Hello Everyone
I hope all is well in your world and in your gardens too. This beautiful rose above is blooming in my garden right now! It’s called Super Trooper. Apologies, this month it’s been a lot of copy and paste.
Tuesday 10th June 7.30 – 9.30pm Bream Sports Club
MEDICINAL HERBS IN THE GARDEN — Caroline Sheldrick BA (Hons) BSc (Hons) Caroline is a medically qualified herbalist and gardener. She will talk about which common garden plants are used in herbal medicine: how to grow and use them, and which ones to avoid. Some of the traditional uses of your favourite garden flowers may surprise you.
Best wishes
Margaret
NEWS
We have two exciting BGS garden visits coming up very soon: a National Garden Scheme group garden visit (now on Saturday 7th June, not Sunday 8th June as previously advertised) and our coach trip to the National Botanic Gardens of Wales. Full trip details are included on the booking forms.
The simplest way to book is online via the blue links below. However, pdf versions of the booking form are also available. Please book as soon as possible to secure your places.
• Unfortunately, Stanton Village Gardens have had to cancel their open gardens this year. However, we have managed to organise an alternative NGS garden visit to Chedworth Gardens – a varied collection of four Cotswold country gardens, nestling in the Lower Chedworth Valley. Consequently, we have had to change the date of this visit to Saturday 7th June 2025. Chedworth Gardens – Booking form
Some members may be interested in finishing off their trip to Chedworth Gardens with a visit to Chedworth Roman Villa. This is a National Trust site complete with cafe. Chedworth Roman Villa
• Our annual BGS coach trip is to the National Botanic Gardens of Wales on Saturday 12th July 2025. The gardens are set in a historical Regency landscape of over 500 acres and include the largest single-span glasshouse in the world. Please book before Friday 13th June 2025 if possible – this will entitle you to the early-bird price that is only available to BGS members. Nat Bot Gardens of Wales – booking form
Diana and Kathryn
P.S. If you have problems with the booking form link, or haven’t received an email confirmation of your booking, please contact our usual email address breamgardeningsociety@gmail.com
Additional Garden Visits:
• Badminton House, GL16 1DJ, has just sent an invitation to gardening societies to their open day on Sunday 15th June, 10am to 4 pm. This is prior to their hosting of the RHS Show on 17th July 2026. Huge gardens and grounds, refreshments, plant sales, disabled access, dogs in park only.
Entry booked in advance online £10 or £7.50 seniors. Badminton Estate - Open Gardens Proceeds to SARA and a local church.
Please let Diana or Kathryn know if you would like to go via car share. breamgardeningsociety@gmail.com
• Hampton Gardens, Monday August 11th 2025
£25 per person
Coach departs Lydney bus station at 10am and will return by 5pm
Lydney and Severnside Flower Club will be visiting Hampton Court Castle Gardens in August and have invited our members to join them. (BGS had originally planned to visit Hampton Court Gardens last year but we had to cancel our visit because it clashed with a jousting tournament!) This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy this beautiful setting and tour some of the garden with the head gardener.
Further information about Hampton Court Castle Gardens is available here: Hampton Court Gardens
If you would like to book a place on this coach trip, please email Kathryn as soon as possible. breamgardeningsociety@gmail.com
Ecoprinting Workshop: Saturday 21st June 2025
This workshop is now fully booked.
We are looking forward to a morning learning this natural dyeing technique with local textile artist Lizzie Godden. This technique uses leaves, flowers, and other plant materials to create patterns and colors on fabric or paper. Perfect for entering Class 65 - Botanical Art at the Summer Show.
Coco & Coir's All Purpose Compost
All compost orders should now have been delivered - if you have not received your order, please get in touch as soon as possible.
We have a few spare bags of this Which? recommended compost available. £9.10 for a 5kg block which expands to 75l of compost. (Or more if you add extra water!) All Purpose Compost - 75L | Coco & Coir
Please email breamgardeningsociety@gmail.com if you would like to order a bag.
