By kind permission of Mike and Shuna Mackillop-Hall

Teas, Pimms and Plant stalls

Self-drive evening visit to The Allotment, The Harrow pub, Steep @ 6pm by kind permission of Tony Clear

£6 (donations will go to The Rosemary Foundation)

Drinks available to purchase at The Harrow pub

RSVP - Pippa Chapman 07803906312 or pjmchapman@yahoo.co.uk

NB: date subject to seasonal change

£25 for guided tour at 2pm (tbc based on minumum 15 attendees)

Entry to castle is NOT included

Minibus transport to be arranged separately - Cost os minibus transport is extra

RSVP - Pippa Chapman 07803906312 or pjmchapman@yahoo.co.uk

Froxfield Village Hall 7.30pm

Barry is currently Vice Chairman of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Fruit, Vegetable and Herb Committee and a former Chairman of the National Vegetable Society. We look forward to welcoming Barry back to get more of his innovative techniques & ideas, this time on raised beds.

As well as being a senior NVS judge, Barry serves on the judging and lecturing panel of the RHS he is also a Britain in Bloom judge.  

Barry was formally trained in horticulture at Pershore, York and Bath. 

Much of his working life was in local authority amenity provision around the country, retiring in 2005.  

In 2022 Barry was awarded the Kew Guild Medal for distinguished service to the horticultural industry. 

Privett Village Hall 2pm

Privett Village Hall 7.30pm

Annie Guilfoyle is an award-winning designer and an RHS Chelsea flower Show Silver Medal Winner. After studying horticulture at Capel Manor College in Enfield, Middlesex, she gained a BA Honours Degree in Garden Design from Middlesex University. Annie combines running a successful garden design consultancy based near Midhurst with lecturing and writing on the subject. Annie is also an RHS Show Garden judge at Chelsea Flower Show.

Annie lectures internationally and each summer runs a garden design course at Chanticleer Garden in Pennsylvania, every autumn she teams up with Vivaio Valfredda in Northern Italy to run design workshops and courses in Italian.

Together with Noel Kingsbury, Annie has established Garden Masterclass, this is a programme of learning days and events in association with Gardens Illustrated. The aim is to bring together gardeners and designers with the very best and most innovative people in the gardening world through one-day workshops all over the United Kingdom.

Her television work includes being a featured designer on the BBC TV series Small Town Gardens, Gardeners’ World and The Garden Makers on Meridian TV. These programmes demonstrate Annie's expertise in transforming tiny spaces into contemporary urban sanctuaries with modern art and architecture being key influences. A fine example is the sculpture garden for the Zimmer Stewart Gallery in Arundel, West Sussex.

Froxfield Village Hall 7.30pm

We are very happy to welcome Duncan, or one of his team if he cannot attend on the 12th February, to talk to us about Spring Bulbs at Arundel before our visit to the Tulip Festival in April.

Duncan studied commercial Horticulture at Greenmount, County Antrim Northern Ireland and Advanced Landscape Design & Construction with NEBBS Management at the Welsh College of Horticulture.  He has held Head Gardener roles for private residences in London, for the late King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan and at Audley End the English Heritage stately home in Essex.  He has been Landscape Designer for the Royal Palaces in Jordan and Head Gardener – Senior Superintendent for the Botanical Gardens, Arboretum, Parks and Government House, Bermuda.  He is currently Head Gardner and Landscape Designer at Arundel Castle, West Sussex for the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk.  In 2018 he was awarded Kew Guild Medal.

Self-Drive to meet at 1.30pm at The Down House, Itchen Abbas SO21 1AX, Mark Porter’s Garden

2 acre garden laid out in rooms overlooking the Itchen Valley. Well known NGS garden for its snowdrops, aconites & crocus, plus borders of dogwoods, willow stems & white birches. Recent additions to the garden are a large potager and small vineyard.

£10 to include tea & cake

RSVP - Pippa Chapman 07803906312 or pjmchapman@yahoo.co.uk

Meeting Via ZOOM 7.30pm

Caroline Holmes is a garden historian of ancient, modern and contemporary people, places and plants. Academic but not dry through images and words she delves into the myriad ways humans have shaped landscapes. She lectures to small groups for specialist travel firms, visiting inspiring European sites as well as on Mediterranean, Baltic, Transatlantic and Pacific Ocean cruises. Viking TV filmed her in her own garden in September 2022.

Caroline lectures internationally and is a Course Director for the University of Cambridge’s ICE, in July 2023 in celebration of the coronation of King Charles III, her international summer programme will be ‘Fit for a King - royal geographical and architectural statements' in contrast her study weekend in November will be 'Plant hunters - the quest for the world's edible and exotic plants'. The latter being a popular cruise subject as well. She is a speaker for The Arts Society, formerly NADFAS, The Gardens Trust, the RHS and the National Trust amongst many organisations.

