Gardens of the Côte d’Azur

Wednesday 22 to Wednesday 29 October 2025

A week at a lovely seaside hotel in Menton visiting classic gardens of the area including the Hanbury Gardens at La Mortola just over the border in Italy, the Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild, Serre de la Madone created by Major Lawrence Johnston, and Val Rahmeh Botanic Garden

Growing in sand – Zoom presentation

Tuesday 11 November

Garden desiger and the head gardener at Tom Stuart Smith’s Plant Library, Millie Souter, will talk about the Stuart-Smith family’s gardens and about gardening on sand. Millie has a degree in fine art, a post-graduate diploma from the Inchbald School of Garden Design and 20 years’ experience as a professional gardener, partly running her own business looking after private gardens. Image courtesy of Qian Zhang.

Our online Christmas quiz

Tuesday 9 December 18:00

John Fielding will host our annual quiz and here is a relevant plant to promote the event. Most members will recognise Euphorbia pulcherrima ‘Cortez Burgundy’ as a plant with a familiar common name which is widely associated with December festivities. Members must book in advance so that a Zoom invitation is sent to each when the time comes. The booking form will be available here in November.

Wild flowers and sights, Cyprus

Wednesday 25 February – Wednesday 4 March 2026

This tour with two bases in western Cyprus will focus on spring flora, including orchids and geophytes, lovely scenery, walks and historic sites. Spring comes early to Cyprus, and we can expect some sunny clear days. We will visit fascinating archaeological sites in the ancient city of Paphos – rich in plants. We shall be mostly on the coast with, one day in the mountains, giving us spectacular scenery and many interesting plants. The tour will be led by Yiannis Christofides who led our successful 2024 similar event

Italy’s beautiful Gargano

Saturday 11 to Saturday 18 April

The rolling limestone Gargano is not easy to farm so much of it has stunning wildlife including plants, birds, reptiles and insects. An area of 120,000 hectares was designated a national park in 1991 and includes the highest concentration of wild orchids in Europe, with amazing variations notably of Ophrys (bee orchids). We are planning an MPG expedition at what should be the perfect time for wildflowers, based first in Rodi on the north coast at the Hotel Villa Americana, then four nights at the Palace Hotel San Michele in Monte Sant’Angelo, in the south, home of one of the oldest religious shrines in western Europe. Bookings will open at the beginning of September.

Wild flora of the Greek Rhodope

Thursday 30 April – Thursday 7 May 2026

This tour will start in Thessaloniki and spend the first afternoon looking at cultural sights in the City. We will then spend a day at Lake Kerkini, a major migratory bird location with good plants also. The rest of our time will be in two locations in the Rhodope Mountains. The first will be Drama, where we will visit the River Despatis in a beautiful gorge and then Mt Phalakron, the highest mountain in the Rhodope. Then via Mt Pangeon we will go to our second location, Komnina and there visit the Haidou Forest and the Nestos Gorge. The tour will be guided by experienced specialist Oron Peri. We shall travel in two minibuses and the cost is expected to be £1290 with a single supplement of £190. Maximum 13 members.