Our November meeting was a real treat. The members who braved the weather were very well rewarded. Steve Groves, the Swanherd at Abbotsbury, gave us a really interesting talk on the swannery. He explained all about the swans and how they are looked after. Having worked at the swannery since 1989, he had a vast amount of knowledge. His talk was enhanced by some wonderful slides, including the birds, some rare, who have visited over the years. The whole talk was delivered without any notes, clearly a man who loves his job.

Our next event is the Christmas meal and quiz on December 7th. Members who wish to attend should book a place by ringing 813942 or emailing join@budhs.org.uk

Trophies won at the DFHS Show

Talks at other societies that are open to our members.

November 8th at 7pm Wyke Regis H.S. Rylands Lane. A history of Athelhampton House by the estates manager and the head gardener. £10 entry

Stourton Caundle H.S. 7pm at the Village Hall Trees for the Small Garden by Andy McIndoe, formerly of Hilliers Nurseries. £5 entry.

November 25th at 2.30pm at Colehill Village Hall. Dorset Hardy Plant Society Celebrity Speaker Developing the World Garden by Tom Hart-Dyke. Ring 07468 853009 to book a ticket.£10

December 2nd  2pm at Morden Village Hall. Nerines in the Garden by Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers. £5 entry.

Upcoming Events;

15th October  P&M Read, the local florists are celebrating 40 years in business. To mark the event there will be a Charity Bake-Off at the Memorial Hall, Upwey, including stalls run by local craftspeople. Refreshments, comprising teas and home-made cake, will be provided by our Society. Entry forms for the Bake-Off are still available from Read’s shop. The event is open to the public from 2pm.

All profits will go to ‘Stand Up to Cancer’ in memory of Peter Read.

2nd November  Steve Groves will give us a talk entitled ‘All About Abbotsbury Swannery’. This promises to be a very interesting insight into the management of the swannery as Steve has been involved for many years. 7.30pm at St. Nicholas at St. Laurence School. 

Our A.G.M. with Harvest Supper was held on 5th October.                                           The current officers were all re-elected. Colin and Sheila Seal stood down as Committee members due to ill health after many years of valuable service. All present signed a thank you card and a bouquet was taken to them the next day.

Those present enjoyed their ploughman’s supper followed by home-made apple cake.

On September 17th The Dorset Federation held their inter-society show.  A few members travelled up to Tarrant Keynestone with exhibits representing our Society. We did very well, winning four trophies. Best Vegetable Exhibit, Best Cactus, Best Home-made Spirit and Best Exhibit in the Domestic Classes.

There will be a display of the trophies at the November meeting.

Mark Read’s French Beans

Cactus Collection

Gardener’s Lunch Box

Ros and Terry’s Sloe Gin

Our first meeting of the Autumn was held on 7th September. Mark Read gave us an excellent talk on growing daffodils. We learnt when to plant the bulbs and the best compost to use. Mark also covered growing bulbs for show. He then answered the many questions. Hopefully a few members will follow his advice and enter our Spring Show in March.

Last Spring the Gardens Group Gold Club supplied us with geranium and fuchsia plants to grow on to be judged at the September meeting. The best geranium was grown by Sheila Snuggs and the best fuchsia by Shaun Vallard.

Members were also successful at the Dorset County Show, notably Shaun Vallard and Mark Read. Shaun won the Begonia class and was awarded the Peter Read Trophy and Best Floral Exhibit. Congratulations to them both. Shaun brought his trophies to our meeting.

The Society are entering the Dorset Federation Show on Sunday 17th September at Tarrant Keynestone Village Hall, open to the public from 12.45pm. It is always interesting to compete against other societies and meet up with their members.

Preparations under way.

Our next meeting will be the A.G.M. and Harvest Supper on 5th October.  Please contact us if you are interested in joining the committee. We meet on the second Tuesday of each month at the Memorial Hall committee room. Any member who has not yet put their name down for the supper, please ring 814887 or 813942 to book your place. The cost this year will be £8, payable on the night.

P.& M. Read, our local florists, are celebrating 40 years in business in October. To mark the occasion, they are holding a Charity Bake-Off on October 15th at the Memorial Hall. There will also be a variety of stalls and refreshments. Entry forms for the cake competition are available from Read’s shop. This promises to be an enjoyable event, open to the public from 2pm. All profits will go to the ‘Stand Up To Cancer’ charity in memory of Peter Read who sadly passed away last year.

The Summer Show on Saturday 19th August was very well supported with 330 Exhibits from 42 exhibitors. This is the highest number of exhibits since 2017.

The dahlias were superb and our new Peter Read Memorial Award for dahlias was won by Karen Forrester for her three vases in the Championship class.

Championship winning entry with Peter Read Award

The judges were impressed with the standard of the exhibits. Visitors enjoyed the displays and also the tea and cakes. Lots of positive comments. Thank you to all who exhibited and helped to create a wonderful show.

Our Autumn season of talks begins on September 7th when Mark Read will speak about daffodils. His talks are always very informative.

