Illustrated lectures by guest speakers 2011

Wednesday 5th October. Late Summer Flowers with Marina Christopher.
Discover a host of interesting and colourful perennials and grasses to extend the season till the first frosts, with an emphasis on plants attractive to insects such as bees and hoverflies. Useful tips on manipulating plants to give a longer display, less maintenance and staking and pest control without using chemicals. Marina studied botany and marine biology but then escaped the confines of the laboratory to run various nurseries, the most recent of which is Phoenix Perennial Plants. Marina regularly supplies the plants for one or two of the large Chelsea show gardens. She writes for Gardens Illustrated and The Garden and has been a guest on BBC’s Gardeners’ World and with Carol Klein on Women Gardeners. Marina will bring books and plants to sell.

Wednesday 19th October. The Winter Garden with Andy McIndoe.
With his usual infectious enthusiasm and expertise, Andy will suggest plants to bring interest and colour to the garden in winter – plants that will brighten the grey days and survive the cold. Andy scarcely needs any introduction being a very popular lecturer at Moleshill House. He is Managing Director of Hilliers Nurseries, has written a great many books, writes for gardening magazines and lectures widely. Andy will bring books and plants to sell.

Tuesday 1st November. Medicines from Plants with Dr Henry Oakeley.
You will not hear a more entertaining speaker than Henry. I have known him for half a century and even gone in search of spagnum moss with him! Every plant has a story and Henry will recount why plants were and are used as medicines from very early times to the present day. He will tell us how plant-derived medicines for heart failure and angina, leukaemia and bird flu were developed and touch on a potential new antidote to Ecstasy. Henry is in charge of the Medicinal Garden at The Royal College of Physicians and has written a hefty tome on his other passion – orchids. He will tell you all sorts of things you always wanted to know including the nature of homicidal plants, what (not) to smoke, how to harvest opium and why children do not eat greens.
Wednesday 16th November. Tales of a Modern Day Plant Hunter with Tom Hart Dyke.
Kidnapped in the Panamanian jungle and held hostage for 9 months, Tom Hart Dyke and his companion Paul Winder were threatened with death but finally released just before Christmas 2000. During his captivity Tom dreamed of a garden he might create featuring all the plants he had collected from around the globe. On his return to his ancestral home, Lullingstone Castle, he and Paul wrote the best selling book, The Cloud Garden and set to work to create the now famous World Garden. Tom’s enthusiasm, huge knowledge and infectious energy will hold us in thrall as he recounts tales from his life as a modern day plant hunter. Tom’s jungle antics – building gardens in the mountains, much to the annoyance of his captors, cemented his reputation as a “plant nut”.

Flower Arranging with Penny

Wednesday 23rd November –Christmas decorations. Lots of easy and new ideas for decorating your homes for Christmas, using materials which will last.

Wednesday 14th December – Fresh flowers for Christmas. New arrangements and decorations to fill your homes with scent and colour throughout Christmas.

Christmas Sale Dates: Wednesday 30th November, Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th December