Our May meeting was held on the most perfect Spring evening with over a hundred members present.
Thanks were passed on from Coddington where we had donated £100 towards the planting of Jubilee memorial trees on Oyster Hill.
We had a very successful plant stall which raised almost £55. Thanks were given to everybody who had contributed or purchased plants. There will be another plant stall at the June meeting.
Information was given on local gardens open in May and June – Coddington Gardens on 1/2 June, The Cross, Coddington and The Hollies, Colwall on 15/16 June, 22 Layton Avenue, Malvern, on 15 June and Caves Folly on 16 June.
Our speaker was Gareth Davies who had come from Talybont on Usk to talk to us about ‘Using a Small Greenhouse’. He spoke about the things to consider before purchasing a greenhouse: size, ventilation, benching, eaves height and whether to buy a wood frame or an aluminium frame – he favoured the latter. Heating and watering were other considerations and we were recommended to partition one end of the greenhouse for heating to save on costs. Automatic watering using a leaky pipe system attached to a timer was also well worthwhile.
Gareth then showed us pictures of what he achieves from his greenhouses. He grows streptocarpus and gloxinia for the house, begonias, fuchsias, pelargonium and coleus for annual bedding. His pictures of the annual garden display he achieves were truly stunning.
At our next meeting on 3 June our speaker will be Hazel Kaye and she will talk about ‘Water Gardens and Plants’. New members and visitors are always most welcome – come at 7pm for free refreshments.
Margaret White