Christmas Event 2010

On the evening of 9th December, a group of hardy members of the Garden Club braved the icy roads and paths and met at the village hall. There they enjoyed festive food and drink plus a quiz. The form of the quiz differed from the usual format, being multiple choice and quite entertaining. It was presented by Rodney Cousins who had travelled from Newark.

Chatsworth Trip

On 6th December 2010, 51 members of the Bicker & District Garden Club and Wigtoft Garden Club plus friends visited Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, for their Russian Christmas event. It was a very cold day (-10C) with deep snow which unfortunately meant that the Gardens and Farm were closed due the to icy conditions. Nonetheless everyone made the most of the day and enjoyed the Christmas themes inside the house. There were 'festive pasties' and other refreshments to keep us warm. A very enjoyable day all things considered.

Report and photos by Terry Hill

Plants for Difficult Places

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On the evening of Thursday 18th November the members of Bicker Garden Club enjoyed a talk entitled 'Plants for Difficut Places'.This interesting and informative talk was give by Janette Merilion (www.merilion.com ) who is a garden designer. We were shown many photographs of plants or shrubs which are suitable for seven types of difficult places, for example dry,sunny places. Janette also brought a selection of her plants for members to buy.
The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Norah Matravers with a dark red penstemon.

AGM October 2010

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Bicker Garden Club held their third Annual General Meeting on the evening of Thursday 21st October. All the officers were re-elected. Terry, as Chairman, detailed the successes that we have had during the year. As Treasurer I was able to tell the members that we are on a sound footing financially, and as a result the fees will remain the same as last year. We celebrated having had an enjoyable year with wine and nibbles. This was followed by a very entertaining talk by Trevor Rogers entitled Poetry, Prose and Plants.

Flower and Produce Show

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The second annual Flower and Produce Show was held at Bicker Village Hall, on the evening of Thursday 9th September.There were 12 categories of entries, ranging from fruit, vegetables, flowers, pickles and jams to cakes. All the members were able to vote for their favourite entry in each category. The jams, pickles and cakes were sampled to make judging them fair. Winners were presented with certificates by Terry. At the end of the evening some of the produce was bought by other members, which raised money for the Club funds.

Looking round a garden

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Members of Bicker Garden Club met at the house of John and Sue Beattie on the evening of Thursday 19th August. The day had been dry with some sunshine but took a turn for the worse just before the arranged meeting time. However, members of our Club are always ones to make the best of things, so the event took place as planned. Sue and John welcomed everyone with tea,coffee, and home-made cakes, after which we all put up our umbrellas and walked round their garden.We were told how the garden had been started from scratch about seven years ago. Their house was built at that time.Part of the garden was on the site of a hauliers' yard so had taken a lot of work to establish.Despite the weather we all enjoyed the evening and hope that other members will offer to show us round their gardens.

A July Garden Party

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On the afternoon of 15th July, St Swithin's Day, over twenty members of the Club enjoyed a garden party. July had been very hot and sunny until a few days before the event. Unfortunately on this particular day it was warm but extremely windy - which played havoc with the large hats worn by the ladies. Nevertheless we drank Pimm's and fruit punch and ate dainty sandwiches and cakes which the members had brought. We also had a special cake with a photo of the members in icing. Games were played as well - croquet, boules and quoits.

A talk about bee-keeping

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On the evening of 17th June we were given a talk about bee-keeping by Fred Parker. The talk covered all aspects of bee-keeping and we were shown various items of the necessary equipment. There was also honey available to buy. The flower of the month competition was won by Norah Matravers with an iris.

Visit to Fairhaven Gardens

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On the 14^th June 14 members joined our friends from Wigtoft Garden Club for an all day visit to Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden, near Norwich This is an interesting and different garden, natural and unspoilt with many wonderful plants - candelabra primulas, shrubs - rhododendrons and gunneras and trees - Acers and king oaks (951 years old!) The oldest oak is now home to a tawny owl, unfortunately not seen on the day. As well as the gardens Fairhaven has its own private broad and offers a boat ride along the part of the gardens and nearby places of interest. Another very enjoyable day out.
Report by Terry Hill

Visiting Alan Chapman's Factory

Eleven members of the Club visited Alan Chapman's metalwork factory, in Bicker, on the evening of 9th June. Alan now specialises in designing and making garden accessories. We were given a tour of the factory with Alan explaining and demonstrating some of the jigs that they have developed, plus the processes that are involved in the production of some of the items. We saw finished products being dip coated - wall mounted baskets, which are the latest product. At the end of the tour eveyone was presented with one of the baskets to take home. The evening was very enjoyable and Penny sent a thank-you card to Alan expressing our thanks to him.

