winterslowanddistricthorticulturalsociety

Orchid Growing & Maintainance Talk with Award-Winning McBeans Orchids

wdhsadmin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:50:32 +0000

We’d like to make members aware of a regional event which may be of interest to orchid growers:

Tuesday 31st January 2012

10.30am at Torberry Farm, South Harting, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU31 5RG
Tickets £10 per person

Talk given by Jim Durrant. For more details click here.

More Potato Days

wdhsadmin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:39:20 +0000

Readers will already be aware of the Courtens Garden Centre Potato Week and there are a number of other fairly local Potato Days running between January and March that are worth a visit:

One of the largest in the South is the Hampshire Potato Day that I visited last year and can recommend:

January 28th and 29th 2012
Hampshire Potato Day
Testbourne Community Centre
Micheldever Road
Whitchurch, Hampshire
RG28 7JF
£2 entry fee

Others include:
January 29th 2012
New Event
1st Ramsbury Potato Day
Ramsbury Memorial Hall
High Street
Ramsbury
Wiltshire SN8 2PB
Organised by Ramsbury Horticultural Society and Pennard Plants

February 4th 2012
3rd Urchfont Potato Day
Urchfont Village Hall
Urchfont nr. Devizes
Wiltshire SN10 4QU
10.30am – 2.00pm
Organised by Urchfont Gardening Society and Pennard Plants

February 18th 2012
3rd Annual Codford Potato Day
Codford Village Hall (offA36)
Codford
Warminster
Wiltshire BA12 0LD
10.30am – 2.00pm

NEW EVENT
February 19th 2012
Mere Potato Day and Seed Swap
The Grove Buildings
Church Street
Mere BA12 6DS
10.30am-2.00pm
Organised by Mere Gardening Club and Pennard Plants

February 26th 2012
2nd Potato Day and Seed Swap
Cheese and Grain
Market Yard
Justice Lane
Frome BA11 1BE
11.00am – 3.00pm
Organised by Sustainable Frome in partnership with Vallis Veg.
Community Seed Swap, gardening equipment, and food!!
Admission £1.00

February 26th 2012
2nd Pewsey Potato Day
Bouverie Hall
North Street
Pewsey SN9 5ES
10.00am-2.00pm
Organised by Pewsey Garden Club

Saturday 3rd March
2nd Rushall and Charlton Potato Day
Rushall Village Hall
Rushall, Devizes
SN9 6EN
10.00am-2.00pm

Sunday 4th March 2012
New Event
Blandford Potato Day
Pimperne Village Hall
Portman Road, Pimperne
nr. Blandford Forum
Dorset, DT11 8UJ
Organised by Blandford Museum Victorian Garden Club and Pennard Plants
10.00am – 2.00pm

Sunday 11th March 2011
New Event
Damerham Potato Day
Damerham Village Hall
Damerham
Fordingbridge
Hants, SP6 3HQ
10.30am – 2.30pm

So why not have a day out and call in at one of these events? There’s always plenty more on offer than just potatoes and it’s a great way to buy single tubers of a new variety to try out that you can then add onto your Dobies order next year.

Potato Week at Courtens Garden Centre, nr Whiteparish

wdhsadmin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:56:57 +0000

January Parish Magazine Entry

wdhsadmin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:24:23 +0000

All members should receive the 2012 Year Book during January together with a Newsletter which will contain a “cut off” strip which will need to be returned to our Secretary, Rosemary Jacks by 31st January please. We would ask you to ensure that this is done promptly so that the Society can finalise dates and prices for the various trips and events in which members show interest. We also need to know how many Cabbage Walking Stick and Fuchsia plants to order for members who are interested in growing them on for the competitions. If you have not received your Year Book by the end of January please contact the Secretary. The £5 Annual subscription which covers the whole family for a year is due and will be collected when the Year book is delivered. If you know anyone who would like to become a member please encourage them to contact the Secretary.

The Society’s first event in 2012 is the Jumble Sale on 18th February at the Village Hall. If you have any saleable items of jumble, bric-a-brac, toys, books, clean second hand clothing, nearly new clothing etc please bring them to the Village Hall between 12 noon and 1.30 pm on that day. If necessary, collection of items can be arranged by contacting any member of the Committee.

The Society’s Spring Show will be held on 24th March so do consult the schedules in the new Year Book and make plans to enter as many classes as possible. Hopefully We shall not have such a vicious winter as last year and there will be plenty of Spring flowers available.

Happy New Year!!

wdhsadmin — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:22:53 +0000

A Happy New Year to all our members and site visitors! Just a quick note to let you know the Society website has now been updated with all the 2012 details and your Yearbook will be delivered to you in January.

Don’t forget to plan your Spring and Summer show entries now and start putting aside whatever you can donate to our February Jumble Sale.

2012 will undoubtedly be another busy year for us all and we wish you the very best for the New Year. Happy gardening everyone!

Summer Show Photos

wdhsadmin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:53:58 +0000

Click to view slideshow.

Some pictures from our 2011 Summer Show held on August 20th.

