ON December 19 the Society welcomed Mr John Roberts who presented an illustrated talk entitled “Flowers of the Gods”, in which he described the ascent he and his wife made almost to the top of Mount Olympus, Greece’s highest mountain at 9,570 ft. Unfortunately the last 200 ft. eluded them due to the extremely wet and cloudy weather. As well as capturing the spectacular scenery and views, their particular interest lay in photographing, sometimes from rather precarious vantage points, some of the 6,000 species of the country’s wild flowers which manage to exist in this sometimes hostile environment. With their roots clinging onto the nutrient-poor crevasses between outcrops of rocks and covered in snow between November and June, many hardy plants only have a short period to flower, be pollinated and set seed before the snow returns. We were shown stunning photographs of an enormous variety of flowers, some of which were recognisable from our own gardens, such as aubretia, saxifrage, aquilegia, dianthus and foxgloves, but also many species that were unfamiliar to us and, in fact, only grow in this particular environment. This fascinating slide show also depicted some of the myriad of insects and reptiles, such as butterflies, moths, dragonflies and small lizards, which are essential to the eco-system of this region. The evening ended with a Christmas raffle, accompanied by coffee and warm mince pies.

The Society’s next meeting is on Thursday,January 15, when Mr Philip Aubery will talk on “Lovely Lawns and Flower Meadows.” Visitors are always very welcome to join us – (admission £3 including refreshments) at meetings which are held on the third Thursday of the month at 7.45pm in the Crawford Memorial Hall, Bidford on Avon. For further details, please contact Annette Haines on 01789 268974 or visit www.bidfordgardens.com