SHOW RESULTS

SPECIAL AWARDS

National Vegetable Society Medal, Best Vegetable Exhibit – Potatoes – Mark Read

National Vegetable Society Runner-up to Best Vegetable Award – Runner Beans – Jean Wyman

Silver Challenge Cup, Best Vegetable Collection – Mark Read

Charles Read Memorial Cup, Highest Points, Vegetable Classes – John Morris

The Tomato Trophy, Best Exhibit, Tomato Classes – P. Sheffield

Upwey and Broadwey Produce Challenge Cup  – Best Mixed Collection – P. Sheffield

Springfield Cup, Best Exhibit, Fruit Classes – Neal Hatch

National Dahlia Society Silver Medal, Class 29 – Karen Forrester

Peter Read Memorial Award – Dahlia Championship – Karen Forrester

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

Bincombe Cup, Best Exhibit, Cut Flower Classes – Shaun Vallard

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

Gladioli Award Best exhibit, Gladioli Classes – Neal Hatch

Begonia Award Best exhibit Begonia Classes – Shaun Vallard

Upwey and Broadwey Memorial Amateur Produce Challenge Cup Highest points, Novice Classes – No entries

Pridham Rose Bowl Highest Points Floral Decoration- Not Awarded

Sackville Hamilton Challenge Cup Best Exhibit Floral Decoration- Ruth Howarth

Novice Floral Award Best Exhibit, Class 80-  No entries

The Howard Cup Highest Points, Preserves and Cookery – P. Sheffield

The Richard’s Trophy Best Exhibit, Preserves and Cookery –   Jane Hambleton

Westbrook Cup Best Exhibit Handicrafts – Roger Hanger

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

Cup for the Highest Points in Group 1, Children’s Classes –  Evie-May Warner

The Virgin Challenge Cup Highest Points in Group 2, Children’s Classes – No entries

The Banksian Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society – Neal Hatch

The efco Trophy Highest Points gained in Show – Bill Howarth

OUR SHOW IN PICTURES

Preparing for the show

Early exhibitors

Ready for the judges

Onion classes

On July 1st eight of our members joined The Plant Heritage Group on their visit to R.H.S. Rosemoor in Devon. It was a lovely day and there was plenty to see.

Ready to return home after a very enjoyable day.

Our next event is of course the Summer Show on 19th August. Full details and the downloadable schedule can be found by clicking on to the ‘Shows’ link.

Other horticultural events that you may be interested in this month are as follows;

• Parkstone Gardeners’ Society Summer Show July 15, 2023 1:00pm – 4:00pm
  The Branksome St Aldhelm Cantre, Poole Road, Branksome, Poole BH12 1AD (Show)
• Burton Bradstock Annual Show July 15, 2023 2:15pm – 3:15pm
  Burton Bradstock village hall (Show)
• Marnhull Garden Club Flower Show and Plant Sale July 22, 2023 12:30pm – 4:00pm
  Marnhull Recreation Ground, Off Burton Street, Marnhull, DT10 1PS (Show)
• Bransgore Horticultural Society Summer Show July 29, 2023 2:00pm – 3:30pm
  Bransgore village hall BH23 8AY (Show)
• Lulworth & District Garden Society Annual Show July 29, 2023 2:00pm – 4:00pm
  West Lulworth Village Hall, Church Road, West Lulworth, Dorset BH20 5HL (Show)

On June 1st members visited Helen Goodman’s garden in Upwey.  A lovely cottage garden in the heart of the village with several different sections. A  very enjoyable afternoon in the sun. Many thanks to Helen.

Our next event is the Summer Show on 19th August, details on the ‘Shows’ link.

Our visit in pictures;

our hostess

May Meeting. Our May meeting was held on 4th . Mike Burke from The Gardens Group spoke to us about ‘Low Maintenance Gardening’. He showed us a selection of plants that need little attention, also some that easily adapt to our changing climate.

Mike’s talks are always excellent with plenty of humour.

Following our visit to Poundbury Gardens in April, we have received a link to view the interviews with our members by Swiss Television. They did a feature on King Charles and his Poundbury project click on the link below and select the picture of King Charles:-

https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/redirect/detail/e21fabcb-53b2-4d6c-9b27-c6d139d05f46

Plant Sale, 13th May. This will be held at the Memorial Hall, Victoria Avenue at 2pm. If you have any surplus plants or garden related items, you can have a free table to sell them yourself and give 20% of your takings to the Society or donate them to the Society stall. The hall will be open at 1pm for setting up. Tea and cakes will be available.

May Newsletter 2023 – 1 from the Gold Club, click to view.

Members’ Garden Visit. 1st June. This year Helen Goodman has kindly invited us to her garden at 164, Church Street in Upwey from 2 – 4pm. Bring your own picnic. Please be aware that there are steps  in the garden which may be a problem for people with limited mobility. It may also be advisable to car share as parking in the area can be limited on the road and church car park.

Apple blossom

Local Open Gardens; 

28th and 29th May  Sydling St. Nicholas 2-6pm

11th June Shillingstone 11am – 5pm Cherry Cottage, Hambledon Rise, Manor House and Shillingstone House. Under the National Gardens Scheme

17th and 18th June Cerne Abbas  2-6pm

24th and 25th June  Upwey

Poundbury Garden Centre Visit : Several members braved the rain and fog to attend this event on 27th April. We had a very interesting and informative talk followed by tea or coffee and discounted shopping.

Tulip Time: Here are some of our members’ displays.

Our next meeting will be on 4th May at the school when a speaker from the Gold Club will be giving us tips on Low Maintenance Gardening.

Don’t forget the Plant Sale on 13th May at the Memorial Hall opening at 2pm.          If you would like a stall, please phone 01305 813942 or 01305 814887 The hall will be open at 1pm to set up. If you have plants to donate to the society stall, please just bring them along between 1 and 2pm.

Unusual multi headed tulips

We have been sent this information about Sydling St.Nicholas Open Gardens.

2023 Open Gardens

Sunday and Monday 28^th and 29^th May  –  2pm to 6pm

11 Village Gardens already signed up

£5.00 per person children free (no dogs)

Tickets and guides from the Village Hall (Post Code DT2 9NX)

Refreshments and Excellent Plant Stall

Further Information from Phil

(phillips327@btinternet.com) 07902 197688