Hardy Plant Society (Middlesex Group)

Middlesex Group

of the Hardy Plant Society

Welcome

Welcome to the website of the Hardy Plant Society, Middlesex Group, one of the local groups of the national Hardy Plant Society.  We are a friendly group - both of experienced gardeners and enthusiastic newcomers - but we all share an interest in hardy, herbaceous, perennials and enjoy discovering more about how to grow and display these beautiful and varied plants in our gardens.

We meet regularly, usually on the first Monday of every month at Field End Junior School, Field End Road, Eastcote. We have a varied Programme of Speakers, as well as plants for sale at our meetings. We also visit gardens, shows, and other places of horticultural interest and we organise three Public Plant Sales each year. You can find out more on the Trips and Plant Sales page.

New members are always assured of a warm welcome, so why not come along and join us?

We are social! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

Hardy Plant Society - Southern Counties Group Facebook page  www.facebook.com/HPSMiddlesex

instagram www.instagram.com/hpsmiddlesex

email  hello@hpsmiddlesex.org.uk

HPS MIDDLESEX GROUP (HPSMG)
NEWSLETTER – February 2023

Happy New Year and welcome back to our year of Group meetings, starting on Monday, 6 February 2023 at 7.30 pm at Field End School as usual.

You should already have received an email from us highlighting two important issues before the February meeting. First, we would like you to bring along a home-grown/divided or any plant you would like to donate to the February Plant Sale table. All proceeds from donated plants will go directly towards running your Group and we hope you will join in by bringing along your plants. There will also be plants available from our plant sellers, but a number of our usual sellers are unavailable this month, so we have decided to ask for donations as well so there will, hopefully, be a good selection of plants for members to buy. Second, is the news and attachment we sent you from HPS national on their new Communications Strategy and how you might like to get involved. We will flag this up at the beginning of the February meeting.

We are fortunate to have two local speakers for our February meeting. Mike Honcz, is a working local gardener and he will talk to us on ways to ‘Carry On Gardening’. He will give us tips about how to make gardening easier for us, including ways to help us adapt and cope with reduced physical strength, dexterity or mobility in the garden. We are also delighted to have Janet Philpott who will take us on a video walk of her own impressive garden ‘A Walk Through the Seasons around Golden Glades’, followed by a brief resume and questions.

We look forward to welcoming you all back to Group meetings for 2023, with lots of excellent speakers and outings planned, including a trip to Paris, ooh la la! However, we do need to raise funds to keep the Group going into the future and the Committee has set up a Fundraising and Communications/Publicity sub-committee to help us plan to raise funds and awareness of HPSMG to keep membership for group meetings and outings continuing into the future. If anyone would like to contribute any ideas and suggestions to help keep the Group going into the future, they would be most welcome. Of course, we would also love to have any volunteers to join the sub-committee (we are starting off with an informal ‘ideas session’ pub lunch and we hope to keep it fun and interesting). It is also, of course, useful and timely to be able to work with HPS national’s new Communications Strategy.

HPSMG BANK ACCOUNT: Please note that HPSMG has now changed banks from HSBC to Metro Bank. This is because HSBC put in place charges on all cash and cheque transactions, plus account fees. It has been a long bureaucratic process, but our Treasurer and Committee felt it was in the best financial interests of the Group not to have to pay bank charges as a community group, particularly as our funds are ever-decreasing. Please note that Metro Bank are very fastidious about how cheques are written out and any cheques made payable to us must be made out with our name written exactly as The Hardy Plant Society – Middlesex Group. Membership fees and any other payments to HPSMG can now be made by bank transfer to our Metro Bank account. Please include your name on any bank transfers so we can easily identify who the funds are coming from. Our Metro Bank account details for bank transfers are: The Hardy Plant Society - Middlesex Group with Sort Code: 23-05-80 and Account No: 47320704.

HPSMG FUTURE GROUP SPEAKER MEETINGS:

  • Monday, 6 March at 6.45 pm - HPSMG AGM: Please note the earlier start time of 6.45 pm when refreshments will be served before holding our AGM. This will be followed by our speaker for the evening: Barry Gayton whose topic will be ‘Succulents’.
  • Monday 3 April: We will welcome Darren Lerigo from Modern Mint who will talk to us on: ‘The Skills You Need to Prune Well’.
  • Monday 15 May Meeting: Speaker, Pamela Holt Dip. Hort (Kew) Cert Ed (FE)
    NB: Due to the additional Bank Holiday being announced for the Coronation of King Charles, our May meeting will now take place on MONDAY 15 MAY 2023.
  • Monday, 5 June: Our speaker will be Gillian Taylor who will talk to us at that perfect time of year on her topic: ‘For the Love of Roses’.