Visit to Barnsdale Gardens

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A group of club members shared cars and had a trip to Barnsdale Gardens, near Rutland Water, on Saturday 22nd May. Some people had a pub lunch first, others had a picnic, and we all met at Barnsdale at 1:30pm. The weather was glorious - a little too hot if anything - and the gardens looked beautiful. There are 37 separate and different gardens, all laid out in differing styles, so there was plenty to see. Mature woodland surrounds the site so it is very attractive. Many of the surrounding trees were in blossom and there was a lot of colour in the separate gardens. Plants of the type that we had seen in the gardens were on sale in the Nursery and refreshments were available in the Tea Shop. We all had a most enjoyable outing.

Spring Flower Arrangements

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The Garden Club met on the evening of Thursday 20th May and were given an interesting demonstration of flower arranging by one of our members, Norah Matravers. She had a couple of completed arrangements to show us and then took us through the steps to completing three more. Norah had brought various small containers to use and most of the greenery was from her garden. She very kindly gave the finished arrangements to be raffled for Club Funds.
The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Fien Compton with a small vase of Lilies of the Valley.

Visit to Church Flower Festivals

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Fifteen of the Club members shared cars and had an enjoyable day out visiting the local Church Flower Festivals on Wednesday 28th April. The day began at Long Sutton where the tulips in the churchyard were in full flower and the displays in the church very imaginative - on the theme of opposites. From there we visited Fleet church, where we had lunch. The next church was Sutterton with its displays of events through the year featuring scarecrows. We had afternoon tea and cake at Gosberton. The flower displays there were of their usual high standard. Our last stop was at Donington where, again, a lot of care had been taken over the floral displays. Most of the venues had plants, vegetables,bric-a-brac and other items for sale. There were also tombola stalls and various competitions to raise money for the churches. All had refreshments , some had home-made jams and cakes for sale.

Cacti and Succulents

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The Garden Club met on Thursday 15th April and were given an interesting talk about cacti and succulents by Derek Bowdery. He showed us slides and also brought along many plants for people to look at. He brought another large selection of plants for sale and donated some for the Club raffle.
The Flower of The Month was won by Kathleen Boughen with a small vase of heather.

World of Ferns

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Mr Neil Timm, of The Fern Nursery, Binbrook, gave an interesting, illustrated talk on the evening of Thursday 18th March. The meeting was well attended. The members had been asked to bring a flower for the "Flower of the Month" competition. On this occasion the winner was Pauline Ranson with an iris.

A Year of Garden Colour

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Thirty members of Bicker Garden Club were given a very interesting illustrated talk on the evening of 18th February. The cold, dark evening was brightened by the many colourful slides of shrubs and flowers. There were lots of suggestions for plants to provide colour for difficult places in the garden and for colour during the winter months. The speaker was Dr Andrew Ward of Norwell Nurseries, near Newark. He had also brought plants which the members could buy.

2010 Programme

Club Meetings
January 21st
"250 Years of Kew Gardens" Tony Boughen

February 18th
"A Year of Garden Colour" Andrew Ward

March18th
"World of Ferns" Neil Timm

April15th
"Cacti and Succulents" Derek Bowdery

May 20th
"Spring Flower Arrangements" Nora Matravers

May 22nd
Visit to Barnsdale Gardens - car sharing

June 9th
Visit to Alan Chapman's small factory in Bicker

June 14th
Wigtoft Garden Club's Coach trip to Fairhaven Gardens in Norfolk
Bicker Garden Club members welcome

June 17th
"Bee-keeping" Fred Parker

July 15th
Garden Party

September 9th
Produce Show

October 21st
AGM

November 18th
"Plants for Difficult Places" Jeanette Merilion

December 9th
Christmas Event

250 Years of Kew Gardens

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Bicker Garden Club held their first meeting of 2010 on Thursday 21st January. Tony Boughen, one of the club members, gave a very interesting and informative talk about Kew Gardens. The talk covered the history of the gardens from the early days in the 18th century right up to recent developments. The many listed buildings were mentioned as were the botanists, architects and patrons who were important in Kew's development. The talk was illustrated with photos of the people, structures, landscape and plants of Kew.

Christmas Event

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The Garden Club held its final event of 2009 on 17th December - a very cold evening. Just under 30 members and friends were treated to a demonstration of festive flower arranging by Fien and her neighbour Chrissie. Mulled wine was served by Terry and Dorothy. Everyone then enjoyed the food that had been brought to share.