NEWSLETTER – December 2025
From our Chair and the Committee

Our talks coming up:

November’s talk – Hellebores
What a brilliant talk, given by Samantha Hopes, telling us all about hellebores covering every aspect.  There is no excuse now not to have a fantastic display in the Spring in our gardens.  Her knowledge on the species is incredible, and you could tell that these plants are very special to her.  Samantha brought some beautiful plants for us to buy and her own made cards.  We will definitely be inviting Samantha back in the future to share more of her knowledge about plants.

She also reminded the meeting that Ashwoods, in the Spring, have special hellebore tours so please do check on Ashwoods website to find out more details and the dates when these tours will take place.  Combined Garden and Hellebore Tours – Ashwood Nurseries 

If you missed Gardener’s World on Friday 5^th December, do find it on the BBC iplayer as Ashwoods and Samantha’s husband, Nigel, were featured.  What a beautiful piece so please do find it and enjoy.

Thank you to Rosie from Craft Creations for bringing such wonderful items from the shop for us to purchase.  All the items having been made by local residents. 

Thank you also to Karen and Jo for making sure that we all had tea and coffee when we arrived.  Thank you to Ruth for organising the tea rota.  Do sign up to help and you can find the tea rota on the desk as you arrive in the Hall. 

December talk – Bee Curious
As our Year of the Bee comes to an end, we will enjoy a talk by Clun resident, Steve Knight, a professional forester, ecologist and beekeeper, for a fascinating look into the world of bees and the plants that sustain them. Discover how different bee species live and work, which garden plants provide the best nectar and pollen, and how the hive produces honey, wax, and other remarkable gifts. A perfect pre-Christmas evening — with local honey and candles available to purchase.

We will also have our usual Christmas special raffle, mulled wine and nibbles.  We won’t be serving tea and coffee at this meeting.

Flower of the Month in November and December
Dorothy with her beautiful Kaffir Lily.  Thank you to Helen who has taken over running the Flower of the Month from Mellie.

A reminder there will be no Flower of the Month at the December meeting but instead please bring a small table arrangement on the theme of the Robin Redbreast for which there will be a prize on the night.

Wreath and table decoration workshop
A group of 15 gardening club members and friends enjoyed a festive afternoon making Christmas wreaths and table decorations at Lydbury North Village Hall under the expert guidance of retired florist, Claire Labrum, and artist, Alison Schofield. Music and delicious refreshments added to the amazing abundance of foliage, seedheads and ornaments provided, to make this an event to be repeated!  Thank you to our Committee members, Elly and Cerys who worked so hard to make the afternoon run smoothy.  The choice of foliage and decorations including lights to include, was amazing.

January meeting – EGM at the start

At this meeting, at the start, there will be a brief Extraordinary General Meeting called to vote on three items.  Our new Data Protection Policy, an updated Constitution and to vote in the Vice Chair and the Secretary which did not happen at the AGM back in October.   More information below. Please also take a few minutes to look at the Draft Data Protection Policy and Procedures and the updated Constitution on our website. Links below.

Data Protection Policy
As a Club, we collect personal information about our members, and we have a duty to protect your privacy. We are aware that we should not be collecting or storing any information about you unless it is for a legitimate purpose (e.g. to inform you of meetings, trips, events etc.) We have recently looked at what is collected and why, and how it is stored or deleted, and have drawn up a draft Data Protection Policy and Procedures for the Club to follow.

We intend to keep members’ details on record for up to one year after membership expires, in case people wish to rejoin, but will delete records of any lapsed members beyond that time period.

We would like to continue to send an email reminder each month to notify you that the latest Newsletter is live on the website. This email only goes to people who have agreed for their email addresses to be used in this way, and recipients can unsubscribe at any time. Lapsed members will be deleted from that mailing list 12 months after their memberships expires.

If, on the other hand, you have not been receiving the Newsletter notification, but would like to, please contact our Membership Secretary, Sara by email and you can be added to the mailing list. spsararoberts@btopenworld.com

Please take a few minutes to look at the Draft Data Protection Policy and Procedures on our website. We will have an opportunity to discuss this at our Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) session within the Club meeting in January.  draft-data-protection-policy.pdf

Draft Constitution update
At the EGM in January, we will also look at the proposed Draft Constitution as the old Constitution is now outdated and with the lack of Committee members, we no longer complied. The proposed Constitution means that we can still run with fewer committee members.  This can be viewed on our website Club Policies – South West Shropshire Gardening Club

On the subject of Committee members, we would love to welcome some more people to join the Committee.  We meet about four times a year and enjoy tea, coffee and cake!  It would be great to have some more help as we are down four members. 

