2012 activities:
February 15th 2012
TALK at the Village Hall: NEW PLANTS ON THE MARKET & PLANT CARE Speaker: Sam Mallett of Notcutts
Once again, a very interesting and useful presentation from Sam, with plenty of advice and tips. A good selection of new plants on the market were brought along and 3 were raffled.
January 18th 2012
TALK at the Village Hall: COLOUR IN THE GARDEN Speaker: Val Bourne.
Over 30 people attended this first talk of the new year. A tour de force on how to ensure that your garden remains attractive and colourful throughout the year. Val brought the subject to life with beautiful pictures and "barrowloads" of practical advice on suitable planting. With five books to her name, Val is an award-winning garden writer, photographer and lecturer. She writes for The Daily Telegraph, Saga Magazine and many other publications. She is also the gardening correspondent of The Oxford Times and judges the perennial and dahlia trials at RHS Wisley.
A list of the plants referred to in the talk is available - just click the link to the pdf file titled "Planting for year round colour" at the bottom of this page.
2011 activities:
7th December:
CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING WORKSHOP 7:30pm Village Hall.
A fun packed festive evening making lovely Christmas wreaths.
Over 20 members and non-members joined the workshop. Top prizes were awarded to Emma Oakley and Steve White.
16th November:
BESPOKE KITCHEN GARDENS FOR CHEFS OF DISTINCTION. 7:30pm Village Hall
Richard Vine, who recently featured on Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets, talked about creating a unique fusion between the culinary world and that of the gardener.
14th October: ORNAMENTAL TREES - A PERSONAL SELECTION - A talk about trees that give interest all year round.
PLANT TABLE - Also in October, we held a bring & buy PLANT TABLE at Popes Farm on Saturday 8th.
21st September:
AGM & RAFFLE.
5th July:
VISIT TO HIGHGROVE HOUSE
The day out included a stop in the lovely town of Tetbury.
18th June:
THE ASTONS GARDEN SAFARI - A huge success for our second Garden Safari.
18th May:
FLOWER ARRANGING - Mrs Barbara Hunt kindly agreed to do a talk and demonstration. Barbara has exhibited at Chelsea for the last 6 years and has always won a medal. Twice gold. During the talk, Barbara created 3 arrangements which were raffled.
Below is a pdf list of plants you might consider growing for cut flower displays. (Thank you to Susanna Brunskill for supplying this at the meeting).
7th May:
SUNFLOWER GROWING COMPETITION FOR CHILDREN - For the second year running, we ran a competition for our younger gardeners to see who can grow the tallest sunflower. Brian Crawford had saved some seeds from last year's winning sunflower and these were germinated in time for children to collect on Saturday 7th May. They was also an opportunity to collect seedlings at the Village Hall on May 10th.
4th May:
HARCOURT ARBORETUM - GUIDED TOUR - Meet at Harcourt at 2:00pm
Another chance to see this wonderful space - six miles south of Oxford and an integral part of the Oxford Botanic Garden. In May and June the Arboretum is ablaze with azaleas and rhododendrons. In spring there is a quintessentially English 10-acre woodland and in summer a 37-acre meadow full of wild flowers. The Arboretum is a magical place to spend a day at any time of year.
Saturday 16th April:
WILDFLOWER PLANTING - Continued wildflower planting around the villages.
Saturday 9th April:
PLANT TABLE - Bring & Buy plants 10am—11.30am - Popes Farm, Fullers Road
16th March:
BASILDON’S REAWAKENING - TALK BY TIM MARTIN OF BASILDON PARK ESTATE
Tim fascinated us with his story of rejuvenating the gardens of one of the Thames Valley’s most charming stately homes.
February 16th:
LOOKING GOOD IN FEBRUARY - Using Architectural Plants - A talk by Christine Shaw. Christine runs the Chichester nursery of Architectural Plants - do look at http://www.architecturalplants.com/ She has written excellent books on the subject and has vast knowledge and enthusiasm. A copy of Christine's slides and the plant list are available as pdf files below.
January 19th 2011:
ANNUAL OPEN EVENING -THE SCENTED GARDEN - About 40 people turned out to enjoy the Club's second open evening. Open to everybody in the Astons, the evening was intended as a taster to introduce the Garden Club and encourage participation. Horticultural Consultant and lecturer Anthony Powell talked about ‘Scent in the Garden’. An explanation of what scent is and why we could pay more attention to its use.
2010 activities:
December 8th:
HARDY PERENNIALS - About 30 people braved a bitterly cold evening to come and listen to a fascinating talk on Hardy Perennials. John Graham, dedicated plantsman and owner of Steventon Road Nurseries, delighted the audience with his knowledge of and enthusiasm for hardy perennials that will best suit our local soil conditions.
Steventon Road Nursery Steventon Road, East Hanney, Wantage, Oxfordshire, OX12 0HS 01235 868828 email: johngraham.srn@tiscali.co.uk
October 20th:
HARCOURT ARBORETUM - GUIDED TOUR - a group of around 20 Garden Club Members enjoyed a personally conducted tour of the Arboretum at Harcourt.
In addition to a dramatic collection of trees and shrubs, the Arboretum is home to a series of themed plants including a fern gully, meadow and a collection of Plants from High Places.Of great interest to the Garden Club was the fact that following advice from Charles Flower it was decided that seeds should be harvested from an existing meadow and when these had been dried, extra seeds of many wild flower species would be added. Work will continue on the meadow over the next couple of years to complete this important element of this area, known as Palmer’s Leys.
March 24th:
WILD ABOUT WILD FLOWERS - Another highly successful meeting. Around 50 people attended and seven new members were signed up. The guest speaker this time was CHARLES FLOWER.
Charles is a leading authority on bringing gardens and the countryside back to life by re-establishing wild flowers. Prior to his talk, Charles had already looked round the area and thought it could benefit hugely from the re-introduction of plants like scented violets, primroses and cowslips. They could be planted in our gardens, on roadside banks, in the churchyards and other open spaces - he suggested starting with a few small sites to show what could be done.There was lively debate on the evening and overall, a very positive response to Charles’s suggestions. Some people have said they want to buy plants for their own land.
For more information about Wild Flowers in our community, please click HERE
February 24th:
PLANNING, PLANTING, MAINTAINING & ENJOYING YOUR GARDEN - The guest speaker was JANE FEARNLEY WHITTINGSTALL. Jane's talk was thoroughly enjoyed by a lively and appreciative audience. About 55 people attended, including 24 non-members.
