Club Meeting on 6 July 2017

We will be preparing for our show on Saturday 15 July 2017 and looking at how to put a winning show entry together.  Tickets will go on sale for Afternoon Tea at Westfield on Saturday 5 August, £5 per person.

Shipdham Drynkkings Fair 1 May 2017

Looking forward to meeting friends old and new at this year’s Drynkkings event on Shipdham Village Green from 12 noon to 4pm.

April 2017 meeting – Plants for Shade

To say Jim Paine’s talk to us in April was different isn’t doing it true justice.  Yes, it was very different from what we might have had in mind.  One could have anticipated ‘Gardening in the Shade’ to be one of those dull titles but no – Jim knew his ‘stuff’, kept us wide awake and wanting more, encompassing a host of varied topics and ways of producing beautiful areas in our gardens.  Early on Jim wore his schoolmaster’s cap, explaining the sun and the seasons, light and temperatures, photosynthesis and chlorophyll – a glorious cornucopia of scientific facts.  If only we all had science teachers like him in our early days to answer all our questions!  Now we know how our plants benefit from the blue light, the green light and the red light.

With two table tops full of plants (and for sale too) Jim took us through a range of flowering and interesting plants we could grow in the shady parts of our gardens.  Most had been propagated in his own nursery, the Walnut Tree Garden Nursery, Rocklands near Attleborough.  Sadly we had to call a halt when tea and biscuits appeared, but many of us went away with a pot of plants and an inspiration to do better.

Sue Relf won both Bloom of the Month and the Most Unusual Flower competitions for April, and Olann Ridewood’s bowl of 3 hyacinths planted last October and all brought to perfection for our meeting in April were judged to be the top bulbs in the Mystery Spring Bulb competition.  Well done to everyone who took part.

It was gratifying to see some new faces at this last meeting, and we always welcome both visitors and new members.  We shall be at the Drynkkings again this year on 1^st May with our club stall and hope to see you all again.  There will be plants to buy, items for sale and a warm welcome from our members.  Here a reminder to members that assistance is needed for setting up from 9.30 am, please, and any help on the stall on the day is appreciated.

Our next meeting at the URC Hall will be on 6^th July, at 7.30, when advice can be had on how to put together a winning show entry.  Before then there are two garden visits, the first being a joint visit with DDAGS to Peter Beales Roses on 22^nd June at 2.45 pm, £6 per person.  Booking is required for this so please contact Lesley 01362 821549 to join in.  The second is a members’ outing to Brinton Grange and The Grange, Heydon (NGS openings) on 25^th June.  Again, Lesley has the details.

Summer Show on 15 July 2017

Show schedule and entry form is now available on this website.  Our show on Saturday 15 July 2017 will be in the United Church Hall, Chapel Street, Shipdham, IP25 7LB, open to the public from 2-3.30pm.  This is an Open Show, which means that both members and non-members can enter.  Our judges this year will be Brian Ellis and David King.