Plant of the Month – The poinsettia plant 
From the family of Euphorbiaceae, indigenous to Mexico and Central America, how did this rather un-British plant become a symbol of our Yuletide celebration? In Mexico, the plant is a symbol of folklore with the association beginning with a Mexican child named Pepita who was poor, with no gift to take to church, so she picked some wildflowers and weeds as an offering for Christmas Eve gathering at Church. The bouquet she so carefully selected did miraculously turn into the beautiful blooms of the poinsettia, and was then presented at the altar, thereafter, being known as ‘Flowers of the Holy Night’ meaning ‘any gift of love is a beautiful gift’.  The star-shaped bright red leaves, which are not flowers but bracts or modified leaves, are seen as a symbol of the star of Bethlehem. The bright red leaves are a symbol of the blood of Christ.  The white leaves, when present, symbolise the purity of Christ.  The Franciscan friars in the17th Century, gathered the plant to decorate churches and nativity scenes during Christmastide.

International introductions are credited to Joel R Poinsett, to whom the plant is named after, although previously, it was called the ‘Mexican Flame Flower ‘. During 1820s, Mr Poinsett was an Ambassador for the United States in Mexico where he became interested in the plant and saw an opportunity to market it in America. Much work was done by the Ecke horticulturalist family who heavily promoted the plant in the US during the 20^th Century leading to the Congress declaring 12th December as ‘National Poinsettia Day’. It is believed that the family produces 70% of the market in the US.  The poinsettia was described as a new species by the German scientist Johann F Klotzsch in 1834. It was introduced to the UK by James McNab, a curator for the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh in 1834 and was much admired with the story captivating the hearts of the British public.

Excess Plants/Plant Swap

We will be having a table at the back of the hall at our meetings for you to bring any surplus plants so that others can have them.  The only thing we ask is if your plants have not been taken by the end of the talk, please take them away with you. 

Seed Order
The D T Brown seed order has been sent and that orders exceeded the threshold necessary to qualify for 50% discount which is excellent news. The seeds will be delivered to Elly in January hopefully in time for the January meeting which is late in the month but if not, they will be available at the February meeting.

Wormery
We still have one small wormery that needs a new home for a small donation.  This wormery was given to us by someone living in Craven Arms who had no use for it anymore.  Please contact Mandy bonnilass@hotmali.com if you would like to find out more about it.

Members’ much-loved plants

Abutilon Red Tiger (Family: Malvaceae) (Atn Rt5) is a semi-evergreen
shrub which grows to around 2m with upright, slightly arching branches and soft maple-like leaves.  Nodding, bell-shaped flowers are yellow but heavily veined in red and produced from Spring to Autumn. The RHS recommended places to grow this plant are city and courtyard gardens, flower borders and against walls.  Mandy, our Vice-Chair, tells us how she came to have this exotic plant:

“I bought this Abutilon at the Hergest Croft Autumn Plant event.  It was love at first sight and I knew I was not going home without it.  £10 well spent.  And thankfully it is still thriving three years later.  However, it doesn’t start to flower until end of September with me when I bring it into the house (not central-heated).  It seems to love being in my hallway and everyone comments on what a lovely flower it has and how exotic.  I think next year I will try and find the sunniest part of my garden to see if I can get some flowers earlier in the year.”

RHS Affiliation
Don’t forget that our club is affiliated to the RHS so I can lend you a discount card which offers 50% off entry for two people, to any RHS Garden (Bridgewater, Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor and Wisley). It is not accepted for visits during Flower Shows and Glow Illumination events.

Membership
DUE ! Membership costs £20 to cover attendance at all our meetings for a year (from October); early access to trips and events with subsidised tickets; seed offers and plant sales. We are affiliated to the RHS so you can borrow our discount card which provides 50% discount for two people to any RHS garden. Such a bargain! Payment can be made with cash, cheque or card at our meetings or by transfer to: South West Shropshire Gardening Club sort code 20-53-22 account number 80754803. Please add your name as reference and email our Treasurer, Tina, to let her know: swsgcbookings@gmail.com

Plant Heritage
We also belong to Plant Heritage and have two cards which enable members to attend local meetings and events.   Please contact Mellie if you would like to use the cards.

The Club’s Social Media
Don’t forget that we have an active website and Facebook page, which are regularly updated. You can post on the FB page, and this will be loaded up once it has been approved by the Administrator.  It is a great way of sharing news about all things gardening.

A bit of health and safety
As we are now well into the season for coughs and sneezes, please, if you feel unwell, reconsider whether you should be coming to an indoor event.  Covid still is around as is flu and we do have several vulnerable people who do attend the meetings.

