Bunny Guinness, Anne Swithinbank and Bob Flowerdew, the Gardeners’ Question Time panel above, recorded TWO episodes of this much-loved gardening programme at Uplyme Village Hall on 31st May. As guests of the Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society they answered questions from a full-house audience with their usual expertise and wit.

Giving an air of celebration to the evening, sparkling wine and sandwiches were served by Annie Kobus’s dedicated kitchen team of Horticultural Society members.

The two shows recorded that evening will be broadcast on Radio 4 as follows:

• 3pm Friday 9th June, repeated 2pm Sunday 11th June
• 3pm Friday 21st July, repeated 2pm Sunday 23rd July

NEEDED URGENTLY…  someone who will volunteer a couple of hours a month to continue regularly updating the Horticultural Society’s website and sending out its monthly email newsletter to members. The updates and newsletter content will be supplied – it’s just a matter of keying in the information to a template. If it’s a new computer skill to you, all help will be given – though if you’re capable of sending an email, you will be able to master this!

If you would like to join us in doing this valuable job of communicating with members please contact Jenny Harding (01297 444034) jennyhlyme@hotmail.co.uk. And please pass on this message to any friend you think might be interested in volunteering or job-sharing with you.

VISIT to Clovelly Court Gardens, North Devon
DATE Wednesday June 7th 2017
DEPART by coach from Uplyme Village Hall at 9am

Plants thrive in this sheltered corner of North Devon and these old walled gardens are tranquil in contrast to the bustle of the village. There are colourful herbaceous beds, kitchen gardens and restored Victorian glasshouses growing Mediterranean fruits such as peaches, apricots melons, grapes and lemons. And there are glorious views towards Lundy from the terrace. You can buy bedding plants, vegetables and fruit here, and picnics are allowed. The 13th-century parish church is next door, and the Clovelly visitor centre with a cafe and shop is nearby.

Clovelly’s picturesque harbour is half a mile away through the pretty cobblestone streets of the village. This is a steep walk down and back up, though thankfully a Land Rover taxi service is available (at extra cost).

Cost is £20 total. Please phone Brian Cursley 07831 533580 to book your place.

For more details see Clovelly’s website HERE.

DATE Wednesday May 24th
TIME 7.30pm
TALK ‘Searching in the Dark: Unravelling the Mysteries of the South West’s Rare Bats’ by Dr Fiona Mathews
VENUE Uplyme Village Hall

Our speaker Dr Fiona Mathews will talk about her work on Greater Horseshoe, Bechstein and Grey Long-Eared bats. Fiona is Chair of the Mammal Society; Associate Professor in Mammalian Biology at the University of Exeter; Member of the State of Nature Report Steering Group; Advisor on bats and their conservation to Defra, DECC, Natural England, Resources Wales and Scottish Natural Heritage; Science advisor to the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project; and Member of the South Hams Greater Horseshoe Special Area of Conservation Steering Group.

Coffee, tea and cold drinks will be available before and after the talk.

OPEN Wildlife Garden
DATE  Saturday 17th/Sunday 18th June, 2.30 to 5pm
VENUE Pinecroft, Greenway, off Somers Road, Lyme Regis DT7 3EY

Come and enjoy time in the delightful, friendly, relaxed atmosphere of this award-winning wildlife garden with amazing views. Cream teas, cakes, home-made stall, and children’s activities available and see how we can all encourage wildlife into our gardens a little bit more. Entry to garden: Adults £2.50, children £1. All profits to a Water & Sanitation Project in Zambia (Tearfund).

The programme for the evening is as follows:
5:30pm – Doors open to audience
6:15pm – Producer announcements
6:30pm – Recording starts
8pm – 9pm De-rig

This event’s ticket doubles up as question sheet if needed. Audience members wishing to ask questions should submit these on arrival between 5:30 and 6pm.

DATE Saturday May 13th, 9.30am to 11.30am
VENUE Uplyme Village Hall

Inspiring and convivial, raising funds to support our activities.

This busy annual event is a chance to re-stock gardens for summer with all kinds of bedding plants, beans, courgettes, tomatoes and sweet peas, as well as perennials and shrubs. Also on sale will be home-made produce – jams, preserves, cakes and vegetables.

And for gardeners looking for a rest and sit-down, coffee, tea and delicious home-baked cake will be available.

Much appreciated would be donations of plants or home produce such as jams, preserves, cakes and vegetables to be sold on the day. If you are able to donate anything (for Horticultural Society funds) all would be gratefully received at Uplyme Village Hall from 8am that morning. For further details please ring Robin Britton (01297 442794) or Brian Tomsett (01297 444962).

Keen gardeners are urged to arrive early. Entrance is £1.

VISIT to Dunster Castle
DATE Tuesday May 9th at 9.15am
DEPART by coach from Uplyme Village Hall

Near Minehead, Somerset, the National Trust property of Dunster Castle is also a comfortable country home with dramatic vistas and sub-tropical gardens. Explore also its working watermill and the medieval village of Dunster. Cost to NT members £10; non-NT £20. Please telephone Gill Williams 01297 444927 to book your place.

For more information see Dunster Castle’s website HERE

TALK ‘What to do with an Overgrown Garden’
DATE Wednesday April 26th, 7.30pm
VENUE Uplyme Village Hall

An expert from Sherborne’s Castle Gardens will speak on what we might do with an overgrown garden, giving practical advice on how to manage a neglected plot.

Also this evening is the annual chairman’s competition for the best spring-flowering bulbs, corms or tubers – growing in a pot or as a vase of cut flowers. There will be a prize for the best in each category. Please bring entries from 7pm.

To remind you about the members’ art competition, see details HERE.

VISIT to Compton Acres
DATE Tuesday April 11th
DEPART by coach from Uplyme Village Hall, 9.15am

Compton Acres at Poole, Dorset, has 10-acres of gardens and woodland: Japanese, Italian, rock and water gardens and the less formal wooded valley (pictured). Camellias, rhododendrons, spring bulbs and bluebells should be in flower for our visit. There’s a tearoom, plant sales, and a shop. Cost £16 total for transport and entrance. Please telephone Annie Kobus to book your place 01297 443346.

See Compton Acres website HERE