Well, the busy gardeners of the Luffenhams are doing us proud; collections at the Fox started last night and we can now add ‘Gifts’ to the lovely array that will be on offer this Saturday😊. Ladies from ‘Men & Women in Sheds’ have been busy making and painting plant holders for these amazing succulents; Roses in contemporary planters and Houseplants in beautiful vintage pots will make perfect gifts for a loved one or indeed treat yourself!
It is with great excitement that the North Luffenham Garden Club is finally back this month after 2 long years.
We are planning to meet on the second Wednesday of every month.
The first meeting will take place in the Community Centre on:-
Wednesday 13th April 7pm – 8.30pm
There will be a great guest speaker, plus other news and activities.
Wine, tea and coffee will also be available.
Sowing Seeds of Hope – Sunflower Growing Competition for Ukrainian Appeal
An exciting project has been launched called “Sowing Seeds Of Hope”. It’s a Sunflower Growing Competition to help raise money for Ukraine whilst at the same time drawing awareness to the newly revived North Luffenham Garden Club. There are some great prizes to be won and seeds can be bought from The Fox, Edith Western Shop & Rutland Water Garden Nursery.
Saturday 21st May – Plant Sale @ The Fox
There will be a Plant Sale on Saturday 21st May @ The Fox.
Members, all keen gardeners, and allotment holders in the village are encouraged to plant a few extra seeds, save those thinning’s and generally grow to share what we have available. We are hoping to have sufficient contributions for the following sections:
Bedding Plants
Perennials
Indoor Plants
Herbs
Vegetable Plants
Want to Join Us?
Anyone can join a meeting – you could be in the early stages of gardening, live outside North Luffenham or just want to come along to see what it’s like. We’re all here to encourage and support each other. There is a small fee per meeting or a half-year membership is available for new members.
Costs: £3 per meeting or £7.50 for half year membership (valid until Sept 2022)
For any enquiries regarding any of the above events, membership, or plant sale – please email us at:-
northluffenhamgardenclub@gmail.com
During the lockdowns clubs were unable to meet but it is hoped that as restrictions are eased to revive the once active Garden Club.
There will be a meeting on Wednesday 16th February at 6.30pm in the Community Centre.
You don’t have to be a keen gardener; just to be interested.
Below is the programme of events for the North Luffenham Garden Club for 2019 / 2020. All are welcome to attend any of the events listed below
The April Garden Club meeting is on Thursday 11th April, at 7.30pm in the Community Centre and we would like to remind you that our speaker this month is nurseryman, Rob Potterton from Caistor N. Lincs, giving a talk about Alpines & Bulbs – From Mountain to Market.
As usual there will be hot drinks and a Raffle , with hopefully, some plants to buy as well. Please do come as everyone is welcome, including non-members.
Launch Event & Seed Swap
Join us for our launch event at Oakham Castle on Saturday 9th February 2019 between 10.00am and 1.00pm. Find out more about the project and meet the project team, Claire Crowley and Alex Wilby, founders of Root-and-Branch Out CIC, who specialise in nurturing community through nature. Alex is a professional horticulturist and Claire is a permaculture designer.
Below is the list of Speakers booked until May 2019.
Please note that it is the Christmas Social Gathering/Quiz, on Thursday 13th December at the usual time of 7.30pm in the Community Centre. Everyone is welcome to this relaxed and friendly evening. Drinks and food will be available and we hope you will bring a plate of your favourite food to share.
Programme 2018/19
13 December 2018 Christmas Social and Quiz Evening
10 January 2019 ‘Over the Garden Wall’ – learn about all that goes on in a walled garden
Joe Whitehead, experienced head gardener for many years, including broadcasting, writing and being a panellist on gardening programmes.
14 February 2019 ‘A Garden for All Seasons’ – a detailed look at the planting in Diane’s garden at all times of the year, with practical ideas for increasing the flowering season Diane Clement, Director of the Seed Exchange for the Alpine, Garden Society, with many years experience growing, showing and judging.
14 March 2019 ‘The Wonderful World of Salvias’ – sharing her extensive knowledge, also covering the rise in popularity of the genus and the origins of many of them. Janet Buist, Formerly of Pennycross Plants
11 April 2019 Alpines & Bulbs – ‘From Mountain to Market’. Rob Potterton, Nurseryman, Pottertons Nursery
9 May 2019 ‘There’s More to that Flower than You See’. Stephen Ashpole, from North Luffenham, again sharing with us his lifelong experiences of gardening and wildlife
The first meeting of our Autumn Season will be on Thursday 11th October, 2018, with guest speaker Jo Bennison, a specialist Peony nursery grower from Market Rasen, Lincs, talking on “Peonies – covering species peonies and how breeders have improved on older varieties” (http://www.bennisonpeonies.co.uk)
The following meeting on Thursday 8th November, 2018, will be with Joe Sharman from Monkslivery Nursery on Snowdrops.
At meetings we start at 7.30 pm in the Community Centre with refreshments, a raffle, the guest speaker, and sometimes plants for sale. Annual membership is £10 per person, payable from the October meeting, or £2 per guest for each meeting. All are welcome, so do bring along a friend.
