Important Dates: April 28th – Members’ visit to Poundbury Garden Centre 6pm. A talk followed by discounted shopping.

May 5th – ‘Cacti and Succulents’ a talk by David Ennals. 7.30pm at the school.

May 14th – Plant Sale at the Memorial Hall, Victoria Avenue, 2pm.

June 2nd – Members’ Jubilee Picnic – details to follow.

Our April meeting was very interesting. Bob Turner gave us an excellent talk on the River Wey from its source to Weymouth harbour. He gave us a history of the river including the five working mills at Upwey, Broadwey, Nottington and two at Radipole. Two of them (Upwey and Radipole) now producing hydroelectricity. We were told about the past floods and the work done by the Environment Agency and the River Wey Society to alleviate future flooding.  It is now a healthy river.

Two of our members entered the Dorset County Spring Show held at the new Jubilee Hall in Poundbury. Mark Read did very well with his daffodils and Shaun Vallard with some pot plants.

Our next Meeting will be on April 7th at St. Nicholas and St. Laurence School when Bob Turner will give us a talk entitled ‘A Walk Down the River Wey’, starting at 7.30pm.

Spring Show Report

Ready for Judging

Our Spring Show went ahead on Saturday the 18th. It was very well supported both by exhibitors and visitors. This was our first Spring Show since 2019 due to Covid so it was very pleasing to see that people still enjoy exhibiting.

The hall again looked lovely with all the beautiful Spring flowers and plants, floral arrangements, handicrafts and cookery items.

Early morning staging

Judging the Pot Plant

Trophy Winners:

Junior Cup   Highest Points, Children,  Lucy Polley;   Downer Cup   Best Photographic Print,  Meg Rolfe;  Nottington Cup  Best Exhibit, Handicrafts, SarahStudley;  Prospect Cup   Highest Points, Preserves & Cookery, Neil Coad; Ridgeway Cup  Highest Points, Propagation, Bill Howarth; Novice Shield Highest Points, Novice Classes, Fiona Penny;  Society Rose Bowl  Best Exhibit, Floral Art, Jill Hallett;  Grandshaw Cup,  Highest Points, Pot Plants, Bill Howarth;  Silver Salver  Best Exhibit, Pot Plants (excl. bulbs),  Adrian Read;  Golds Shield   Best Exhibit, Bulbs in Pots, Bill Howarth;  Ladies’ Spring Cup  Highest Points, Sections 1-6 (Lady), Darlene Hayward Spring Show Cup  Runner -up to Highest Points 1-6,  Charlie McCormick        Benson Cup   Highest Points 1-6,  Bill Howarth;  Silver Cup  Best Exhibit, Class 23, Bill Howarth;  Silver Trophy   Best Exhibit , Other Cut Flowers,  Charlie McCormick  Diploma    Best Vase, Daffodils, Bill Howarth;  Diploma  Awarded at Judge’s discretion  Frank Newbery; Best Bloom in Daffodils,  Mark Read; Medal for Best Daffodil Exhibit,  Bill Howarth; Championship Salver,  Bill Howarth.

We were pleased to welcome three new exhibitors who all did well. The overall standard of exhibits was high and the number of entries similar to 2019.

Regular exhibitor, Bill Howarth, was surprised and delighted to win the major awards in the daffodil section. He also did well with his beautiful pots of hyacinths and tulips.

Our February meeting took place on 3rd. Sara Harpley gave us an interesting and informative talk on photography. She gave us lots of useful tips on getting the best results from our cameras, including our mobile phones. She showed us examples of how to get the best composition, selecting the correct background and using the camera at the best angle. We should get some good photos in our Spring Show!

Our March meeting will be on 3rd March, 7.30pm at the school. Steve Jeffries will be telling us about shrubs and climbers. He is very knowledgeable so will be able to answer any questions members may have.

The Spring Show takes place on 19th March at the Memorial Hall, Victoria Avenue. The schedule can be downloaded from the ‘Shows’ link or copies are available from P.&M. Read’s florist on Dorchester Road and by emailing shows@budhs.org.uk or ringing 01305 813942.

We are deeply saddened at the news that our President, Peter Read, passed away on Monday. He has been involved with our society since childhood, following in the footsteps of his parents, Charles and Mary.

