In June the club meeting was entertained by the Historic Gardener, Michael Brown whose talk entitled Death in the Garden went down very well.

The subject was poisonous plants and their uses and abuses!

Mr Brown was entertaining on the subject of many gory murders from the past and the myths and legends associated with these plants – sometimes quite commonly grown in our gardens today.

In July the club organised a coach trip to two very different gardens in Herefordshire. The first was Brobury Garden, a private, Victorian garden and then on to Westonbury Water Mill Gardens, an exuberant water garden nearby. It was a very hot Sunday but those who went enjoyed both gardens.

On August 2 the speaker will be Timothy Walker, botanist, lecturer and former head of the Oxford Botanic Garden. His talk is on 21st century gardening. This interesting talk will explore the future of gardening taking into consideration climate change etc and how we as gardeners can reduce our impact on the world’s natural resources.

On September 6, there will be an afternoon visit to Morton Hall gardens including afternoon tea. All members and guests are welcome. The cost is £10 per head and lifts can be arranged for those without a car.

Any enquiries can be made to the secretary on 01789 765105 or Hilary.morgan@talktalk.net . Meetings take place at the Centre, Jubilee Court, accessed via Lea Close Alcester, usually on the first Thursday of the month. Everyone is welcome and there is a small charge for guests but this does include refreshments.

Join in on the Facebook group Alcester Gardening Club.

HILARY MORGAN