Wow, what a most enjoyable visit we had to this National Trust garden, which has 400 steps throughout the garden. (Don’t we know it!) It is a Victorian horticultural masterpiece full of intrigue and surprise. The vast range of trees, shrubs and flowers is simply amazing. Fortunately, the weather was gorgeous, which enabled us to see the colours of the rhododendrons and azaleas contrasting with the lake and backdrop of trees. The visit took us on a journey from an Italian terrace, to an Egyptian pyramid, via an Himalayan glen and an amazing Chinese inspired garden. We were able to take our refreshments outside and by mid afternoon the cream scones, cakes and cups of tea were the order of the day.

We hope that everyone on the coach had an enjoyable day. Unfortunately our departure was delayed slightly, due to a road traffic accident at the entrance to the gardens. I hope that you will join me in wishing the motorcyclist who was injured and then transferred very carefully into an ambulance a full recovery.

Once again, thank you to our organiser and committee for another memorable visit.

We enjoyed an excellent, informative and at times humorous talk by our local horticultural lecturer, writer and broadcaster (incl BBC Radio Nottingham) last Friday. Stuart’s talk was supported by images of many borders which he has seen around the country, including a number of National Trust gardens. He used these to advise on the content and structure of borders, plus when to plant and prune many of our favourite herbaceous perennial border plants.

For our summer social, which is to include some refreshments, on the evening of Thursday 16th July 2015, we are scheduled to visit Stuart’s garden, which will no doubt provide us with even more inspiration for our own gardens.

Our increasingly popular plant sale was held in the Lowdham village hall car park last Saturday. Fortunately it was a bright sunny morning, although there was a cool breeze. We had a large selection of summer bedding plants, perennials, some vegetables and herbs plus a selection of fruit bushes for sale at very attractive prices.

The sale was well attended and we thank everyone who supported the event.

Wow, what a wonderful event we had in Lowdham Village Hall last Sunday, attended by about 200 people plus lots of children. A big thank you goes to everyone who made it possible, including those who brought along their exhibits which created a fantastic display of spring flowers and shrubs. The colours and fragrances were amazing, particularly the fragrance from the falconet daffodils which were grown by members of the Society. Once again, the Lowdham Painting for Pleasure Group invited their members to bring along a selection of artwork for display, some of which was for sale.

The excellent newly refurbished and equipped village hall kitchen provided a much improved area for the ladies who served tea, coffee, cold drinks and the delicious home made cakes. Lots of visitors enjoyed the atmosphere and took time to sit and have a chat with friends. All in all, it was a lovely event and we thank everyone who came along to support us and we hope to see you at future events.

An excellent and informative talk was held on Thursday evening the 19th Feb 2015 in Lowdham W.I. hall, being well attended by 50 people, including 10 non-members of the Society. The Head Gardener, supported by photographs, some of which were images of the garden and gardeners of the Dukes of Newcastle from bygone years, gave us a ‘potting shed’ history of the garden. We were told how the walled garden was planned, maximising the position of the garden and the surrounding walls for vegetable, fruit and flower planting and sowing throughout each season. The garden now has over 130 varieties of rhubarb (not sure about the custard!), with the Head Gardener explaining it would have been a ‘very lengthy talk’ if he was to impart his extensive knowledge of rhubarb. Furthermore, there are 72 varieties of heritage apples from the East Midlands and Yorkshire, being part of the National Plant collection. The work of the National Trust gardeners and volunteers over the years in extending and maintaining the herbaceous borders, fruit and vegetable garden provides a wonderful opportunity for people of all ages to experience and learn more about a walled kitchen garden.

You should make a note in your diary as we are scheduled to have a follow-up evening accompanied visit round the Clumber Park walled kitchen garden on Thursday the 25th June 2015.