Our next meeting will be held at St. Nicholas and St. Laurence School on Thursday September 3rd at 7.30pm. The speaker will be from the Gardens Group Gold Club and the subject will be Winter Hanging Baskets and Containers. Members should remember to bring their sunflowers grown from seeds supplied by the Gold Club.

We look forward to welcoming members back to the Autumn programme and also welcoming anyone who may be interested in the subject or who are thinking about joining. The meeting is free to members and £2 to visitors. Membership subscriptions are due at this meeting.

We were very pleased with our Summer Show this year, held on Saturday 15th August. Entries were up compared to the last few years with 330 entries from 43 exhibitors.

The hall looked wonderful, filled with colour. The judges were impressed with the high standard of exhibits considering the hot, dry weather this summer. Visitors clearly enjoyed the spectacle as well as the teas and homemade cakes kindly provided by members.

More photos from the show;

The flower arrangements were excellent, seventeen in all.

Trophy winners;

SPECIAL AWARDS

National Vegetable Society Medal, Best Vegetable Exhibit – John Morris

National Vegetable Society Runner-up to Best Vegetable Award – Philip Sheffield

Silver Challenge Cup, Best Vegetable Collection – John Morris

Charles Read Memorial Cup, Highest Points, Vegetable Classes – Bill Howarth

The Tomato Trophy, Best Exhibit, Tomato Classes – Philip Sheffield

Sheild, Best Marrow Exhibit- Bill Howarth

Upwey and Broadwey Produce Challenge Cup  – John Morris

Springfield Cup, Best Exhibit, Fruit Classes –Neal Hatch

National Dahlia Society Silver Medal, Best Dahlia Exhibit – Neal Hatch

Peter Read Memorial Trophy,  – Dahlia Championship Neal Hatch 

The Beaton Challenge Cup, Highest Points Flower Classes – Neal Hatch

Bincombe Cup, Best Exhibit, Cut Flower Classes – Neal Hatch

Gladioli Award Best exhibit, Gladioli Classes – Bill Howarth

Coronation Silver Challenge Cup, Best Exhibit, Pot Plants –Shaun Vallard

Begonia Award Best exhibit Begonia Classes – Mark Read

Sheild, Best Fuchsia Exhibit – Philip Sheffield

Upwey and Broadwey Memorial Amateur Produce Challenge Cup Highest points, Novice Classes – Diane Moore and Chris Warner

Pridham Rose Bowl Highest Points Floral Decoration- Gina Marshall

Sackville Hamilton Challenge Cup Best Exhibit Floral Decoration- Gina Marshall

Novice Floral Award – Diane Moore

The Howard Cup Highest Points, Preserves and Cookery –Shaun Vallard

The Richard’s Trophy Best Exhibit, Preserves and Cookery –   Chris Warner

Westbrook Cup Best Exhibit Handicrafts – Sheila Snuggs

Redlands Cup Highest Points, Photography in Spring and Summer Shows – Shaun Vallard and Adrian Read

Cup for the Highest Points in Group 1, Children’s Classes –  Henry Warner

The Virgin Challenge Cup Highest Points in Group 2, Children’s Classes –  Evie-May Warner and Emilia Scadden

The Banksian Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society – Neal Hatch

The efco Trophy Highest Points gained in Show – Neal Hatch

The Summer Show takes place on 15th August. Time to have a look at your possible entries. See the ‘Shows’ link where you will find full details and the downloadable schedule. Schedules and entry forms also available from Read’s Florists. We look forward to receiving your entries, either by email, post or at the Florists.

Some items which may be exhibited;

Will these make it to the Show?

On June 25th we held a member’s Social Evening at Immy and Bob Turner’s garden in Watery Lane. Those who attended were treated to drinks and food as well as enjoying a visit round the lovely garden next to the river. The weather was perfect and as one member put it, “A lovely setting with good food and good company”.

On the following Saturday and Sunday we had a plant stall at Upwey Open Gardens. On Saturday we were at Upwey Manor and Sunday at The Dairy House, more valuable funds for our Society.

More pictures of members’ gardens.

We have been sent this information about celebrity speaker David Hurrion that you may be interested in. he will be at Litton Cheney on 15th June. Click below.

David Hurrion poster

Don’t forget our members’ social evening at the Dairy House, Watery Lane on 25th June at 6pm.

A lovely display of pots in Ros’s garden,

We will be having a stall at Upwey Manor, Stottingway Street, during the Upwey Open Gardens weekend on 27th and 28th June and will be pleased to see you.

Our May meeting took place on Thursday 5th. The talk by Dr. Dave Aplin took us around the world visiting many countries from his long career in Botany and featured slides of special exhibits from them. He also talked about how plants and wildlife (especially insects) co-exist together or work together for mutual benefit. The slides, discussion and Q&A all resulted in a memorable and informative evening for all.

Dr.Aplin Talk

Our next event is a members’ visit to Immy Turner’s  garden in Watery Lane on 25th June from 6pm to 8pm. There will be drinks, nibbles and a raffle. Immy and Bob have a lovely garden beside the river Wey.