Caroline is author of 12 books, several of which were researched in France and Australia. She is recipient of two Herb Society of America awards: 2011 Gertrude B. Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature and 2017 Elizabeth Crisp Rea Award. Finalist in the Garden Media Guild’s 2014 Reference Book of the Year Award for ‘The RHS Herbs for Gourmet Gardeners’.

Caroline is a consultant designer currently devising a series of landscapes for a development of 5,000 houses and associated schools in Norfolk. Other projects include Humanist Renaissance inspired gardens to enclose Notre Dame de Calais, officially opened in September 2016, shortlisted for 'Jardin Remarquable' status. A video of her designs: 'Engraved on my Heart: a new garden for Calais' can be viewed by following the link www.mfreeth.com/movies/13.html. She also devised the planting for the Poisons Garden in The Alnwick Garden.

This is defintely going to be a very interesting ZOOM talk.

Privett Village Hall 7.30pm

Following a long and successful career in IT, Mark is now a Member of Council of the RHS and Trustee of the National Garden Scheme.

We are looking forward to welcoming Mark Porter to come and talk to us about the NGS. Mark is the Hampshire County Organiser and has opened his own garden and vineyard under the scheme for the past nine years. He is Chairman of the Itchen Valley Garden Society in Hampshire and gives lectures on designing winter gardens, establishing a vineyard and winemaking and also judging at RHS Show gardens.

Mark developed a passion for gardening since he grew vegetables on his first allotment in the 1970s and we have a follow up visit to his lovely garden, The Down House in Itchen Abbas later in February 2025.

The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to the public for charity". The scheme has raised over £67 million since it began, and normally opens over 3,500 gardens a year.

Froxfield Village Hall 7.30pm

We are delighted to have Ray back to give us another of his very informative and amusing talks. Ray trained at RHS Wisley and has been teaching a wide range of horticultural subjects for over two decades. Awarded a fellowship by the Chartered Institute of Horticulture for his service to horticulture, Ray was a Senior Lecturer at Sparsholt College, sharing his passion for his work.

Privett Village Hall 7.30pm

Ben will talk about the joys of container gardening and what can be achieved with a little imagination and inspiration.
The practicalities of selecting unusual containers, growing media and locations, before discussing plant combinations that will help to display texture and colour.
www.theworkinggarden.com/about-ben

Froxfield Village Hall 2pm

Afternoon Visit to Bramdean House garden, Bramdean, Alresford, Hampshire GU34 3NX

by kind permission of Victoria Wakefield

Bramdean House Garden is a “plant lover’s garden” in Hampshire covering 5 acres. The garden is very diverse with rare and unusual plants from all over the world…rather than being a botanical collection, the aesthetics of the garden have been carefully designed, most notibly double mirror image herbaceous borders, for which Bramdean is famous. The garden also features a kitchen garden and a wild orchid area where established roses ramble up and over old gnarly apple trees. The house itself dates back to the 1740s but the garden has been established since the 1940s by the present owner, Victoria Wakefield, and her mother. Victoria was a Kew trustee and part of the RHS judging panels.

Guided tour by Maggie Tran (Head Gardener) following on from her talk to us about the garden in November 2023

£10 to include refreshments

RSVP - Pippa Chapman 07803906312 or pjmchapman@yahoo.co.uk

Filmore Hill Farmhouse, Privett, Alton GU34 3NX

A local garden opening by kind permission of Graham & Marveen Flack

Teas, Pimms and Plants

Garden Tour of 1.5-2 hours by kind permission of Rosemary Alexander, principal, owner and founder of The English Gardening School, she is one of the UK’s most influential garden designers and writers. She combines teaching, giving masterclasses worldwide and writing with maintaining her own much-photographed garden.

£10 to include wine & nibbles

RSVP - Pippa Chapman 07803906312 or pjmchapman@yahoo.co.uk

Froxfield Village Hall 7.30pm

We welcome Geoff back to give us ideas and suggest plants that can be used in gardens to reduce weed growth and therefore reducing the job of weeding. Geoff retired in January 2012 as head gardener from the private estate of Mill Court near Alton, Hampshire where he had worked since 1977. He is a lecturer, was a regular expert on LBCs Weekend Matters, is a judge for the Surrey Guild and now runs the Alton U3A Gardening for All group.

Privett Village Hall Saturday 23rd March 2pm

Teas, Bring and Buy Plant, Cake and Produce stall

Show opens: 2pm

Prizegiving: 3.30pm

Entries to be in by 5pm on Thursday 21st March

Please see our 2024 Spring Show Schedule page for all details.