And the list of winners:

Master Gardener 3 Vegetables + vase of flowers Richard Soilleux
Society Top Tray Three Vegetables Damien Guttridge
Singer Cup Most points – onions Richard Soilleux
Tomato Cup Most points – tomatoes Valerie Russell
Challenge Bowl Most points root vegetables Damien Guttridge
Lindsay Edwards Cup Most points – non root vegetables Richard Soilleux
Codrington Cup Most points – flowers Derrick Goodyear
Marion Horner Cup Best exhibit – flowers Derrick Goodyear
Joe Kiff Bowl Most points – Vegetables Damien Guttridge
Beale Cup Most points – Roses David Tullis
Sweet Pea Cup Most points – Sweet Peas Caroline Morgan-Jones
Steward Cup Most points – Fruit Terry Clayton
Fisher Cup Most points – Jams/Preserves Eileen Lockett
Winterslow Cup Most points – Cookery Rachel Guttridge
Wilson Cup Best exhibit Flower arranging Chris Walker
Sainsbury Cup Most points Flower arranging Chris Walker
Men’s Cup Chocolate Bread & Butter Pudding G Bull/R Hunt

Children’s Classes

Age 3-6 Alfie Clayton )
Chloe Guttridge ) equal first prize
Jacob Nicolle )

Age 6-9 Daisy Clayton

Age 9-12 Eve Clayton

Thanks to our judges, stewards and MP John Glen for presenting the prizes. To all the Committee members for organising another great show and to our helpers on the day. And finally to all our entrants without whom there would be no show at all, and to our visitors for their support. See you at next years show!

One week to go!

wdhsadmin — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 08:49:35 +0000

Just a week to go now until our Summer Show. Please give your entry form to a member of the Committee by 6.30pm on Thursday evening (no entries will be accepted after this time). On Saturday staging is between 8.15am and 10.15am at which time exhibitors will leave the hall and judging will commence. The hall will be open to the public from 2pm so please come along with your family and friends to support all the exhibitors. The usual refreshments will be available along with a raffle. Please do consider entering as much as you can.

There are many trophies/certificates and prizes on offer in a number of different categories for vegetables, flowers, homecraft, fruit, flower arranging and childrens. In particular we would love to see more junior entries so please encourage your children/grandchildren to enter. There’s still time and it’s a great summer holiday activity to get them involved in. It costs nothing to enter for members of the Society and their families.

Our MP John Glen has kindly agreed to present the trophies which will take place at 3.45pm.

So come on why not enter? It’s a bit of fun for everyone and a great spectacle for the local villages and members of the public. See you all on Saturday.

Here’s some photos from this year’s New Forest and Hampshire County Show for inspiration!!

Click to view slideshow.

Gardener’s Question Time Evening

wdhsadmin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:08:56 +0000

Saturday evening saw 52 of us at the Village Hall for the first ever Society Garderner’s Question Time evening. With a glass of wine and a plate of cheese and biscuits we all settled in for a couple of hours of expert advice on all matters horticultural.

On the panel were:
Ted Perrin, Chairman of the Hampshire District Association of the National Vegetable Society (NVS).
Kevin Hughes, Heale House Nursery.
Reg Williams, Salisbury Parks and Gardens.

A wide variety of subjects were discussed such as plant pest and disease problems, moss in lawns, sweet peas not flowering and tomato fruits not setting. We learnt whilst we’d had a relatively warm season so far colder than usual nights were still affecting some plants well into June. There were passionate pleas from the panel not to kill off ants in the garden as they don’t do that much damage, and to give ivy a chance to thrive on trees as it is such a fantastic wildlife habitat. With the experts throwing in the occassional anecdote it was a thoroughly entertaining and informative evening. And the panel weren’t afraid to give straightforward advice such as ‘chopping an old cherry tree down’ when needed!

Many thanks to our panel of experts, to our Chairman Richard for putting the questions to them, Committee members and helpers for organising the event, and to everyone who attended and brought their questions.

The panel (left to right) Reg Williams, Kevin Hughes and Ted Perrin with Society Chairman Richard Soilleux.

Kevin Hughes and Ted Perrin share a joke.

The audience take in the expert advice from the panel.

Don’t forget our Summer Show is only a few weeks away. Please read the schedule in the yearbook to see what classes you wish to enter. If you have children/grandchildren please encourage them to enter the children’s classes, we’d love to see more entries this year. Best of luck with your preparations!

Get Your Tickets for Gardener’s Question Time – Sat 2nd July

wdhsadmin — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 14:47:56 +0000

2nd July Gardening Questions with Cheese and Wine EveningT

The Society will be holding this event at the Village Hall, Middleton Road, Winterslow, commencing at 7.00p.m. We will start with the cheese and wine with Question Time commencing at 8.00p.m.

On the panel will be Reg Williams, Salisbury Parks & Gardens, Kevin Hughes from Heale House Nursery and Ted Perrin from Amport who is a member and judge for the National Vegetable Society.

Tickets will be £5 to include cheese and a glass of wine. Please contact our Secretary, Rosemary Jacks. And why not bring along a friend or two? Don’t miss what will be a great educational and social evening. And get your thinking caps on and come up with some great questions. See you there!

Don’t Forget Saturday’s Plant Sale!

wdhsadmin — Thu, 19 May 2011 19:49:27 +0000

It’s our Annual Plant Sale this Saturday so there’s less than 2 days to get your plants sorted out or to start thinking what you’d like to buy to add to your garden this summer.

Hopefully you’ve got your plants all lined up a ready to go. Please donate whatever you can spare and bring along to the Winterslow Village Hall between 12 and 2pm. Open to the public from 2pm.

See you there!!