Our Plant Sale on 9th was a great success with valuable funds raised for the society.

Looking further ahead, our Summer Show takes place on 15th August at the Upwey Memorial Hall.

The Gold Club has sent us this invitation to all members.

The Gold Club Summer Party Invitation 2026

Magnolia, Yellow River

Our AGM took place on April 2nd and all Officers remain in place. Following the AGM, our Chairman, Shaun Vallard gave us a talk on Begonias. This was very interesting and informative as he covered looking after the plants and taking cuttings. Shaun is a very successful exhibitor and explained how tricky it is to transport the plants to shows safely. I am sure that he has inspired others to have a go at growing these beautiful plants.

On Thursday April 23rd we have a visit to Poundbury Garden Centre. Please arrive by 6pm when there will be tea or coffee provided before a short talk. We can then shop with 25% discount on all horticultural products.

On May 7th, botanist Dr. Dave Aplin will speak to us about his career. He grew up in Dorchester and had an interest in horticulture from a young age, going on to university and working in botanic gardens both in the UK and abroad. A talk to look forward to.

May 9th is the date for our Plant Sale at the Memorial Hall, Victoria Avenue at 2pm. The hall will be open from 1pm to bring any plants you wish to sell. You are welcome to have your own stall and donate 20% to the Society, donate them to the Society stall or let the society sell them and donate 20% of the takings. Please clearly mark your plants.

Our Spring Show was very successful with 270 exhibits on display. The daffodil section was particularly pleasing with 74 entries. The other flowers and pot plants provided a lot of colour, with interesting exhibits in other sections. There was plenty for our visitors to enjoy, including home made cake and cups of tea.

Daffodil section

Trophy Winners

Junior Cup , Highest Points, Children  Evie-May Warner  Downer Cup, BestPhotographic Print  Shaun Vallard  Nottington Cup  Best Exhibit, Handicrafts Carole Caple  Prospect Cup   Highest Points, Preserves & Cookery  Chris Warner      Ridgeway Cup Best Exhibit  Propagation Bill Howarth Novice Shield Best Exhibit      Novice Classes Vanessa Henman Society Rose Bowl  Best Exhibit, Floral Art Gina Marshall  Grandshaw Cup  Highest Points, Pot Plants Shaun Vallard  Silver Salver Best Exhibit, Pot Plants (excl. bulbs) Hazel Brooks Golds Shield Best Exhibit, Bulbs in Pots Bill Howarth Sheila’s Primula Trophy  Best Exhibit, Primula Classes Bill Howarth Spring Show Cup  Runner -up to Highest Points 1-6 Shaun Vallard  Benson Cup   Highest Points 1-6 Bill Howarth Silver Cup  Best Exhibit, Class 23 Shaun Vallard  Silver  Trophy   Best Exhibit , Other Cut Flowers Neal Hatch  Diploma  Best Vase, Daffodils  Latchley Meadows  Ron Benfield  Diploma  Awarded at Judge’s discretion  Miniatures  Shaun Vallard  Best Bloom in Daffodils Cape Cornwall Eric Salt Medal for Best Daffodil Exhibit  Eric Salt

Championship Salver Ron Benfield

Well done to all exhibitors

Our next meeting will be the AGM on 2nd April followed by a talk on Begonias given by Shaun Vallard.

On April 23rd we will be visiting Poundbury Garden Centre from 6pm – 8pm for a talk and discount shopping.

Our Summer Show will be held on 15th August, 2026 , the schedule can be downloaded from the ‘Shows’ link.

Entries are coming in for our Spring Show on Saturday 21st March. See the ‘shows’ link for all the details. Members; please remember to bring your pot of daffodil bulbs distributed in the Autumn and donated by the Gardens Group Gold Club by 10.30am.

Our March meeting was a talk about hedgehogs and how the numbers had fallen over the last few years. We were given tips on hedgehog friendly gardening.

Our next meeting on April 2nd will be a short AGM followed by a talk by Shaun Vallard on growing Begonias.

It is encouraging to see snowdrops and daffodils appearing after all the dreadful weather.

Our February meeting held on 5th had a low attendance probably due to the bad weather. However, those who came enjoyed a fascinating  talk about beekeeping. Peter Begley and Mike Snuggs both have colonies either end of Abbotsbury village. Peter showed us the the equipment required and gave a full account of the process of keeping bees. Personally, I was surprised how clever bees are and how short their lives are. only a few weeks for workers and drones. The honey produced is sold locally in Abbotsbury. An excellent talk.

On March 5th, the talk will be about Hedgehogs. The speaker, Colin Varndell, is a wildlife photographer who is concerned about the survival of hedgehogs.

March 21st is Spring Show day. Please try to enter a few classes, we are also having a table especially for members who received the two daffodil bulbs from Poundbury Garden Centre. Bring them along and they will be judged to see how well they grew. No entry fee required, just bring them along before 10.30am. See the Shows link for schedules.

We have been sent this invitation from the Gold Club, if you wish to attend please reply direct to them as we have no meeting before the closing date.

Poundbury Invitation