March 2012 Newsletter

Unfortunately we had to change our speaker for January meeting. John Carrier gave a excellent talk on Sweet Peas - we all came away very much informed about the many varieties of these flowers and how to successfully grow them.

Our speaker for February was Glennis Dyer from the NGS ( National Gardening Scheme) she gave a talk and a slide show on gardens in England.

Future dates for your diary:-
19th March Helen Wilson Pruning and Minimal Gardening

16th April Tony Russell Trees for your garden in the 21st Century

21st May Chris Goodman Inspiring Annuals and Perennials

21st June Outing

Visit to Trentham Gardens and

Woollerton Old Hall Gardens, Staffordshire

21^st June 2012

An opportunity to visit these outstanding gardens in rural Staffordshire has been arranged in conjunction with Offchurch Gardening Club.

Travel from Southam by private coach, leaving at 8.30am, to Trentham Gardens and have lunch there. Bring your own picnic or packed lunch, or if you prefer a sit down meal, then we may arrange a lunch (price to be determined) either at the Gardens or in a local hostelry.

Then travel to Woollerton Old Hall Gardens for an afternoon visit and maybe treat yourself to a cream tea. Returning home early evening.

Cost is £27 – being £17 for the coach and £10 joint admission ticket to both gardens (really good value)

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Name    ........................................................................................

Membership No. ................................       No of people .............

Address (if not a club member)  ...................................................

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Post code .......................................... Phone No...........................

Please note that priority will be given to club members if numbers exceed seats on coach

Payment enclosed of  £27 per person – Total £ ...................

Cash/Cheque made payable to “The Southam Gardening Club”

This is a firm booking – unfortunately there will not be a refund if you make a cancellation

For more information please contact Ann Forster 813074, Lesley Smith 813896 

16th July Bev Mumford Talk on Gardens at Galanos House

Planning for our 2012/13 season is going really well and we are arranging for some very interesting talks. If there is a topic you would wish to be covered please let us know and we will see what can be arranged.

It is our intention to keep using Galanos House for our future meetings as the facilities are good and we will continue to offer transport to those who have difficulty getting there.

And finally some more good news, Russells Nursery at Baginton are offering club members 10% discount on plants and other items joining Bridge Nursery, Green Leaf Nursery and Farnborough Nursery who also give the same discount. Remember to present your membership card (you may be asked for proof of identity as well) at the checkout.

For more information about any aspect of the club please contact Ann Forster - 813074, Lesley Smith - 813986 or Pip Birnie - 07510 272124

TOP TIP from Gloria Fox 

• Cats don't like snakes. Buy some plastic ones from a toy shop and put them in your garden.

Future meetings

At our meeting on Monday 20^th February there will be an illustrated talk by Glenis Dyer about the National Garden Society, its history, activities and gardens. It will include a visual tour of Glenis’s garden to whet our appetites for planning our Summer visits.

Future dates for your diary are

19^th March   Helen Wilson       Pruning and Minimal Gardening

16^th April     Tony Russell       Trees for your Garden in the 21^st Century

21^st May     Chris Goodman    Inspiring Annuals and Perennials

 Will be updated as more speakers are confirmed.

Quiz & social evening

A successful evening was enjoyed by all.

Thanks to Pauline Tessa and Peter for their input.

Tessa and Pauline put together a very interesting quiz and Peter ended the evening by reciting some witty Christmas sayings. Thanks to other committee members for their help. Also thank you to Gwenda for her help with teas/washing up.

Next meeting

Monday 16th January 2012 at 7.30pm Galanos House
Preparing for spring. Peter Healey of Green Leaf Farm Shop and Nursery. 

For more information please contact Ann Forster on 01926 813074 

See you at Galanos House on 16th January 2012

Wishing you all A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year from all committee members

It was lovely to see so many people at Galalnos House on 21st Novemeber. Sharron Possard from Jacqulines the Florist in Southam did some wonderful Christmas flower arrangements which she very kindly donated to our raffle. Looking forward to seeing you all on 12th December 2011 for the Christmas Quiz.

Future meetings

12th October 
Please find details of the next 4 meetings of Southam Gardening Club:
Monday 17th October 2011 at 7.30pm
Christine Dakin from Bridge Nursery will give talk on winter gardening. 
The meeting will take place at The Hut,Craven Lane, Southam at 7.30pm.

Monday 21st November 2011 at 7.30pm

Christmas Flower Arrangements by Sharon Possart of Jacqueline the Florist. 

Change of venue

The meeting will take place at The Royal British Legion Home Galanos House.

Monday 12th December 2011 at 7.30pm Galanos House

Social evening and Quiz.

Monday 16th January 2012 at 7.30pm Galanos House
Preparing for spring.  Peter Healey of Green Leaf Farm Shop and Nursery. 

Please note that members benefit from a discount of 10% on plants at Bridge Nursery, Green Leaf Nursery and Farnborough Nursery . 

For more information please contact Ann Forster 01926 813074 or Pip Birnie 07510 272124 

Happy gardening !

Terry Walton visits Southam

Thank you to everyone who attended the first meeting of The Southam Gardening Club on 19th September 2011 .
Hope you all enjoyed the informative talk given by Terry Walton from the Jeremy Vine Show (BBC radio 2)
The evening was a great success. 


The next meeting is on 17th October 2011 at The Hut at Craven Lane at 19.30pm . A talk by Christine Dakin on Winter Gardening will hopefully help us with any problems we might have with our gardens. Christine will be happy to answer any questions you may have. 


Refreshments will be served and a raffle will be held. Entry for non members £2.50, paid up members are free. If anybody would like to join please see any member of the committee at the meeting or phone Ann Forster on 01926 813074 for more information.


There will be a change of venue for our November 21st meeting and subsequent meetings. The new venue will be The British Legion Home, Galanos House. The address is Banbury Road, Southam CV47 2BL. It is situated by the Total  petrol station on the bypass. The time will remain the same 19.30pm. 


Happy gardening

Southam Open Gardens

Southam Open Gardens was a huge success today with over 150 people visiting the splendid gardens! With 19 gardens to have a look around it was extremely lucky that the weather held out (mostly!)
On behalf of the Southam Gardening Club we'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who opened their superb gardens and to everyone who enjoyed wandering around them.
If you attended the Open Gardens let us know what you enjoyed most about the day and if you gained any new inspiration... we did!