Peter and Mark at a D.F.H.S
show

Pete will be fondly remembered by all who knew him and his depth of horticultural knowledge and wise words will be sorely missed.

Our sincere condolences go to his family.

His funeral will take place on Friday 21st January at 11am at St. Laurence Church, Upwey. Peter will be taken by horse-drawn carriage from his Florist shop, down Stottingway Street and along Church Street. Friends and family are invited to walk behind the carriage to the church if they wish.

Happy New Year to all, time to browse through the seed catalogues and plan our summer displays. Something to cheer us on dismal days.

No meeting this month but we hope to see you on 3rd February when Sara Harpley will give us a talk on how to get the best from our cameras.Our Spring Show will be held on 19th March. The schedule can be viewed and downloaded from our ‘Shows’ link or you can email shows@budhs.org.uk for a copy. We are hoping for plenty of entries to make a good display.

We have been contacted by The Cottage Garden Society (Dorset Group) inviting our society to a talk at Puddletown in March, details below.

You are warmly welcome to join us on Sunday 6th March at Puddletown Village Hall.
We are so pleased that Tamsin Westhorpe will be our guest speaker whose talk is entitled ‘Giving your garden a new lease of life’ (with planting and design ideas).
Tamsin Westhorpe is a horticultural journalist and RHS Chelsea Flower Judge. Formerly
Deputy Editor of Gardening Magazine and currently Co-Chair of the Garden Media Guild.
Tamsin gardens at Stockton Bury Gardens in Leominster, a family garden of several acres with
beautiful planting.
Venue: PUDDLETOWN VILLAGE HALL
Time: Doors open at 2.00pm for 2.30pm start.
AFTERNOON TEA WITH HOME-MADE CAKES
RAFFLE AND PLANT STALL
Admission: £5 – cash only at the door
For further information and to secure a place please contact Jenny Daultrey at
jdcgs@btinternet.com or 01747 851300
Please note:
This event is subject to Government guidelines applicable at the time.

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Our November meeting was very well attended and we all enjoyed Mike Burks’ informative talk on Gardening for Climate Change. His talks are always interesting and amusing.

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We are currently planning the Christmas Supper and Quiz which is taking place on Tuesday 7th December. If you have not already booked your place, please phone 814887 or 813942 as soon as possible.

From February 2022 we will be meeting on Thursday evenings again at the school. Speakers are being booked and these will be published as soon as they are confirmed.

Dorset Plant Heritage Group are holding a Celebrity Talk on Saturday 4th December entitled ‘Extinction is Forever- The Importance of Plant Conservation’ by Sir Ghillean Prance, internationally renowned Ethnobiologist.

It will be held at Morden Village Hall, between Wimborne and Bere Regis, doors open at 2pm for 3pm start. Masks to be worn in reception area and when moving about. To book a ticket (£10) phone Ann Brown on 01258 453686. Once booked you can pay on the day.

We are very happy to announce that St. Nicholas and St.  Laurence School have said that we can now hold our meetings there as we did before Covid.

Our November meeting, on Tuesday 2nd , will include a talk by the Gold Club on Gardening for Climate Change.

Membership fees will be due at this meeting and you will be asked to fill in a membership form to be held only by the Treasurer. There will be the usual raffle, refreshments and Flower and Plant of the Month competition. We are also introducing a £2 charge for guests to help with Society funds.

The December Meeting, on Tuesday 7th, will include a Christmas supper (£6 for members and £7.50 for guests) and fun Quiz. Please add your names to the list on November 2nd  so that we have numbers for catering.

We are planning to revert to a Thursday evening from February onwards and are working on booking speakers. Details will be published later.

Unfortunately we have had to cancel our October meeting, arranged for Tuesday 5th. Due to a misunderstanding, a smaller room was booked which is no where near big enough for our needs. This was only brought to our attention on Saturday evening, the 2nd October.

Our Speaker, Steve Jeffries has said that our members are welcome to attend the Owermoigne Society meeting on Wednesday, 6th October, 6.30pm at Owermoigne Village Hall. Turn left into Kit Lane and it is signposted along the lane. The talk is by a good lady speaker and the subject is World War 1 gardens. As we will be without a meeting this month, our members will be admitted free of charge. We really appreciate this kind gesture.

We are exploring other venues for the rest of our programme.