The Committee regret that due to current circumstances the Autumn Show, scheduled to be held on Sunday 9th September, has been cancelled for this year. The Show’s success relies on the efforts of the organisers, volunteers & helpers, and we need more of you!
As a Club we are currently looking for someone to take on the role of Secretary, and for more people to join the committee in general. If you feel you would like to step forward, please contact Katy Ellis by calling 01780 722173, or e mailing: ktellis1606@gmail.com
The Club has a full, interesting and varied programme of speakers arranged for our monthly meetings from 11th October 2018 through to May 2019 – see details below.
SCHEDULES (Entry Forms)
Schedules are now available from The Fox and Edith Weston Village Shop, OR ring Katy Ellis on 01780 722173
On Saturday 21st July there are still places available for anyone who would like to join this outing. It is a chance to visit these very fine RHS gardens.
Depart Easton on the Hill Village Hall at 08.30. Return from Hyde Hall at 16.00. Non-members pay £17.50 Please contact Joy Forster on 01780 762156 to book your place.
Don’t forget it’s Garden Club this Thursday 10th May with the final speaker before the summer break! The club will be welcoming Geoff Hodge with a talk on ,Scented Plants and the Scented Garden’.
Geoff may be a familiar name as he is a freelance horticultural author, editor and broadcaster, writing regularly for publications such as ‘Garden Answers’.
You’ll learn plenty, have a good laugh, and he donates lots of extra raffle prizes!!
Please feel free to bring any spare seeds/seedling/plants to offer to other members. – 7.30pm at the Community Centre – all welcome – guests £2 per person, with tea/coffee/biscuits to start & raffle at the end
We welcome Steve Lovell, a horticultural consultant & former Chairman of the Hardy Plant Society speaking on “Bark, Berry and Leaf – Texture in the Garden”
Steve will be looking beyond flowers and showing us what else nature provides in the plant kingdom.
The meeting will be at the Community Centre at 7.30pm – anybody can come along (guests £2).
North Luffenham Garden Club will be holding its Christmas social with quiz (optional, being put out on tables, not read out). Please bring food to share. Wine & soft drinks – first glass free then donations.
Time and place: 7.30pm at the Community Centre
Date: Thursday 14 December
Once again, just a reminder, it is time to pay annual membership fees of £10.00 for which we have interesting speakers from October to May each year and organised outings each summer.
Sally Lambert has again kindly agreed to run a workshop on Sat 25th November from 10am – 1pm @the Community Centre, where she will guide us in making our own wreath, and other arrangements.
Cost is £5 per person, which includes tea/coffee & a mince pie.
You will need to bring any equipment you have – oasis, secateurs, vase/container you intend to use, pine cones, ribbons, decorations – plus foliage & flowers. Prunings of woody clematis stems, dogwoods etc make a great basis for wreaths – we all share bits and pieces too.
Please book your place with Katy Ellis on 01780 722173 as soon as possible.
November Meeting
NB: The next meeting is to be held a week later than usual, on Thursday 16th November, at 7.30pm.
It is also the AGM, followed by Stephen Ashpole from the village, to present a talk on Organic Gardening, which will be full of information about the whys and wherefores on this subject.
The Show is a celebration of local talent and is Open For All to enter with many categories: plants, painting, needlework, card craft, woodwork, photography, baking, jam making, vegetables, flowers and fruit for example.
At North Luffenham Community Centre
On Sunday 10th September
Entries are open to everyone and if possible should be made before the show using the attached Schedule or you can get a hard copy of the Schedule from The Fox or Edith Weston Village Shop.
There are some simple guidelines in the Schedule and we will help you with any queries beforehand and on the day (contact details inside back page). We’d love to see what you can do – be proud and show it off!
Photography. Here are this year’s categories to keep in mind over the coming month so you can get snapping: Flowers and Plants, Gardens, Sky, Countryside Activities, Animals (wild or tame), Linked theme (one set of three phtos linked together in some way), Open (includes anything not already covered already). There is a also a class for U16s, which is free, for any of these themes.
How to enter:
Easton-on-the-Hill Horticultural & Crafts Society have some spare seats available for their visit to Coton Manor on Saturday 22 July departing 10.30 from Easton-on-the-Hill Village Hall and returning at 16.00 from Coton Manor.
Tickets are £17.50 for non-members for entry to Coton Manor and include transport.
Please contact Joy Forster on 01780 762156 if you are interested.
Colton Manor is a peaceful 10 acre garden occupying a hillside position extending down from the 17th century manor house. Landscaped on different levels, it comprises a series of distinctive smaller gardens, providing variety and interest throughout the season, and enhanced by flowing streams, fountains and ponds. Beyond the confines of the garden there is a magical 5 acre bluebell wood and colourful wildflower meadow at its best in June and July.
The Stableyard cafe offers a great selection for lunch. You may bring your own food, however picnicking is not permitted at the garden.
The Garden Club are running an outing to Hidcote (morning) & Kiftsgate (afternoon), two stunning gardens in the same village in the Cotswolds on Sunday 9th July, leaving Empingham @ 8.30am/North Luffenham 8.45am. Open to all – take a picnic or eat at either of the gardens.
Tickets are for coach travel plus entry – £22.50 if you have National Trust membership (you must bring your own card on the day) or £33.50 without.