Talks booked for 2026

28th Jan
Adam Kirtland – Garden DIY Using Just a Wooden Pallet

25th Feb
Gavin Stoneystreet – The Gardens of William Morris 25th March Pete Carty – Minsterley Meadows

22nd April
Philip Aubery – Propagation – New plants from seeds, cuttings and division

27th May
Matt Wright – Bonsai

June
No talk – Garden trip this month

22nd July
Sam Shepherd – Self-sufficiency in 2026 – The good life – Part 1

August
No talk this month

23rd Sept
Paul Green – Grasses

28th Oct
Rozanne Delamore – The Ledbury Flower Farmer, growing seasonal sustainable cut flowers

25th Nov
Jill Cawthray – Not all Nettles – Wildlife Gardening without the Wilderness

6th Dec
Sam Shepherd – Storing and preserving your fruit and vegetables – Part 2

The Committee would like to wish all our members a very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year and we hope to see you at the December meeting

November 2025
From our Chair and the Committee

We remember David Pittwood

We have learnt of the sad passing of one of our long-standing members, David Pittwood.  We are hugely sorry to hear this news and will miss David who regularly attended our Club talks and came on our outings with his wife Pam over many years.  As many of you know, Pam and David hold regular plant stalls in Clun outside the Methodist Church to raise funds for local and humanitarian charities and we all look forward to the Saturday sales throughout the season.  David will be very much missed by us all.  We send our love to Pam and we are here to help in any way we can throughout this sad period of time for her.  

Our talks coming up:

November talk
We will be joined by Samantha Hopes who has been to talk to us before.  This time she will be talking to us about Hellebores which, as we all know, are so important for the pollinators out early in the year.  Samantha has a wealth of experience working at various gardens.  

After graduating, Samantha went to work alongside John Massey looking after his Hepatica collection. This became one of her passions, alongside specialist alpines and a new breeding program with Roscoeas.  Samantha, with her husband Nigel, has thrown herself into creating and building their own garden, propagating and growing unusual plants to sell at talks, as well as looking after their family.

Also at the November meeting, we are thrilled that Craft Creations from Clun will be bringing a selection of their handmade items, specifically with a Christmas theme so don’t forget to bring some extra money to purchase all those Christmas presents.  It is great to be supporting local crafts people.

Looking back at our October talk
What a thought-provoking talk given last month to the Club by Jack Willgoss from Wildegoose Nursery in the Corvedale!   There was so much to take in and to consider how we should be gardening in this now unpredictable climate.  It is all quite frightening.

There were many take-homes from the evening, and here are some, hopefully most of us are doing some of these already:

• Avoid chemicals
• No dig – why put the topsoil under the subsoil!
• Do not cut back until late winter and use the stems to mulch
• Use peat-free compost – (Ransfords in Bishops Castle do stock Melcourt which is a compost that Jack recommends.  Please ring them to check they have this in stock.)
• Avoid watering unless there is no rain for two weeks after fresh planting
• Wherever possible, buy organic bulbs – less is more as the saying goes
• Buy small plants for better results rather than larger specimens
• Save your own seed wherever possible rather than buying in seed

Jack gave out to us a lists of plants that he would recommend people to consider planting and you can find this on our resource page (www.gardeningshropshire.co.uk).  Their nursery will open again in the Spring so do please check their website for their opening date www.wildegoosenursery.co.uk

AGM last month
Farewell and thank you to Angie Salmon – Prior to Jack’s talk, there was a short AGM and we were sad to say farewell to Angie Salmon who has guided us in her role as Chair over the last three years.  In total, Angie has given twelve years to the Club and so she feels it is time for her to take her place in the audience now.  Thank you, Angie for all your years.  We hope that you enjoy the tree that you will buy as the Club’s gift to you.

The New Committee – Mellie Lewis, known to many of you as Aeonium Mellie!, has now stepped up to the role of Chair, with Mandy Ford taking on the role of Vice-Chair and who will continue to assist with booking speakers.  Tina McAra will be taking on the Treasurer’s role, looking after the website and booking the speakers, Sara Roberts will be taking over as Membership Secretary and Elly Bibby will continue in her role as Secretary which she has done brilliantly, Pauline Owens will continue with the raffle.  Sadly, we lost Caroline Hughes, Alleyne Copestake and David O’Neil from the Committee. Thank you for your help during your participation.

We were delighted that Helen Brown has offered to help run the Flower of the Month competition and Ruth Webb has offered to run the Tea Rota and make sure that teas and coffees are served on the night.  And that Caroline Hughes will continue to help us whenever she can on the night.  Thank you all.

Please do consider offering to help – you don’t need to be on the Committee – Just let one of the Committee members know if you would like to know more about the help we need either on the night or during the year.

Flower of the Month in October and the Annual Prize for most points
Well done to Pauline Edie with her winning Café Au Lait dahlia that won the October competition, starting off our new year with a zing.

