Programme of Events

Now that the pandemic restrictions have been lifted, we still wish to ensure the safety of our members so various precautions and changes will continue. Click here to see updated precautions from 25th June 2022.

All lectures are 1:45pm unless otherwise shown. Anyone is welcome. Meeting fees apply. They are preceded by an introduction and discussion session at 11am as described in "What We Do" on the home page.	Meetings are at Corse and Staunton Village Hall, Gloucester Road, Corse, Gloucestershire, GL19 3RQ. Click here for Corse Village Hall website
Click here to see an archive listing of previous lectures and other events

Saturday, 30th August 2025: Chilean Plants and Conservation

Presenter: Martin Gardner
Martin worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh as co-ordinator of the International Conifer Conservation Programme. Part of his work has been to establish one of the world's most comprehensive networks for the ex situ conservation of threatened conifers. Ex-situ conservation of plants may involve a range a methods, including seed banking, cryopreservation or through the establishment of living collections.

Saturday, 27th September 2025: A History of Garden Plants in Twelve Shrubs

Presenter: Dr Julian Sutton
How garden plants reached us, told through twelve shrubs. Very diverse, not an exhausting, exhaustive bio-piece on the turn-of-the-last-century 'plant hunters', though they inevitably get a mention.
Julian Sutton has been a lifelong plantsman and until recently ran Desirable Plants nursery in Devon with his wife Sarah. He will be bringing plants to sell.

Saturday, 25th October 2025: Preparing for Spring and Best Ever Borders

Presenter: Tamsin Westhorpe
Tamsin will share insights in her inimitable style into maintaining a thriving plantsman's oasis, including stories and history behind Stockton Bury's diverse plant collections. Having edited a national gardening magazine for many years Tamsin is now curator and gardener at Stockton Bury Gardens in Herefordshire.

Saturday, 29th November 2025: Gardens are mostly about sex, death and deliciousness...(Celebrity Lecture - ticketed event)

Presenter: James Alexander-Sinclair
James Alexander-Sinclair FSGD is one of the foremost garden designers in the United Kingdom. He has designed gardens from Cornwall to the Western Isles and from London to Moscow. He served ten years as a member of the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society. He is an RHS Vice-President, RHS Ambassador and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022. Passionate about Horatio's Garden. Expect fireworks!

Saturday, 31st January 2026: Bourne to be a Galanthophile

Presenter: Val Bourne

A fascinating talk with stories behind various galanthus, some delightful anecdotes and plenty of information about growing galanthus. Not to be missed!

Val Bourne is an award-winning garden writer, organic gardener and lecturer and she gardens on the wind-swept Cotswolds at Spring Cottage - high above Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire. Her third of an acre garden is managed without using chemicals - something Val has always believed in. She also happens to be Vice President of The Hardy Plant Society and a member of our Western Counties Group.

Saturday, 28th February 2026: Pruning Garden Trees- Inspiring Confidence

Presenter: Nick Dunn

We are delighted that Nick will entertain and instruct us on how to prune trees (including fruit trees) demonstrating using live material, filmed up close so that those not sitting on the front row can see the fine detail in all its glory.

For the last 50 years, Nick Dunn has been a cornerstone of British horticulture, establishing Frank P Matthews' reputation for exceptional British trees across the UK and beyond. His passion for trees and growing is second to none and his leadership extends far beyond the nursery grounds. He has been a key figure in national horticultural societies, including the RHS, HDC and NSA, supporting the gardening and top fruit sector and protecting plant health across the UK. Nick holds the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour, awarded to British horticulturists deserving of special honour for horticultural excellence and personal endeavour.

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Western Counties Group of the Hardy Plant Society