September 2017 NEWSLETTER 

The shows are finally over for most us this year, so now is the time to concentrate on your garden.  I have started to tidy up my fuchsias, ensuring I tidy away all the debris and even cutting back; making a decent shape plant for next year.  I have also noticed that my pump in the pond has got clogged up really quickly.  It is another job that I must do in the next week or so. 

The leaves on the trees are beginning to turn as autumn creeps up on us.  Mum and I have noticed the gradual change of colour of the trees over the past two weeks as we’ve been visiting NGS gardens and especially as we travelled on the motorway to the RHS Malvern Show last Saturday.  Autumn is my favourite time of year, as I love to see the leaves on the trees change colour from green to orange to red before they finally fall. 

I hope you all enjoyed Alan Soloman last month talking to us on Triphyllas and I hope that you are all tempted to grow some next year – maybe we’ll see a few more on the show bench. 

This month, Jeff Bates will be talking to us on ‘Colour in Winter’ which I am really looking forward to, as winter can be quite dull in my garden. 

I have rather neglected my fuchsias over the past two weeks, but these will be my priority as we head into October, so that they are all undercover before the first signs of frost. 

Evening Visit at 60 Audon Avenue, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 4AW - 6.30p.m 30^th August.  

60 Audon Avenue or ‘The Bee Garden’ as it is more commonly known, is an interesting wildlife oriented garden featuring a range of areas, including bee hives.  There are themed borders; a stumpery and a dry planting area; a pond; a bug hotel as well as fruit and vegetable beds and a beach hut. 

I was very apprehensive when I woke up on Wednesday the 30^th August.  It was raining!  In fact it rained off and on all day.  ‘This was going to be a disaster!’  I thought to myself.   How wrong was I! Thankfully the rain stopped around an hour before we were due to meet.  The garden was very neat and still held enough colour to keep us interested.  Everything was labelled.  After a browse around the garden, we were invited inside for tea and cakes while we were treated to a talk on bee-keeping.  Ann Mason phoned me to let me know that they had raised approx. £47 for their ‘Bee’ Charity.  So a real big thank you to everyone who came along. 

DATE FOR YOUR DIARIES – Final chance to join us at The Nurseryman, 177 Derby Road, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 3AE.  The date booked is 6^th October. The meal is booked for 7.30p.m. Anyone else interested, please make sure they put their names on the list at this month’s meeting. 

MINI STEWARD COURSE

Anyone interested in finding out more about the ‘The Role of a Steward’ then Geoff Smith has volunteered to hold a course/meeting to give us an insight in what to look for when checking plants on the show bench and other Steward Responsibilities.  Speak to Jayne if interested. 

BFS STEWARD COURSE

The society are trying to arrange a venue to hold a course, this will probably be on a Sunday and not too far from M1 Junction 25.  This is for accessibility reasons as the course will be open to members of other societies.  Anyone interested in becoming a qualified steward please let Jayne know.