Also, congratulations to Dorothy Morris who took the overall 1^st prize for the Flower of the Month Year, with Rosemary Morris 2^nd and Sara Roberts 3^rd.  You have got to be in it to win!  Remember, bring a single bloom or spray from your garden to participate. Points are given each month and then the overall winner will be announced at our AGM in October. Please note that, to be fair, we can only accept one entry from each participant.

Year of the Bee
As our Year of the Bee is almost over, here are some interesting names that bumblebees are, and have been, called over the years:

It wasn’t until the 1950s that the name bumblebee stuck. They are also known as:

Dumbledore (18th century) – yes, the inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s wizard!

Humblebee (Until 1910)

Drumbledrone (Devon)

Foggy Bummer (NE Scotland)

Cacynen (Welsh)

Bumbóg (Irish)

Seillan (Gaelic)

What name do you like to call them by?

Plant of the Month

We thought it would be fun to talk about a Plant of the Month.  Here is our first one for our new Membership year which runs from October to September. This has been submitted by Mellie.  If you would like to tell us about a special plant, email aeonium.mellie@gmail.com

Thanksgiving cactus, botanical name Schlumbergera truncata. This is a tropical, epiphytic cactus that blooms during the autumn. Below is one of mine in shades of pink! There are two other similar plants in the genus, Christmas flowering and Easter flowering, see diagram below showing the differences. At a time of the year when little else is flowering their cheerful blooms always make me smile, and if you have one of each variety then you can rest assured you will have beautiful blooming houseplants all through the dark cold seasons. To care for it, provide bright, indirect light, water when the top of the soil is dry, and ensure well-draining soil. It also appreciates cooler temperatures.

Excess Plants/Plant Swap
After the success of Ed and Mary’s day lilies that we were able to have as they had too many, at each meeting from now on, we will have a table for members to bring in any excess plants that they would like to pass on.  The only condition is that if they are still left at the end of the meeting you need to take them home with you.  A great idea as plants are so expensive to buy now – the prices have rocketed!

Members’ plants
Anne Shepherdson, one of the Founding Members of the Gardening Club, bought this Trumpet Brugmansia just before start of Covid from a jumble sale, very cheaply.  Since then, it sulked but Anne’s message is never give up because this year (maybe due to the warm weather) it has excelled as you can see.   Anne’s message is never give up hope.

Seed Order
The D T Brown seed order catalogues are available. The discounts offered to Club members this year include 50% on seed, 20% off grow your own products and 10% off Darlac tools and birdseed. Order forms need to be returned at the next meeting in November so if you want a catalogue or cannot return your order form at the November meeting (and can’t find a friend to do it for you!) then please contact Elly Bibby on 0780 2497780. As usual, no payment is required up front and is due once you have received the seeds in January.

Christmas Workshop – 27^th November – 2 pm – 4.30 pm

Lydbury North Village Hall 
A few places left so don’t delay.  Led by Alison Schofield, a retired art teacher and silversmith, and Claire Labrum, retired florist.  All materials including a generous quality of foliage, seed heads and Christmas style decorations will be provided but you are welcome to bring any of your own favourites. Please choose between wreath making or a table decoration when booking.  To reserve your place, please contact Elly Bibby 07802497780 or ellisonbibby05gmail.com

RHS Affiliation
Don’t forget that our club is affiliated to the RHS so I can lend you a discount card which offers 50% off entry for two people, to any RHS Garden (Bridgewater, Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor and Wisley). It is not accepted for visits during Flower Shows and Glow Illumination events.

Membership
DUE LAST MONTH! Membership costs £20 to cover attendance at all our meetings for a year (from October); early access to trips and events with subsidised tickets; seed offers and plant sales. We are affiliated to the RHS so you can borrow our discount card which provides 50% discount for two people to any RHS garden. Such a bargain!

Payment can be made with cash, cheque or card at our meetings or by bank transfer to: South West Shropshire Gardening Club sort code 20-53-22 account number 80754803. Please add your name as reference and email our Treasurer Tina McAra to let her know: swsgcbookings@gmail.com

Plant Heritage
We also belong to Plant Heritage and have two cards which enable members to attend local meetings and events.

Social media
Love it or loath it, remember that we have a packed website (www.gardeningshropshire.co.uk) and a Facebook page, both of which are great ways of sharing information.  Please do visit them both as we regularly post updates and information about events in our local area.  If you have anything that you would like to share, please email bonnilass@hotmail.com or on Facebook you can post directly and this will be posted once approved by the Administrator.

A bit of health and safety
As we are now well into the season for coughs and sneezes, please, if you feel unwell, reconsider whether you should be coming to an indoor event.  Covid still is around, as is flu, and we do have several vulnerable people who do attend the meetings.

See you all on Wednesday 26^th November for the Hellebore talk