Chrysanthemums
If any member who attended the AGM (or who sent their apologies in advance) has yet to collect their free chrysanthemum plug plant to enter into the members-only class at the Autumn Show, please get in touch. breamgardeningsociety@gmail.com
We have a few spare plants available to purchase if you don't qualify for a free plant. These will be available for collection at the June meeting or by arrangement.
Forest Showcase
Many thanks to everybody who helped on our stall at the inaugural Spring Forest Showcase Food Festival last weekend. In particular, thanks to Diana and John for their presentation in the Cookery Theatre - what a fantastic comedy double act and they looked resplendent in our new volunteer aprons. Many thanks to member Simon Brown for his hard work on the artwork for our new logo.
Diana and Kathryn~~~~~~~~
A message from Jane……
Bream C of E School is possibly looking for somebody to take on their school garden, with half a dozen raised beds and a pond, as an allotment. There would be access out of school hours, evenings, weekends and holidays. If anybody is interested they can contact me (Jane) in the first instance and I’ll forward them on ~ 01594 780284 ~ Jane 🙂
A message from Jennifer……
Just in case you are interested:
Local designers win gold at Chelsea Flower Show
By Andy Sherwill | Reporter | Sunday 25th May 2025
A LOCAL team of garden designers have won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show.
The Royal Horticultural Society exhibit designed and built by Leaf Creative Gardens in the Great Pavilion was commissioned by The Blue Diamond Group, the country’s biggest garden centre group. The team also picked up the ‘Best Tree in Show’ award for an Acer palmatum ‘Shishi-gashira’ that was borrowed for the exhibit from Leaf’s collection.
Peter Dowle, Leaf Creative Gardens founder who started the business as the Howle Hill Nursery which is now based in Huntley, is no stranger to the world famous flower show having created 26 show gardens there, working with top designers such as Chris Beardshaw, Sarah Eberle and James Basson, winning many gold medals.
A Corsican-inspired garden that he designed and built in 2012 also scooped gold. “It is wonderful to be back at Chelsea and to build in the Great Pavilion for the first time,” Mr Dowle said.
“There is nothing like the buzz of being on site during the build and we’re delighted with the result. It’s been a great journey for us and the team. It’s been good to work closely with Blue Diamond and to deliver their first Chelsea gold.”
The display, which took nine days to put together, showcases the range of plants available at Blue Diamond outlets. It includes several new varieties, which were launched at the show, among them the first groundcover hydrangea and four new roses.
Rosa ‘Stronger Together’ is being launched on behalf of charity Muscular Dystrophy UK while ‘Vianne’s Chocolat’ celebrates the publication of ‘Vianne’, a new book by best-selling author Joanne Harris.
Leaf Creative Gardens have taken several of their own large specimen plants to the display, including a six metre Wollemi Pine, one of the rarest plants that dates back to the time of the dinosaurs.
The Wollemi nobilis was believed to have been extinct with only fossils available until 1994 when around 100 trees were discovered in a secret gorge in Australia.
The tree on the RHS Chelsea display is one of the original breeding programme specimens, propagated as part of a world-wide conservation project.
The Chelsea Show comes at the end of a busy few weeks for Leaf Creative Gardens. The team has just finished relocating ‘The Octavia Hill Garden’ by Blue Diamond at its new home in Bridgemere Show Gardens, Cheshire.
The garden won the People’s Choice and Children’s Choice awards at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show. In addition, Leaf Creative Gardens filled the Cheltenham Jazz Festival with plants and dressed the festival theatre stage at the Royal Horticultural Society Malvern Spring Festival.
Alan Roper, managing director for Blue Diamond Garden Centres concluded: “One needs a great team to enable a vision, and we are immensely proud and buzzing from winning our first Gold at Chelsea. The enjoyment we all receive from participating in this amazing, best in the World Flower Show is worth its weight in gold.”
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