This is just a reminder to all the members who have said they will bring along plants and also those who have offered to  help with sorting and pricing the plants on the Friday that we will be there from 6.00 – 9.00pm.     Please make sure that your plants are labelled and, to help us, please make sure any dead leaves are taken off.    Thank you.

We will also be there from 9.00 am on the Saturday morning for last minute organising before the doors open to the public at 10.00 am  when we hope we will have a large queue outside.   So look forward to seeing the members who are helping that day.

Please give the event as much publicity as you can and encourage your friends and neighbours to come along and to buy our great plants.

Thank you everyone who has put their name down to help to make the Annual Plant Sale the financial success that it always is, so that we can have great speakers during the year.   I look forward to seeing you either on the Friday or the Saturday.

Beryl

**** Data Protection ****

As you are probably aware, important changes are being made to European data protection law this month. Implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes requirements in terms of the personal data that we hold and how we use it.

The HHPS Privacy Policy is on our website and explains why and how we use your data and the rights that you have in relation to it. Click here to see it in full.         Herts HPS GDPR Privacy Notice May 2018 

A large number of gardens in this pretty village 3 miles south of Hitchin, Hertfordshire offer a variety of sizes, styles and planting with many interesting details including unusual plants, wild areas and water features.

2 of the 12 gardens belong to members of the HHPS:

Kilnwood Cottage – Sue and Mike Kellard have created a wonderfully lush and atmospheric woodland garden. Pimms will be served on the lawn.

Crunnells Green House – Meta and Hugh Reeves has a garden of many varied areas and are particularly pleased this year with the new fruit cage.

The small Arts & Crafts church of St Martin will be beautifully decorated with flowers and open to visitors. Stalls on the Green and Teas in the Village Hall.  Barbeque on the Green from 12 noon. Lunches can be booked at the famous Red Lion pub, tel. 01462-459585.

Map supplied on admission.

Entry £5.00 (children free). Free parking. Post code SG4 7RU. 

Contact  01462-456567 (Meta Reeves)

We are sorry but dogs are not permitted in the gardens.

      Dear Members

We are emailing you all as we need your help.  As you may be aware, we have the following vacancies on your committee; thus far none of you have volunteered to take on these roles.

The list is as follows:

Newsletter Editor

Publicity Officer

Refreshments (1 of 2)

Secretary

Vice Chair

Your committee is currently made up of a happy group of gardeners who like, above all else, to be in their gardens, but there are not enough of us, so we are doing more than one job.

When the committee do meet the meetings are short, business-like and occur 4 times a year.  We keep the society running smoothly on your behalf, but we cannot do everything, nor should we have to.

Below is a short description of the roles, they are open to job-share; indeed, Refreshments is very much a team job with a lot of support from members, but tea and cakes are a small but important part of the service the committee provides.  Some of the other posts could lend themselves to job-share.

Newsletter Editor – this job lends itself to the member who wants to express their creativity, or to someone who has a straightforward approach to produce a business-like letter that tells the members just what they need to know.  Susanna is currently doing two jobs on the committee and wishes to do just one.

Publicity Officer – a straightforward but very important post that would lend itself to being shared.  The most important part of the job is the promotion to the public of our Plant Sale in May/June.   This sale, as you know, provides the income for the following year’s programme and hence the quality of the speakers we can afford to hire.  The post is currently vacant.

Refreshments – we have two members organising this currently, one of whom has been waiting to resign for some time.  They ensure that the team who provide the tea at meetings and bring the cakes are co-ordinated.

Secretary – one of the Officers of the Committee, this is the job for a member who likes to organise behind the scenes, no getting around it this role is the engine room of the society.  The post is vacant and the current incumbent, Heather, is leaving at the AGM after 15 years’ service for us all.  The new post holder will be mentored into the role.

Vice-Chair – a committee member who has no specific role other than to be a willing pair of hands and to step up whenever needed.  This post is currently vacant

Thanks for reading this and please get in touch, the committee members are happy to help with your queries. 

The committee look forward to hearing from you,

Liz Egre

For and on behalf of the Committee.

Leonora Vaughan invites HHPS members to her lovely garden next Sunday 20th  May from 2–5pm.   45 Oakridge Avenue, Radlett, Herts WD7 8EW,  Tel 01923 854650.

The garden has been redesigned and replanted over the past ten years and backs onto a working farm. The planting has been chosen to combine the use of colour with prominence given to dark foliage. The garden is in two halves divided by sleepers and dominated by a huge Foxglove tree.

Leonora’s wonderful pink wisteria is now out and her garden will be full of early Summer colour. She looks forward to sharing her garden with HHPS members. 

Directions:  Oakridge Ave is just off the A5183/Watling Street if travelling
south from St Albans. The road is the second turning right after the left hand
B556 Harper Lane and has fake white gates either side of the road. There is
plenty of parking in the surrounding cul-de-sacs.

The twice yearly Newsletter provides the opportunity to summarise dates for your diaries and info about forthcoming speakers etc but over the years it has come to also include articles that are hopefully of interest to our members. In order to ensure that we cover a variety of subjects and interest areas we try to encourage members to submit an article if they feel they would like to share a passion or some helpful info or a plant based travelogue. The next issue will come out in the Autumn and so I thought if given plenty of warning I may depend on at least one or two of you sending me an article. Do drop me an email if you’d like to discuss the ideal length or what you might like to write about.

I am also intending to include an article on members own gardening tips so for those of you who don’t feel they can write a full length piece maybe you can contribute a tip or two. 

Here’s hoping for a enthusiastic response.

Best wishes

Susanna Geoghegan  HHPS Newsletter Editor

susanna.geoghegan@btinternet.com

Dear Members

Harpenden Gardening Society still have spaces on this year’s outings:

Fri 18th May, to Oxford Botanic and NGS Homelands.

Tuesday 17th July, to the World Garden at Lullington Castle and NGS Great Comp.

Please  refer to their website for more information if you wish to go.

Harpenden Gardening Society