Froxfield Village Hall 7.30pm

Nick runs Gilberts Nursery near Romsey where they grow over 400 varieties of dahlias; they hybridize to get their own new varieties. They sell dahlias as rooted cuttings and potted plants not only at their nursery, but also by mail order. Nick has appeared on Gardeners’ World, in the national press and on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time. Their 2 ½ - 3 acre dahlia production field next to nursery is accessible from July until October.

www.gilbertsnursery.co.uk/

We warmly welcome Nick to talk to us about his ‘Dahlia Year’ and he will also be bringing some tubers for us to buy.

You are invited to an inspiring film night at a special community screening of the documentary film:

2040

Friday 1st March 2024 7pm-9pm

Free Tickets but please book in advance either online at www.villagegreening.co.uk/events or just let Bridget Kindler know that you are coming bridgetkindler@hotmail.co.uk 01730 828214

Privett Village Hall 7.30pm

“Encouraging wildlife in your garden - how you can develop your garden to benefit wildlife without turning your garden into a weed-filled wilderness.” 

Our gardens play a huge part in supporting UK wildlife at a time when many individual species are at risk and in decline. Biodiversity is essential for our life on earth. As gardeners, there’s lots we can do to encourage a wide range of animals, plants and organisms into our gardens – and still make them beautiful. We are pleased to welcome Andrew Halstead to tell us how. Andrew is an author, lecturer and retired Principal Entomologist for the Royal Horticultural Society.

Meeting via Zoom 7.30pm

Everyone can be a successful gardener by following a few simple Golden Rules. So whether you want brighter borders, to encourage wildlife, banish weeds or rid your garden of pests and problems, Adam Pasco reveals his secrets to success.

He introduces a gallery of his favourite flowers and plants from his own garden in Peterborough, along with award winning plants that are ‘guaranteed’ to succeed! And to keep the colour coming right through the year he describes the best ways to layer on extra colour and succession into your displays.

There’s advice on pruning and pinching to encourage flowering and grow better, bushier plants, and tips on feeding and watering around the garden and patio.

No matter whether you're new to gardening or a keen enthusiast, Adam will share tips on his favourite plants, and use the principles of organic gardening to fight pests, and encourage birds, bees, butterflies and wildlife into your garden.

Based on his wealth of experience over 40 years as a qualified horticulturist and leading gardening journalist, ‘The Golden Rules of Gardening' is a beautifully illustrated, informative and highly entertaining talk.

Privett Village Hall 7.30pm

Froxfield Village Hall 7.30pm

Maggie turned from a fine arts background to a career in horticulture. She trained at Wisley for two years and obtained scholarships to places both in this country and abroad. A very impressive list – Great Dixter, Cambo gardens in Scotland, Sissinghurst, Kerdalo in Brittany, Tresco Abbey Gardens – Scilly’s subtropical gem and lastly Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania where, much to her delight she found 80 acres of original wild meadow land to wander through!

Finally, in 2018 she took on the formidable task of restoring the gardens at Bramdean House to its original splendour…we look forward to welcoming her to talk about it. She also runs her own gardening business!

Froxfield Village Hall

A guided tour by Adam Vetere of Old Camps Garden (talk on its history at Froxfield Village Hall, 8th March 2023).

Cost to include tea and cake £20

RSVP Sue Kinlochan 01730 719875 or sue.kinlochan@gmail.com

SAGES, Sages Lane, Privett, Alton, GU34 3NP

By kind permission of Joanne Edmonds and Nick Mansfield

Joanne designed and maintains her beautiful 2.5 acre garden which she has recently opened for the NGS. Joanne and Nick kindly opened it for our Open Gardens in 2017, before Joanne had completed her design, so it is very exciting to be invited back to see it now.

POSTPONED - due to Midhurst fire diversion chaos

Originally owned by the Lascelles family, Woolbeding Estate was given to the National Trust in 1957. Since 1972 Woolbeding has been leased to Simon Sainsbury, and subsequently his partner Stewart Grimshaw. It was during this time that the garden evolved into the extensive and vibrant creation you can see today. Woolbeding is a modern garden of two halves, with the colour-themed garden rooms surrounding the house, plus a landscaped garden. A gentle stroll over the open pasture land provides views of the River Rother and leads to the ruined abbey and on to the Chinese-style bridge and waterfall.

Cost - Entry to garden £10.45 (National Trust members free)

Transport to be arranged

RSVP Sue Kinlochan 01730 719875 or sue.kinlochan@gmail.com

A 3.5 acre garden set in lovely Hampshire countryside with views to Alice Holt. The garden is divided into different areas by yew hedges and a walled garden. There are two reflective pools which help to break up the lawn areas and lots of flower beds, borders and mature trees. There are working greenhouses and an attractive vegatable garden with an old sunken garden that was redesigned in 2020. The owners focus on planting for as long a season as possible on the heavy clay.

Cost £10 to include wine and nibbles

RSVP Pippa Chapman 07803906312 or pjmchapman@yahoo.co.uk