Meetings every third Thursday of the month at 7.30pm, St Mary's Church Centre, Nether Stowey
Tea and cake, raffle, plant table
Secretary Kate Houghton tel 07940 836139
e mail stoweygardeners@yahoo.com
Thursday 16th January AGM at 7pm
followed at 7.30 by a talk by Nigel Phillips Plants of Somerset
Thursday 20th February a talk by James Cordingly Dunster Castle Gardens
Thursday 20th March a talk by Rob Schmidt Greencombe Gardens, Porlock
Thursday April 17th a talk by Jonny Hartnell Gardens of Madeira
Tuesday 29th April car visit to Fairfield, Stogursey TA5 1PU
Sunday 11th May coach trip to RHS Malvern Spring Show
Thursday 15th May a talk by Arthur Cole The Newt - History and recent developments
Saturday 17th May Plant Sale at Thomas Poole Library, Nether Stowey
Thursday 22nd May car visit to Wick Gardens, Langport TA10 0NL
Wednesday 18th June car visit to Lydeard House, Bishops Lydeard TA4 3AU
Thursday 19th June a talk by Abigail Willis Somerset's Glorious Gardens
Tuesday 29th July car visit to Hangeridge Farmhouse, Wellington TA21 9QG
August Members Summer Garden Party
Thursday 18th September a talk by John Addison Pruning
Thursday 16th October a talk by Claire Greenslade Gertrude Jekyll's Planting Plans
Thursday 20th November a talk by Claire Hart Chelsea or Bust
a talk by Roy Osborne Stowey Green Spaces
December 12th Members Christmas Party
January
The 2025 AGM was held on Thursday 16th January. A new Chairman, Lucy Haswell, was elected. Kate Houghton will be taking over as secretary.
The AGM was followed by a talk on Plants of Somerset and the Nature of the Quantocks by Nigel Philips whose new book on the natural history of the Quantocks will be published in March 2025. Once again, Nigel gave a superb talk, full of information and personalised by hints on where interesting plants may be found locally. We'll all be inspired to go out botanising once the weather has warmed up!
February
Stowey Gardeners' new programme for 2025 started with a talk on Thursday 20th February about ' Dunster Castle Gardens - the history up until the present' by James Cordingly who is Head Gardener at NT Dunster Castle. James has worked in horticulture for nearly 20years. He oversees care of the gardens at Dunster and at Coleridge Cottage (where some of our members volunteer). As well as hands - on gardening he regularly conducts tours of Dunster's gardens for visitors. He outlined the history of the site. The National Trust now cares for 42 acres, which includes a range of microclimates, including terraces where subtropical plants , including the Dunster lemon, now grow, so perhaps it's not so surprising to learn that vines once covered the tor where the castle stands! Recent weather extremes have produced challenges for the garden team, with tons of mud deposited by the river Avill as it raced through the riverside garden during autumn storms, and many mature trees toppled by high winds. But new sustainable plantings are planned and many Stowey Gardeners will have been inspired to (re)visit Dunster to discover it all.
March
Continuing our exploration of West Somerset gardens, our March talk, on Thursday 20th, was on 'Greencombe Gardens, Porlock', by Rob Schmidt who now looks after this special site. The garden was developed by his aunt Joan Lorraine over 50years, and Rob grew up visiting and then working in and finally taking over care of the garden, which features many rhododendrons and azaleas, and notably erythroniums, in a sloping, north-facing woodland site. While described as ' a ridiculous place to garden' by a magazine a couple of years ago, Rob demonstrated with beautiful photographs and videos what a sensational place it is. Do visit!