News

The impressive grandeur and moving ceremonial of the Queen’s funeral broke several records – the turnout on the streets particularly in London, the number of people who watched it on television, and the length of time people queued for, among others. Britain’s pageantry was outstanding as usual. Our picture shows a touching more modest tribute photographed by Lesley Jones at Great Dixter during the MPG visit last week, which was attended by 21 members and guided by Fergus Garrett.

Congratulations to Sue Bennison on her 90th birthday which she has been spending in Northumberland with her family. Sue was a founder member of MPG and a valuable contributor on the first management committee continuing until 2017. She was the designer and organiser of wonderfully varied and popular summer garden tours in the UK – in Kent and Lincolnshire during the period when MPG was being formed, and in Herefordshire, Norfolk and Dorset after the association was formalised. Thank you to Vicky Bennison for the picture taken on the day.

Julia Corden, tours committee member, and MPG bursary holder Caroline Pheasey attended the Beth Chatto Symposium at the University of Essex at the beginning of September. The theme this year was “Rewilding the mind” with discussion of low water use, low maintenance and environmentally sensitive horticulture. More controversial rewilding was the subject of a recent article by MPG member Charles Quest-Ritson which can be read by clicking here. Thank you to Julia for her picture of Amaryllis belladona with allium seedheads taken during the garden party in the garden of the late Beth Chatto which formed part of the event.

MPG member and website manager Sharon Horder recently became deputy head gardener at Wadham College, Oxford, a promotion from her role on the garden team at Merton College. Both gardens are moving from formal, classic English styles to embrace more contemporary, sustainable options, with gravel gardens using dry-tolerant plants and Mediterranean species such as Dianthus carthusianorum, Euphorbia characias, Thymus vulgaris and Salvia sp. Sharon completed the Professional Gardeners’ Guild three-year traineeship in 2020. There are now seven MPG members in five Oxford colleges and at the Botanic Garden.

RHS Hyde Hall offers suggestions for drought-resistant plants and water conservation in an article in the Guardian of 1 August, as well as advice to avoid excessive run-off during deluges. The RHS has teamed up with Cranfield University to encourage conservation of mains water, for example not watering lawns, installing water butts and using watering cans on individual plants rather than hoses. Floods can be mitigated by using porous surfaces on drives and terraces. Horticulturist Susie Curtis, a member of MPG, looks after Hyde Hall’s dry garden which features Tulbaghia violacea, Triteleia, Bulbine frutescens, Eschscholzia californica, Zauschneria californica (pictured), lavenders and rosemaries.

Members visited Marwood Hill Garden, Devon, at the end of June as part of the annual UK summer gardens tour. The garden has this week won both an RHS gold medal and the best Plant Heritage exhibit at Hampton Court Palace. Marwood holds four National Collections, including the prize-winning collection of Astilbe, which they started in 1990 and contains over 200 different species and cultivars. The display of plume-like upright plants is captured here by John Fielding. The UK gardens tour also included other outstanding gardens and a guided wild-flower walk on the sand dune reserve of Braunton Burrows, home to many rare plants and animals.