Life time career in horticulture, Steve Dowbiggin, March's meeting

 

What a fabulous start we had to our first meeting in the hall with Steve Dowbiggin’s fascinating talk on his life time career in horticulture. Steve’s talk  was appropriately titled; Started at 13 and Still Going Strong. Steve’s family were self sufficient Essex Crofters and all the family had to do their bit, so from an early age Steve was learning how to farm and grow vegetables. At 13 his mates all had paper rounds but Steve could drive a tractor and grow potatoes!

One of Steve’s amazing stories was about him having to drive a nine ton lorry from the farm in Essex to Covent Garden market when he was only 16! Steve had no trouble with this task and his reward was an extra £10, which  was a real bonus in the 1960s. Steve’s early experience in horticultural and farming soon landed him the role as a Farm Manager before going on to work at Capel Manor where he remained for 35 years and became the CEO.

It was wonderful to hear Steve’s experiences and stores of working on fund raising with the Duchess Devonshire. Steve is a natural speaker and makes a great connection with his audience, he certainly kept us entertained throughout the evening and I was most grateful for Steve being able to present his talk at such short notice as our original speaker cancelled a few days before. Thank you Steve for great evening.

 

 

Beautiful Butterflies, Dr Ian Bedford, February's meeting

 

A big thank you goes out to Dr Ian Bedford for his fascinating talk into the world of butterflies and moths. Ian, a respected entomologist who is well known for his TV and radio shows, has been studying butterflies, moths and insects since a child. Ian shared his amazing acknowledge of butterflies telling us about their intriguing lives, the difficulties they are facing due the destruction of their habit and climate change. Ian also told us what we can all do to make our gardens wildlife and butterfly friendly and help make a difference to their future.   

I was amazed to hear about the Painted Lady Butterfly (pic) who’s yearly life cycle involves flying from North Africa to Europe and the UK, what a spectacular migration.  As a thank you for supporting his talk, Ian has offered our members a 15% discount at the The Garden Superstore https://www.thegardensuperstore.co.uk  Simply add the discount code BEDFORD15 when purchasing goods.

 

As gardeners we know the importance of having insects in our gardens, Ian certainly emphasised this and told us how to attract butterflies and moths. Ian’s top three plants to grow are;  Buddleias (good varieties are Pink Pagoda, Sugar Plum and Summer House Blue), Perennial Sunflower Helianthus x laetiflorus) and Perennial Wallflowers (Erysimum). As Ian said give them the plants they like and they will come!  

I am sure you will all be keen to play your part in planting a butterfly friendly plant (of course three will look even better). To further this I am asking all our members to take a pledge to plant a butterfly friendly plant. Take the pledge by completing the form at the end of the Newsletter, your name will entered into a free draw and the first 5 members drawn will win a butterfly friendly plant, the next 10 members drawn will win a pack wild flower seeds. Please ensure that you return your pledge by April.  At the end of the summer you are invited to provide photos of your plants, prizes will be on offer to the best plant displays.    Good luck to you all.