HPSMG TRIPS AND OUTINGS:

• March 2023: A free entry trip to The Barbican Conservatory, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS is being planned using public transport to meet at the Barbican tube station. NB: Lynn is awaiting a confirmed date from the Barbican Conservatory as they are currently undertaking refurbishments. Dates awaiting to be confirmed at present are either: Wednesday 15 or 22 March 2023.

• Wednesday, 19 April 2023: Two garden visits to Capel Manor, Enfield and Myddleton House: Hillingdon Community Transport (HCT) Pick-ups at 09.30 am at Ickenham Library (Ruislip also if there is a demand) Return by 4.00 pm. Transport cost £10 and entry cost for Capel Manor concessions £6.50 or £7.50 per adult. Guided tours are extra and are 90 minutes long which we may also book. Free entry to next-door Myddelton House Gardens, former home of Edward Augustus Bowles, one of Britain’s most famous self-taught gardeners, artists and expert botanists. (4 places still available).

• Wednesday 17 May: Greys Court, Henley on Thames, Oxford, National Trust house and gardens. HCT pickups 09.30 am at Ickenham Library (Ruislip also if there is a demand). Transport cost £10. Free entry for NT members. A group of 15 will be £12.35 entry. The 130 years old Wisteria should be in full bloom. A house visit can also be arranged. (5 places still remaining).

• Saturday, 10 June 11.00 am to 4.00 pm: Eastcote House Garden’s Summer Picnic. HPSMG will have a plant stall so please come and visit us and why not bring along friends and family to enjoy a summer picnic in the grounds.

• July 2023: A trip to the Lavender fields of Hampshire or Kent. Date and time to be confirmed. Travel by Hillingdon Community Transport (maximum of 16 people).

• 5 – 8 September 2023: A trip to Paris and a visit to Claude Monet’s Garden at Giverny in France. Eurostar return trip from Kings Cross St Pancras to Gare du Nord, Paris. To stay 3 nights at the Hotel des Arts-Montmartre in central Paris. We will use the train to Giverny to visit the gardens. Lynn will send out a separate email to those who wish to book. 14 people so far on this trip.

Please email as soon as possible to express your interest in joining any of the above trips to enable Lynn to progress costings and planning. Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SEEDS: A reminder to please bring to the February and March 2023 meetings any of your spare, cleaned seeds which will go towards the HPS seed collection.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS 2023:

Thank you to all those members who have already been able to renew their membership for 2023 and we look forward to seeing you all at our first meeting back on Monday, 6 February 2023. Members will be able to renew their memberships at the February meeting or at any time by post using the membership form on our website or by contacting the Membership Secretary. https://www.hpsmiddlesex.org.uk/images/pdfs/forms/New_Membership-Renewal_Form_1.6_RM.pdf
Membership fees remain the same at £10 per single membership and £15 for joint members for 2 people living at the same address.

At this point, could we remind members to please remember to renew your national Hardy Plant Society membership for 2023 as they cover our insurance for meetings, plant sales and trips etc and offer a range of other benefits to members. For full details see the HPS national website: https://www.hardy-plant.org.uk/

Meantime, we very much look forward to seeing you on Monday, 6 February at 7.30 pm. Don’t forget any of your own donation plants and your own mugs for refreshments.

With all best wishes
The Hardy Plant Society – Middlesex Group Committee
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website: https://www.hpsmiddlesex.org.uk/

2023 Memberships to: Brenda Armstrong-Prada, HPSMG Membership Secretary, 7 Essex Close, Eastcote, Ruislip, HA4 9PX.
Cheques payable to: The Hardy Plant Society - Middlesex Group.
Please note that Metro Bank are very fastidious about how cheques are written out and any cheques made payable to us must be made out with our name written exactly as The Hardy Plant Society – Middlesex Group

For Bank Transfers: Metro Bank Account: The Hardy Plant Society - Middlesex Group using Sort Code: 23-05-80 and Account No: 47320704.

Single membership £10. Joint membership at same address £15.