spoken to us several times and is always well received. He worked at Oxford Botanic Gardens from 1986 to 2014 (from 2002 as Director). He has given more than 2000 talks to over 150,000 people and is a Fellow of the Linnean Society.

Saturday, 27th January 2024: Westcroft and its Snowdrops

Presenter: Lyn Miles
Lyn is currently chairman of the HPS Galanthus Group. She will share her own snowdrop collection with us.

Saturday, 6th January 2024: Permission to Poison (on Zoom)

Presenter: Caroline Holmes
Caroline is a garden historian, author and a design consultant. She has lectured worldwide for the Arts Society, the RHS and many others. In 2005 she also devised the planting for the poison garden at Alnwick Castle.

Saturday, 25th November 2023: A Crayfish on the Lawn

Presenter: Joff Elphick
Training at Pershore (contemporary with Chris Beardshaw), Joff has worked at Le Manoir, Barnsley and in the National Trust advisory department. He hosts the podcast POT and CLOCHE.

Saturday, 28th October 2023: Late Summer Colour

Presenter: Julie Ritchie

Saturday, 30th September 2023: The World of Iris

Presenter: Jim Almond
Jim holds a National Collection of Juno Iris. This talk will cover many species of iris.

Saturday, 26th August 2023: The Diary of a Gardener

Presenter: Mike Thurlow
Mike has had a very varied career which has included gardening at Dyffryn, Aberglasney, Barnsdale and Audley End, lecturing at Pencoed, writing and broadcasting. The focus of his talk will be the restoration of the garden at Audley End.

Saturday, 29th July 2023: Gardening in a Drying Climate

Presenter: Malcolm Allison
Malcolm read botany at Oxford and then completed a masters in forestry. He now runs his own local nursery.

Saturday, 24th June 2023: Responding to an Increasing Threat

Presenter: Nicola Spence
Protecting UK plants and trees from Pests and Diseases.
Nicola is Chief Plant Health Officer at DEFRA.

Saturday, 27th May 2023: The Gardens of The Bishop's Palace, Wells

Presenter: James Cross
James has been Head Gardener at The Bishop’s Palace, a RHS Partner Garden, since 2004. Before that he worked for the National Trust at The Courts, Sissinghurst and Sheffield Park.

Saturday, 29th April 2023: Ferns

Presenter: Martin Rickard
Martin has been a fern enthusiast for almost 50 years. He is a past president of the British Pteridological Society and was awarded the Society's Stansfield Medal in 2004. Martin has written or co-authored five books on ferns including the RHS Wisley handbook.

Saturday, 25th March 2023: Life as a Garden Writer

Presenter: Tamsin Westhorpe
Tamsin and her family own and run the renowned Stocktonbury Gardens near Leominster. She is an RHS judge and produces a podcast ‘Fresh from the Pod’. Previously she edited The English Garden.

Saturday, 25th February 2023: Beyond the Garden Gate

Presenter: Mandy Bradshaw
Mandy is a journalist and life-long gardener living in the Cotswolds. She is a member of Gloucestershire NGS and blogs as The Chatty Gardener.

Saturday, 28th January 2023: New Varieties, Old Favourites

Presenter: Josh Egan-Wyer
Josh is Manager of Pershore College Shop and Wholesale Nursery. He will talk to us about the plants they are currently propagating at Pershore.

Saturday, 7th January 2023: Beth Chatto, A Life with Plants (on zoom only)

Presenter: Catherine Horwood
Catherine is a writer and garden historian. Her recent book about the life of Beth Chatto was very well received. She will tell us about Beth’s life.

Saturday, 26th November 2022: Modern Gardening Myths

Presenter: Ken Thompson

Saturday, 29th October 2022: The Garden at New Inn Farm

Presenter: Stephen Anderton

Saturday, 24th September 2022: Fifty Shades of Green

Presenter: Razvan Chisu

Saturday, 27th August 2022: Dilemmas of a Nobody

Presenter: Julian Sutton

Saturday, 30th July 2022: Late Summer Plants

Presenter: Jack Wilgoss

Saturday, 25th June 2022: Dianthus

Presenter: Joe Sharman

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Western Counties Group of the Hardy Plant Society